Fort Worth voters to consider $59.8M bond for new animal shelter

Hyperlocal Loop

April 18, 2026

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Editor’s note: Early voting for Fort Worth’s May 2 election opens April 20. In the lead-up, the Report is breaking down each bond proposition and charter amendment on the ballot. Find the other articles here as they are published.

About 7% of Fort Worth’s $845 million bond program would go toward building a new, expanded and modernized animal shelter if approved by voters May 2.

Updated facilities would help streamline operations, address capacity issues and ultimately help get animals out of the shelter quicker, said Chris McAllister, director of Fort Worth Animal Care & Control.

“Everything we do in some way comes back to public safety and adoptability,” he said.

Fort Worth’s bond election is divided into six propositions, which each appear separately on the May 2 ballot. Proposition F would dedicate $59.8 million to construct a new 45,000-square-foot shelter to replace the Chuck & Brenda Silcox Animal Care & Adoption Center in southeast Fort Worth.

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Bond elections let voters choose whether their local government can borrow money from investors to pay for specific infrastructure projects, then eventually repay the loan with interest.

It’s unclear where the new shelter would be located, but city staff said they’re seeking land in southeast Fort Worth. The city’s second animal shelter, Henry’s Animal Campus in north Fort Worth, will continue operating.

It’s unclear what would happen to the existing Chuck & Brenda Silcox shelter. The building has reached the end of its life, shelter staff say.

Built in 1998, the shelter went through four expansions to grow from 19,000 square feet to roughly 35,000.

The shelter’s current capacity for housing 541 animals would stay the same in the new building, McAllister said. The additional square footage would allow for expanded vet facilities, modernized kennels and upgraded play areas.

Earlier this year, shelter staff celebrated reaching a 90% live-release rate for animals, the highest since 2021 when stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic drove a surge in animal adoptions.

A shelter’s live-release rate measures how many animals leave through adoption, transfer to rescue groups or return to their owners. Shelters are considered “no-kill” when they reach a 90% live-release rate, according to the Animal Humane Society.

In January and February, Fort Worth’s two shelters saw more than 1,200 adoptions and performed more than 1,100 spay and neuter surgeries, according to city reports.

Natural lighting and more outdoor space planned for the new shelter space would help animals better acclimate and improve behavioral issues, McAllister said. Happy, well-behaved animals get adopted more quickly, he added.

“With a better organized and more efficient shelter, I can get animals off the street faster,” McAllister said.

In addition to the bond, Fort Worth voters will see several charter amendments, including a proposal to increase salaries for the mayor and city council members, plus a special election to fill the District 10 council seat in far north Fort Worth.

Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at [email protected].

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Cecilia Lenzen is a local government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. She has previously reported for The Texas Tribune, The Dallas Morning News, the Dallas Observer, CultureMap, Community…
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