Diamond has been overlooked because of her color and breed. She is a four-year-old black pit bull mix, and one post says she has been at the shelter for almost two months. The volunteers describe her as sweet and loving. Watch her video and see how attentive she is. She sits for treats and takes them gently as her tail wags. While waiting for the next treat, she sits calmly, watching, waiting. She’s very gentle and affectionate.

Diamond is in a open-access county shelter. Those who work in the shelter care for the animals. They do not want to kill them. But because of overpopulation, lack of intensive spay/neuter programs, and people who just don’t care about their pets, the shelter cannot handle the volume of unwanted pets. The shelter sent out a plea for Diamond in an email to the volunteers. It said:

“The shelter has grown overwhelmingly full and we can’t seem to get the population down to a manageable number. The following dogs have now been elevated to the HIGH RISK list. If space is needed these animals are at a higher risk for euthanasia. They are eligible for temporary foster, adoption, or rescue. Please, if you are able to adopt/foster/rescue any of these dogs let us know. All of these animals are ready to go home the day of adoption. Sadly, Diamond is on that list. Please keep sharing. We will update when status changes. Thank you!”

The shelter used to work with the volunteers and send them the information they needed to inform people about dogs’ personalities, medical conditions, and other important information like age and temperament. For over two months, the shelter has not shared this information with those who are trying to network the shelter dogs. It has been two months since the shelter changed their software, but they still have not provided Rescue Me Tampa with the details they need to rescue more dogs. They don’t even know if dogs are rescued or killed. Read more about this at “Dogs are needlessly dying; rescue group needs information to save them.”

The volunteers shared their frustration in a post dated July 5. They wrote:

Diamond is still there!!!! Listed as “High risk.” She is on our report as having been there 47 days but not one note. Who knows if she has even seen a vet in 47 days, we have no way of knowing as we were told medical was on our reports and we see some medical on some dogs. None on most. Anyone with interest will have to contact the shelter for information. Thank you!!! And yes we are frustrated with the lack of information. How is it possible they still are not back up and running OVER 2 MONTHS after the software change??? Please share our poor dogs. They need all the help they can get 🙁

Like most open-access shelters, Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center fills up with animals — especially after busy weekends like the 4th of July. When the kennels are filled and more dogs arrive, the shelter has no choice but to kill animals to make space for the incoming ones. There is no other option unless more rescues step up, more people adopt, and more local people offer to foster. Those are the facts.

There may be more information on Diamond’s Facebook thread.  Diamond is ID# A1586525. She is urgent — if her kennel is needed tomorrow, she can be killed any time after 9:00 am. If someone is interested in Diamond or any other dog, they must email rescuepets@hillsboroughcounty.org  and rescuemetampa@yahoo.com by 9:00 am tomorrow, July 11. The adopter/rescue must be willing to pick up Diamond by 3:00 pm. In the subject line of the email write: DO NOT EUTH Diamond ID# A1586525. Include contact information in the body of the email. She is urgently in need of rescue from Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center, 440 N. Falkenburg Road, Tampa, FL 33619. The phone number is 813-744-5660. The shelter is open daily from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm.

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