GUADALUPE COUNTY, Texas – Despite an earlier statement that a parvovirus outbreak at the Guadalupe County Humane Society led to the euthanasia of dogs, GCSO Sheriff Joshua Ray now says “there was no outbreak at their facility and no animals were euthanized.”
In a news release on Sunday, Ray issued an apology and a public correction about his July 1 statement.
Recommended Videos
“I received secondhand information that I believed to be accurate, and I repeated it publicly without properly vetting it first,” Ray said. “That was wrong, and I need to set the record straight.”
The Guadalupe County Sheriff’s Office did confirm 47 dogs were euthanized at the Guadalupe County Animal Services over a three-week span.
“I hold my officers and staff to a high standard, and I have to hold myself to the same one,” Ray said. “I should have verified the information before I said a word. I did not, and I am sorry for the harm it caused.”
In addition to the correction, Ray said he will be making “a sizeable donation” to the Guadalupe County Humane Society.
“This is not about writing a check to make a problem go away,” Ray said. “It is about backing up my words with action and supporting an organization that did not deserve to be caught up in this.”
Animal shelter funding, structure
The sheriff said his concerns about the structure and funding of Guadalupe County animal shelter services remain, despite there being no parvovirus outbreak.
“I will continue to work with the Commissioners Court to address them through the appropriate channels,” Ray said. “That issue is separate from this one, and I will not confuse the two.”
In the July 1 statement, Ray said the county has allocated resources to improve animal services since there were “underlying tensions and issues” at the shelter.
Ray also said GCSO’s fractured “historical relationships” with “local animal advocates” have caused the sheriff’s office to take drastic action.
“This led me to a difficult decision in January. I gave the (Guadalupe County) Commissioners Court an ultimatum: if they did not make changes or find an alternative solution, I would close the shelter October 1, 2026,” Ray said in the July 1 statement. “I did not want to make this decision. But it is the only tool at my disposal to force the court to make meaningful change.”
The sheriff also said that if county commissioners believe an animal shelter is necessary for residents, the commissioners “should provide it separate from the Sheriff’s Office.”
The Guadalupe County Humane Society and the Guadalupe County Animal Services have no affiliation.
More local news coverage on KSAT: