The Partner/No Partner BFAS Dance

Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden's big project was defending the city's "Let them roam unaltered" policy regarding loose dogs, now at third world levels in most neighborhoods.  She did so at the 12-3-24 City Council meeting.  A question arose about the relationship between the shelter and Best Friends Animal Society.  Morgan said the city did not have a signed partner agreement.

She did not share any of the following collaborations (current since 11-1-24):  

1. Bite investigation course -  COSA staff to attend BFAS course
2. Sharing COSA Animal Control cases for last FY  --  BFAS to heat map
3. BFAS virtual rounds training with the shelter medicine team -- Animal Shelter and CV PAWS

It sounds like a partnership, smells like partnership, and reads like a partnership. This is not the first time Morgan has been less than forthcoming in this area.  

Council deserves openness and honesty.  It isn't getting it and has not for quite some time.  That's not a great foundation for going forward.  

Shelter Took 22 Dog Surrenders in FY23-24

Concho Valley PAWS recent public relations blitz over possible changes to San Angelo Animal Shelter dog intake said the following:

Dog intake diversion does not mean dog intake is "closed" but instead allows support alternatives that prevent shelter overcrowding and euthanasia for space.

Now not closed is it?  Twenty seven owners surrendered their pet to the Shelter for fiscal year 2023-24, 22 of those were dog surrenders.  One person returned their dog during the same period.

Consider the history of cuts implemented by the Shelter in conjunction with PAWS:

Who gets the 1.8 dog surrenders per month and the one dog return per year?  Likely someone who wrote their City Council member.

Data Driven Animal Services Drove Dogs into San Angelo Streets

City Council finally faced San Angelo's third world loose dog problem after an Animal Control Officer was brutally attacked by several large dogs.  The City Council member with the longest tenure, having served multiple terms over several decades, asked "why do we even have Animal Services?"  

For a brief moment it looked like Council might wash their hands of the whole mess by contracting it out.  Beleaguered Council members receive frequent calls and emails from constituents regarding animal related issues, including other major dog attacks that have not been reported in the news.

Animal Services chose to serve dogs in the shelter and those that come into contact with Animal Control Officers over the general public and did so with Council's blessing.  Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden's slide shows that history.  She mentioned a few intake numbers but she did not show:

Morgan disputed the city has a "let them roam unaltered" policy in her presentation but that contention was refuted by the many citizens offering public comment.  Citizens said over and over, Animal Control instructed them to "let the loose dog roam."

Chegwidden reluctantly spoke to the large numbers of dogs leaving the Animal Shelter still able to reproduce.  That has been happening for years, thus San Angelo effectively has "let them roam unaltered."

Urgently needed shelter renovations, once expected to be completed in August 2023, may be finished in November 2025.   Mayor Brenda Gunter noted her displeasure with unfulfilled commitments on this project.

Council decided to form a task force and delegated this task to City Manager Daniel Valenzuela.  Staff recommended shelter leadership and PAWS work on the issue with "additional stakeholders designated as needed."  Mayor Gunter expressed her desire for a game plan within 45 days.

City Council is clearly divided on this issue.  Some stated their desire to do the minimum and focus on Animal Control.  Others said we can serve citizens and pets simultaneously, while enforcing city ordinances, ramping up spay-neuter and getting dangerous dogs off the street.

It was odd seeing PAWS Director Jenie Wilson compliment Council during her public comment, especially after stirring up the public for days that Council might cut "lifesaving programming."  

Wilson should have been next to Morgan during her presentation, answering questions about PAWS role.  She wasn't so Morgan could just say "I cannot speak for PAWS" in response.   

It remains to be seen who Valenzuela appoints to San Angelo's Loose Dog Roundup Task Force other than Morgan and Jenie.   It took years to create third world levels of loose dogs and will take years to undo.  Can the pair who got us there get us out of the current mess?

Update 12-13-24:  Critter Shack Rescue's Sharon Halfmann wrote on Facebook:

The failure of the City of San Angelo to enforce the spay/neuter/vaccination ordinance is one of the problems at the heart of the animal overpopulation issue. Very few citations are given and the backlog of tickets is months if not years long. 

The failed “no-kill” movement here and other places in Texas and throughout the US has resulted in record numbers of strays on the streets, where they are often run over, die of starvation, dehydration or illness, become pregnant or impregnate other dogs, or become dangerous packs. 

 Local rescues are overwhelmed, adoptions numbers are down, resources are limited and the shelter is often completely closed to intake. 

If the City can admit that recent policies have failed and that real, wide-reaching change needs to take place, that spay/neuter ordinances need to be strictly enforced and education and low-cost alternatives for pet owners is absolutely necessary, perhaps we can move forward to address these issues as a community - City, pet owners, rescues, concerned citizens. 

We so desperately need to move forward to better the lives of area animals, and that can only happen if entities and citizens work together cooperatively for that common goal, in a realistic manner that brings about real, positive changes.

Shelter: Six Years of Decreased Intake

San Angelo City Council will discuss dog intake policies in its upcoming meeting.  The City of San Angelo Animal Shelter contracts with Concho Valley PAWS for adoption and veterinary services.  Together these organizations have choked off shelter intake in a series of changes over the last six years.  Council's background packet has historical statistics on shelter intake.  Missing is the just completed fiscal year.

In FY24 the Shelter took in 2,259 pets, a decrease of 642 or 22% fewer than the year before.  PAWS began assisting the Shelter via a contractor relationship in FY18 (when the shelter took in 5,914 pets). During PAWS tenure City Animal Shelter intake decreased 62% or by 3,655 pets.  That's a drop of 300 pets per month.

Anyone dealing with the Animal Shelter or Concho Valley PAWS hears how "data driven" they are, but rarely see much, if any data, especially on spay/neuter. 

Contrast PAWS characterization of the meeting in an e-mail to supporters:

City Council to Consider Eliminating

Critical Life Saving Programs for Animals

With city management's recommendation:

...referring the intake policies to the originating committee, including Animal Services staff and Concho Valley PAWS leadership.

San Angelo Live, often a shelter/PAWS mouthpiece, wrote about referring to the originating committee but failed to include that Concho Valley PAWS is a key part of that committee.  They later ran a piece specifically on PAWS concerns.

Live somehow missed Animal Shelter service cuts to the tax-paying public (while their budget grew tremendously).  Pets Alive and Best Friends Animal Society drove new shelter initiatives which shifted responsibility to "the community."

"Community sheltering" started years after the city instituted mandatory spay/neuter ordinance for pets.  A chronic lack of enforcement meant litters of puppies and kittens contributed to shelter overcrowding.  The City Shelter added to the overpopulation by returning thousands of unaltered pets to owners.

Neither moving to assisted living nor death are valid reasons for the shelter to accept a pet.  The number of loose dogs in our community grew significantly under "managed intake."  In January Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden called it a crisis as "pet owners are dumping their animals at the Animal Shelter or letting them loose."

The recent dog attack on an Animal Control Officer arose from a home that had ten dogs, many unaltered.  The owner had citations for both failure to spay/neuter and not having a permit for having at least seven dogs.  Social media reports indicate the owner tried to surrender some dogs to the shelter to remedy their situation but was refused.  The city has no documents relative to this report.  The horrific nature of the attack on a professional may have been the impetus for this agenda item.  If a trained officer could be taken down what chance would a regular citizen have?

Concho Valley PAWS is mobilizing its supporters to turn out for public comment.  It's e-mail outreach included: 

Dog intake diversion does not mean dog intake is "closed" but instead allows support alternatives that prevent shelter overcrowding and euthanasia for space.

The reality for many residents has been that the shelter is closed to them for their particular need.  The City ran a story on shelter dog "Amelia" who'd been turned out into the streets:

Amelia’s “mom” passed away several years ago after a long battle with cancer. It appears her “dad” attempted daily care for Amelia while struggling with his own health but was ultimately hospitalized and permanently moved to assisted living.  No one was coming for Amelia.

And she did not qualify for owner surrender under city shelter policies.  The story read like an indictment of managed intake.

It took years to get into this sad and disturbing situation.  And it will take years to get out of it.  An overwhelming public comment session from Concho Valley PAWS followers will likely not help City Council deal with underlying issues or help them paint a picture that balances the needs of people/pet owners with the needs of pets currently in the shelter alongside the need for safe city streets.  

The need for this picture has been a long time coming.  Delegate this to an "originating committee" and it may never get painted.

Update 11-30-24:  ConchoValleyHomepage ran a story on PAWS outreach but noted that PAWS leadership is part of the solution.  The story did not show the dramatic decline in shelter intake over the last six years.

Mayor Brenda Gunter's State of the City address included public safety but not Animal Services.  She did talk a lot about public-private partnerships.  Might one involve Animal Services?

Best Friends/Pets Alive Programming Problematic

The City of Los Angeles began working with Best Friends Animal Society in 2020, several years after the City of San Angelo began working with Pets Alive, a similar organization.  

The City no longer takes owner surrendered pets due to things like owner illness or death. (ASAC approved 4-19-19) 

 The City no longer will euthanize a pet for a resident of San Angelo. (ASAC approved 8-15-19)

The City no longer accepts pets from Tom Green County (ASAC approved 1-21-21) 

LA officials are questioning the value of their relationship with Best Friends.  San Angelo City Councilmembers cannot get a straight answer to their questions about the relationship, even though the Shelter Chief attended Best Friends' Executive Leadership Certification tuition free.  

City Council plans to talk about dog intake policies in their meeting next week, scheduled for December 3rd at 8:30 am.  

Staff recommends referring the intake policies to the originating committee, including Animal Services staff and Concho Valley PAWS leadership.

Yes, the partnership that turned San Angelo into a third world community for loose pets .  Some of that history over the last six years can be seen in the posts below (most have data obtained from the City of San Angelo).

Community Releases:

"More Dogs on the Street than Ever" --  January 2024

"Council Endorses Let Them Roam Unaltered" -- February 2024

Managed Intake:

"Council to Undertake Restricting Animal Services to City Limits" -- March 2021

"Celebrating Not Taking Pets Except in Rare Circumstances" - October 2021

"Shelter Tightens Intake Chokehold" -- August 2022

"Council Supports Restricting Current Shelter Operations" -- November 2022

Deprioritizing Spay/Neuter:

"Animal Shelter Update to Council Next Week" -- October 2022

"Council to "Accept" Animal Shelter-PAWS Update" -- February 2024

"Shelter Released Unaltered Community Cats for Few Months" -- June 2021

"Puppies Fill Shelter Again" -- February 2024

"Animal Shelter Released 500 Unaltered Dogs over Six Month P'Bingoeriod" -- September 2018

"Bingo PIR:  Municipal Court Citations for Unaltered Shelter Pets" -- November 2023

"Proclaim Public Compliance Data on Spay/Neuter" -- February 2018

"City Animal Shelter Seeks Bids for Adoption Services" -- April 2020

"Spay/Neutering San Angelo's Legions of Unaltered Pets" -- November 2022

"Three Dogs Gave Birth in Shelter" --  June 2022

"Shelter Still Lacks Compliance Data on Spay/Neuter Ordinance" -- June 2021

Salas Retirement Nearing?

Big changes could be looming for the City Animal Shelter.  The upcoming retirement of Director of Neighborhood Services Bob Salas may initiate a cascade of changes.  Recently, the city contracted out its affordable housing program to Galilee Development.  The Shelter could be next.

Concho Valley PAWS Executive Director Jenie Wilson met with Morgan in June to talk about an arrangement where PAWS might take over more shelter operations.  The pair traveled to Abilene to view their shelter which underwent similar changes.  

Morgan wanted to know if PAWS was interested in taking over the shelter and Animal Control under a contract arrangement.  Wilson wanted to explore it further after the city renovated the shelter.  That project, funding approved in March 2023, is yet to be put out for construction bids.  

City management has long wanted to dump the shelter onto a community organization.  It seems a poor fit for an area animal rescue organization to enforce city ordinances, deal with animal bites (that have soared since City Council put a hard cap on the dog population), conduct rabies quarantines, as well as handle loose and abused livestock.  Picking up dead animals seems particularly odious for an area rescue.

Bob will be gone soon if reports of his retirement are correct.  I recall his promise that "fewer strays would be in the streets" with the mandatory spay/neuter ordinance.  

Instead, San Angelo has third world levels of loose animals, requiring City Council members to repeatedly intervene on constituents' behalf to get service from Animal Services.  

Morgan will likely be promoted to the top job.  Let's hope it doesn't turn into a contractor oversight position.  The City has lots of work to do making amends for releasing thousands of unaltered animals, turning the shelter into a long term facility for large dogs, failing to enforce city ordinances and making the shelter inaccessible to citizens needing to surrender their pet.

It took years of Pets Alive and Best Friends Animal Society strategies to populate San Angelo city streets with strays.  It will take years to reverse the damage.  I'm not sure the person who helped create the problem is the best one to address it.  

Update 12-21-24:  The City of San Angelo announced the retirement of Bob Salas.  Morgan's promotion is on track per the agreed upon schedule.

PAWS Shelter Litter Disconnect

The City of San Angelo and Concho Valley PAWS frequently cite their close working relationship in serving the needs of shelter animals.  The Animal Shelter experienced bouts of overcrowding due to litters of kittens and puppies.  

The city's website refers citizens with kittens to PAWS Mommy & Me program via a link.

Everything about PAWS Mommy & Me program is dogs and puppies, not cats and kittens.  

This collaboration, if someone is able to navigate the marketing disconnect, has consequences:

I understand that if I at any time change my mind and surrender the puppies to the Shelter, give them away, abandon them or sell them, I have nullified our agreement and will be required to reimburse Concho Valley PAWS for all of the veterinary expense associated with the mother dog and litter but not limited to the cost of the mother dog's spay and vaccinations as well as any vaccines given to the puppies.

One might expect a seven year, close collaboration to not confuse citizens and for there not to be financial penalties for using one partner vs. the other.  That is if the goal really is to serve.