Every dog has its day, but Chance White is trying to give dogs throughout the Rio Grande Valley a new chance at life.

White, who runs the nonprofit organization Good Dog Animal Rescue, said he’s been infatuated with animals since he was a child.

He recently moved from Austin to South Padre Island to devote his life to saving dogs and cats from being euthanized in local animal shelters.

“(The Valley) is one of the worst (areas) I’ve ever seen,” White said of the rate of euthanization.

According to Texas law, animal shelters are required to keep an animal for 72 hours before they are euthanized, Frank Quiñonez, Harlingen Humane Society shelter manager, said in a previous interview.

Before coming to the Valley in September, White spent three years rescuing dogs and cats from the Bastrop Animal Shelter, Canyon Lake Animal Shelter and Lockhart Animal Shelter, all in the Austin area, he said.

White said he rescued more than 1,000 dogs and cats that would have been euthanized and put them in loving homes.

“I go into shelters, adopt the dogs that are on the list to be (euthanized)— the ones that are healthy — and I behavior-test them and socialize them,” White said.

He’s already rescued and found homes for 127 animals in the Valley, he said. White works with the Brownsville, Harlingen and McAllen animal shelters.

“What I want to do is educate people about animal rescue,” White said. “It’s all about population control. A lot of people here want to interbreed (their animals). Everyone wants to make money off of (the dogs).”

On Mondays and Tuesdays White visits shelters, looking for animals to rescue. From Wednesdays through Sundays White spends his days at stores such as Wal-Mart, Petland and Petco in Brownsville, Harlingen or McAllen, trying to find responsible families to adopt the dogs and cats, he said.

The animal rescue organization is White’s full-time job, he added, which helps him “barely get by” for living expenses.

Those who are interested in adopting a dog or cat are asked to fill out a questionnaire and contract, White said.

The reaction from the dog to the interested family is also considered, White said.

“People need to adopt the dog that’s right for them,” he said.

Photo by Theresa Najera/Valley Morning Star

There is also a fee of $150 for puppies and $120 for dogs older than six months, White said.

The fee is about half the cost of what it would normally cost to spay or neuter the animals as well as provide their vaccinations, White said. All the animals that White adopts are spayed or neutered.

“You have to give value to the dog,” White said. “And that money goes into rescuing more dogs.”

Kathleen McKenzie, of Harlingen, adopted Miller, a shepherd-Rottweiler mix, from White during one of the adoptions at PetSmart.

McKenzie said she wasn’t looking to adopt a dog, but seeing how Miller got along so well with the dog she already had, Boomer, a stray dog she had taken in, she decided to take Miller home.

“I like (White’s) philosophy of no-kill,” McKenzie said. “(Shelters) put down a lot of good dogs that just need time to find a good home. They don’t deserve to be put down because they can’t find a home.”

McKenzie said she likes the Good Dog Animal Rescue organization because it promotes shelter animals and because White genuinely cares about the animals.

Dr. Sherri Wooding of the Brownsville Animal Shelter who helps spay and neuter the animals that White rescues, said that one of her goals is to euthanize the fewest number of dogs.

“The number (of euthanized dogs) is going down on a daily basis, thanks to animal rescue groups like (White’s),” Wooding said. “I make sure the dogs don’t (get adopted) unless they’re spayed or neutered.”

“And one of the things I like about (White’s) organization is that he socializes the dogs to be good dogs before they go into homes,” she added.

Wooding said animal over-population is “overwhelming” in the Valley but she hopes that the efforts of people like White, people will become educated about the problem.

However, White is currently facing a space problem.

After rescuing animals from shelters White cares for them at his small apartment home. He feeds them, gives them medication, socializes them, teaches them basic skills and exercises them, he said.

White now cares for 11 dogs — two of them his own — at his home, but said it is difficult to keep so many animals there.

Jason Moody, public information officer for the Town of South Padre Island, did not return calls to comment about the number of dogs that are allowed in homes on the Island.

White said his goal is to find a permanent donated location from which he can run his nonprofit organization. He also said he is always looking for donations and volunteers to help the organization.

“My dream is to have a kennel and save as many dogs as I can,” White said. “I love animals and I’ve seen what a difference they make in (people’s) lives.”