Saturday, March 09, 2024

"Breaking Point" for Dog Crisis

Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden wrote City Council members in response to a letter from a concerned citizen about San Angelo's loose dog crisis  Her e-mail included:

San Angeloans are in fact at their breaking point. Previously well-intentioned citizens are documented letting their dogs loose behind restaurants, at homeless encampments, and in residences they’ve moved out of.

Citizens are dumping their dogs because the shelter choked off intake for the last five years.  Neither death nor moving to assisted living are reasons for the shelter to accept a pet.  

Add that the shelter released at least 2,000 unaltered dogs to their owners over the same period.  

FY ended 2023 - 358 unaltered dogs
FY ended 2022 - 674 
FY ended 2021 - 708 
FY ended 2019 - 730
Puppies overran the shelter in September 2022 and are doing so again.  
We’ve previously stated the City has no contracts with American Pets Alive! or Best Friends Animal Society, and that remains true.
Morgan can parse language. The 2020 RFP for Adoption Services specified the shelter's Pets Alive initiatives and vision under scope of services:



The city's adoption of Pets Alive and Best Friends Animal Society "community sheltering" policies sent pets into the streets that formerly went to the shelter.   Responsible citizens lost their ability to surrender their pet.  Streets in San Angelo and nearby communities have become dumping grounds.  

The shelter hasn't done its part to ensure dogs in its care are spayed/neutered in accordance with city ordinances.  A recent enforcement action had marginal results.  The latest data shared with City Council showed a mere 44 owners spayed/neutered their pet out of 650 unaltered dogs released from the shelter in FY 22.  That's a 6.7% effectiveness rate.  It did result in over 400 citations.

Morgan's stated solutions to the loose dog crisis at the end of her e-mail:
Animal Services must be a resource to residents before they’re in crisis by offering free microchips to residents of target neighborhoods, the fence inspection and repair program, and additional Animal Services Officers for enforcement and outreach
There's nothing about using the income from over 400 failure to spay/neuter citations to fund low cost spay/neuter services.  The shelter is not loosening its clampdown on intake to actually serve taxpayers. 

City Council has no appetite to address this issue.  It happily spent nearly $100,000 in financing fees/interest on "fast track borrowings" for a snail's pace shelter renovation project.  The nearly $2 million in borrowings ran from April to August 2023.  The renovation will be bid in May 2024 and projected completion is November 2024.

As that $2 million went unused the city had the opportunity to earn interest.  If the unused funds earned 3% interest over six months, that's $30,000 for low cost spay/neuter support and it's not new money.   That amount would buy far more than 44 spay/neuters, the impact of a concentrated "after the fact" spay/neuter enforcement effort.

Morgan made another change in response to the crisis.  The shelter now reports transfers and adoptions under one title "transfers."  The Animal Services Division Monthly Report for January 2024 states:
113 animals were transferred to rescue, including adoptions coordinated by to Concho Valley PAWS
The two statistics formerly were reported separately.  

Animal Services has taken a "Let them roam unaltered" approach, while City Council sticks to their "No new money" stance toward the Animal Shelter.  

I expect City Council to hear again and again from citizens concerned over the deterioration of services and dogs thrown into the streets under the guise of "community sheltering."  

The crisis grew over five years and will require long term strategies and funding to reverse.  I find it hard to believe the people who led us into this crisis are the ones to lead San Angelo out.  I'd love to be proven wrong by this City Council and city leadership.  That said, I am not holding my breath.

Friday, March 08, 2024

Shelter Owner Redemptions: Most Unaltered


Over 61% of dogs released to owners from the San Angelo Animal Shelter in fiscal year 2023 were not spayed/neutered.  This occurred in the midst of a focused effort to cite pet owners for failure to spay/neuter their pet after an Animal Shelter stay.   Here's the data for FY 2023:

Of 583 dogs stays, 358 left the shelter unaltered.  That's 61.4%

It's not clear how many of these owners received citations for failure to spay/neuter.  That responsibility shifted from a special effort by the City Attorney's office to Animal Services.

Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden promised to provide this information to City Council in a November 2023 memo.  I'd hoped to get that one page memo via a public information request.  Instead I received a 79 page document.  Had staff provided volumes of raw data to Council they likely would have gotten an earful.

Releasing unaltered dogs from the shelter is not a new practice. The numbers are below: 
FY ended 2022 - 674 unaltered dogs
FY ended 2021 - 708 
FY ended 2019 - 730 
Eight month period in 2017 - 500
Director of Neighborhood and Family Services Bob Salas warned of the consequences of failure to spay/neuter pets.  



Council gave Salas the mandatory spay/neuter ordinance tool in 2015.

An overcrowded and disgusting shelter in September 2022 was blamed on "puppies."  That prompted the focused citation effort for unaltered animals with a shelter stay.  The "after the fact" effort has been slow going.   Staff informed Council:
June 2023:  Owners claimed 956 cats and dogs in FY22, 282 of which were already spayed/neutered. 44 pet owners have since provided proof of spay/neuter. 24 provided proof of an exemption, such as moved outside city limits, pet is medically fragile, pet has died, etc. This leaves 606 pets still reporting as unaltered. We’ve cited or filed a complaint with municipal court for almost 400 animals and are moving through the remaining backlog.
Our community has experienced a purposeful combination of strategies that increased the number of loose dogs. 
1.  Releasing unaltered shelter dogs under return to owner, a longstanding practice.

2.  Failure to enforce mandatory/spay neuter ordinance as promised by Shelter Chief James Flores when Council passed the requirement in 2015.  A focused effort by the City Attorney's office had over 600 unaltered animals outstanding from FY 2022.

3.  Adoption of Pets Alive programming which does not include spay/neuter in their performance measures.  Pets Alive programming is specified under "scope of services" in the latest RFP for Adoption Services.  The shelter first implemented managed intake for owned pets, then added "found" pets.  Owner surrenders fell from the thousands to less than one hundred under managed intake.

4.  Completely stopping loose animal intake when the dog census hits 180.  This hard maximum capacity has been used as a reason for Animal Control officers to not respond to a caught stray dog call.  When Council endorsed this strategy the shelter was mostly occupied by large, long stay dogs that are more difficult to adopt.

5.  Ignoring area dog breeders.  Puppies contributed to horrific conditions at the Animal Shelter in September 2022.  Recent pictures on the city's Facebook page show puppy after puppy.  

City Council took no action on the loose dog crisis in February after discussing the problem in January.  "Let them roam unaltered" remains firmly in place.

Credit:  The image of the local unaltered dog is from San Angelo Live's story on dogs in the homeless camp.  I cropped the image to highlight the dog.

Sunday, February 25, 2024

Council Endorses "Let Them Roam Unaltered"


One year ago San Angelo's City Council approved nearly $2 million in short term financing for urgent Animal Shelter renovations.  It's been seven months since the city paid back the $2 million and renovation plans are not completed.  Borrowing costs totaled $93,827 in Council approved tax money.

One month ago Council discussed our community's loose dog crisis and asked staff to bring back prioritized recommendations with associated costs for each strategy.  

Last week Council heard about Concho Valley PAWS programming.  PAWS is contracted to provide adoption and veterinary services for shelter pets.  PAWS Executive Director Jenie Wilson made a number of recommendations, most outside her areas of responsibility as a Shelter contractor.  

The Mayor said the city had no money for spay/neuter despite the city releasing thousands of unaltered pets to owners over a two year period.  

San Angelo's third world loose pet problem took years to develop.  At it's base are irresponsible pet owners who refuse to spay/neuter and properly restrain their dog.  Add to that people who'd sought support with surrendering an animal due to life changes.  The shelter stopped assisting this group when it enacted managed intake in 2019.  

The next group shut out were "good Samaritans" who'd found a lost dog and sought the shelter's help.  The Animal Shelter pushed responsibility for found dogs onto the "community."  It mattered not if a frail elderly lady found an 80 pound dog in her yard.  They were asked to keep it for a few days or turn it back out.  Frustrated citizens have been threatened with arrest for trespassing if they show up at the shelter with the loose dog in question.

San Angelo is five years into choking off shelter intake and the impact can be seen on city streets.  

"There are more dogs on the streets than there's ever been"--City Councilman Harry Thomas 

Two years ago I encouraged City Council to consider Animal Services in their strategic planning undertakings.  It seemed an opportune time to review the impact of shelter service reductions and I provided a number of charts showing changes over time.  Council had no appetite to explore shelter changes until roaches overwhelmed the facility.

City Manager Daniel Valenzuela conducted a review of shelter operations and implemented a hard cap on dog capacity after Councilman Tom Thompson provided the green light.  Citizen access to the shelter did not change.  It got worse and the shelter continued taking in fewer animals.  That left more on the streets.

Irresponsible citizens who don't spay/neuter or restrain their pets don't complain to City Council.  Other groups do.  That's people needing to surrender their pet and good Samaritans wanting to do right by a lost pet.  Council will continue to get an earful from these folks until the city stops prioritizing large, long stay shelter dogs over serving citizens.  

Mayor Brenda Gunter essentially said:

We can't keep throwing more dollars and more people after the problem.  

We keep doing this and the problem isn't solved.

We'll spend nearly $2 million on the shelter in the next year and a half

The Mayor did press staff to communicate the responsibilities of pet ownerships to citizens.  

Public Information dropped a new video, Concho Critter Show EP1.

Citizens can "access" Animal Services via phone or an online form.  The graphic is confusing in several ways.  Morgan asked citizens to call the shelter for "time sensitive" issues.  


Her list of "call worthy" issues included many of the items physically listed underneath the online form.  

Having issues considered "time sensitive" not under the online form may help citizens going forward.

I found it interesting that animal bite wasn't listed as those are up 56% according to city statistics.  Morgan stated in the video there were over 260 "animal to person" bite cases in 2023, up from 150 in 2022.  She said more dogs at large in the community is contributing to more bite cases.

Residents and San Angelo Police Department know that calls to Animal Services may not be answered, during the day or after hours.  They know a "dog at large" may or may not get a physical visit from Animal Control Officer, especially if the shelter is at maximum capacity.  

So it was surprising to hear the interviewer state "in every response Animal Services sends out an Animal Services Officer."  Citizens have heard frequently that Animal Services is not coming for the very situations listed.


At the 12:10 mark of the video the issue of understaffing comes up.  Animal Services Supervisor Carlos Carrillo said he believes Animal Control is understaffed.

Multiple times this council turned down setting aside funds for spay/neuter.  The city likely earned interest on the $2 million borrowed for shelter renovations as it just sat in the bank.  If the account paid 3% interest over six months, that's $30,000 that could be designated for spay/neuter support.  It's not new money.

City Council could decide to dedicate interest earned on shelter renovation funds for spay/neuter.  If so, the city should seek bids or approve qualified vendors, similar to its use of outside engineering firms.

The City of San Angelo gave citizens "let them (loose dogs) roam unaltered."  Council's lack of response to this long building crisis is concerning.  I hope it's not here to stay.

Update 3-1-24:  Minutes from the City Council meeting on 2-20-24 state for this agenda item:

No action taken.

Council effectively endorsed "Let them roam unaltered."

Update 3-7-24:  The latest shelter renovation schedule information is:
....the bid phase is delayed to May 2024 with estimated construction completion in November 2024.

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Council Hears PAWS Infomercial


Last month City Council asked city staff to bring back recommendations to deal with San Angelo's loose dog crisis.   

Today that staff "stepped aside" so Council could hear from Concho Valley PAWS Executive Director Jenie Wilson.  PAWS is contractually obligated to provide a number of services to the City Animal Shelter.  It's provided adoption services since 2017 and veterinary medical care for shelter pets through several different arrangements.

Wilson offered up the sparest of data, most came from city budget documents.


One might expect to see more information given PAWS is seven years into a contract relationship with the Animal Shelter (with four years of veterinary medical care delivery).  The city donated its veterinary surgical equipment to PAWS.  It would be interesting to see statistics on its use, spay/neuter and otherwise, for shelter pets, PAWS non-shelter pets and the general public.

Early in her presentation Wilson referred to city euthanasia statistics, saying roughly 80% of animals were killed for space prior to 2016.  City data does not support her assertion.


She stressed things had changed since COVID, yet produced no data showing those changes locally and over time.  Jenie had the opportunity to talk about shelter adoptions in fiscal year 2023 and clarify things for Council and the public.  That did not happen.  City data showed adoptions down 49 percent.

Wilson threw up five strawmen that conflated PAWS with the Shelter, even though she stated earlier they are two different organizations:

Strawman #1:  PAWS allows pets to leave the shelter unaltered.  

Fact:  The city allows pets to leave the shelter unaltered.  The City Attorney talked about the process of issuing citations to pet owners who retrieved a shelter animal and failed later to have it spayed/neutered.

Strawman #2:  Concho Valley PAWS puts pets at risk by offering free adoptions

Fact:  People surrender their pet to the shelter because they can't afford it, then look to adopt a new one.  Wilson cited this earlier in her presentation to Council

Strawman #3:  PAWS doesn't allow other rescues to save shelter pets

Fact:  The exclusive relationship between the Animal Shelter and PAWS has driven other rescues away from working with the shelter.  Some helped in September 2022 during the roach infestation/horrific hoarding crisis, but that door is now closed.

Strawman #4:  Donor dollars pay staff salaries

Fact:  Money is fungible.  A few sentences on a slide does not constitute a financial audit confirming such a statement.  PAWS Executive Director is highly paid relative to other area rescues, some all volunteer.

Strawman #5:  PAWS policies have led to closing shelter intake

Fact:  PAWS supported Pets Alive and Best Friends Animal Society programming and completed RFP's specifying the implementation of such programming.  PAWS representatives served on the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee which voted over time for managed intake to the point that neither "death and moving to assisted living" were valid reasons for an owner to surrender their pet.

At the end of her presentation Wilson made recommendations to address the loose dog crisis.  Most were outside her contracted responsibility for adoptions and veterinary care, further confusing the public about roles and boundaries.  They included:

  1. Educate pet owners
  2. Hiring another Animal Control Officer (specific position for enforcing spay/neuter)
  3. No breeders permits for dog breeds that dominate shelter population
  4. Join PAWS efforts to increase citizen access to affordable spay/neuter services
After Wilson's thirty five minute presentation Council members asked questions.   Most members were complimentary of the presentation and the work performed by both Morgan and Jenie.  

Council asked staff for a prioritized list of recommendations and associated budget amounts and got what?  Not that.  

I saw the city utilizing PAWS as their public mouthpiece, a common occurrence.  People confused about the delineation between PAWS and the Animal Shelter remain confused.

The effusive praise for Morgan and Jenie seemed odd given the state of crisis just one month ago.  It also felt out of step given their leadership and programming left citizens needing to surrender their pet few to no options. 


Five years of choking off shelter intake sent unwanted pets away from the shelter and into the streets. 


I see nothing changing in that regard, even with the "atta ladies" and pats on the back. 

Council spent and hour on the crisis in January and another hour and twenty minutes on it in February.  How long before it comes back?  

Update 2-21-24:   Concho Valley Homepage did a story on the growing dog crisis, the one the Shelter and partner PAWS helped grow over the last five years.

Councilman Tom Thompson went from someone concerned about what constitutes proper fencing to restrain dogs to worrying about an Animal Control Officer because they had to "deal with his wife," who has been bitten twice by uncontained dogs while running in her neighborhood.

Update 2-23-24:  Mayor Gunter asked staff to increase communications on pet requirements.  A new video is out.  Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden said "we exist to help the most vulnerable pets and people..."  Data shows the shelter helps large, long stay dogs to the exclusion the increasing number running city streets.  The city is five years into "Let them roam unaltered."

Sunday, February 18, 2024

PAWS Veterinary Services: Part of Contract?


San Angelo City Council will hear an update on the Animal Shelter partnership with Concho Valley PAWS in Tuesday's meeting.  The background packet states: 

Concho Valley PAWS provides additional services at no-cost to the city, such as medical care for pets arriving or residing at the shelter. All program funding outside the vendor contract is raised by Concho Valley PAWS via donations & grants.

The 2020 RFP specified the adoption contractor provide veterinary care, both routine medical care and emergency medical treatment for shelter animals.

PAWS 2020 RFP submission stated:


PAWS committed to employing a licensed Veterinarian.  Will Council hear more about PAWS fulfillment of that portion of their RFP response?

The signed contract includes references to a number of documents,. the RFP and PAWS submission:


The city is in its fourth year of a five year agreement.  I added adoption volumes next to the contracted dollar amount for each fiscal year.


PAWS provides more than adoption services to shelter pets.  It's often the face of Animal Services with local media.  It populates the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee.

What will citizens learn about PAWS relationship with the city on Tuesday?  Tune in to find out.

Update 2-19-24:  Concho Valley Homepage wrote in September 2022:
PAWS employs a licensed veterinarian to spay and neuter all shelter pets upon adoption. 
The organization reminded the community that If pet owners would stop abandoning their pets and stop allowing indiscriminate breeding, there would no longer be an overcrowded shelter.
The article came from a PAWS Facebook post.

Update 2-22-24:  PAWs did not provide current data on deliverables or show its performance year to year or month to month on key measures in its hour long time with City Council.  

Friday, February 16, 2024

Old Fire Training Facility to Serve as Temporary Animal Shelter


San Angelo City Council will entertain a zoning change for the former Fire Training facility in order to operate a temporary Animal Shelter at the site while the current shelter is renovated.  

Planning staff shared that two of the buildings would house pets while a third would accommodate shelter staff.


The Planning Commission wanted a time limit on the temporary use of the center for Animal Services and asked what would be appropriate.  Planning staff said it could take three to five years.


Construction Manager Al Torres said otherwise.  He noted existing shelter design plans are well under way and construction could begin in April or May.  

He stated the city needs a place to house dogs during current shelter renovations but that he has yet to be involved in the temporary shelter remodel.  


One year ago City Council approved seeking bids on a $2 million bond with the majority of proceeds to fund Animal Shelter renovations.  The city paid back the money in August 2023 having only hired an engineering firm for $118,000 for design work.  Normally construction financing is in synch with actual renovation work.  This project has widely missed that mark.

The January Planning Committee meeting came after a year of missed shelter renovation start dates and millions borrowed and repaid for a project that seemed stuck in molasses.  

It's hard to keep up with the varying stories.  What more might citizens hear on Tuesday?

Update 3-7-24:  The latest schedule information is:
....the bid phase is delayed to May 2024 with estimated construction completion in November 2024.

Council to "Accept" Animal Shelter-PAWS Update


City Council will hear from Concho Valley PAWS and Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden on their partnership at Tuesday's meeting.  Together, the Shelter and PAWS adopted Pets Alive and Best Friends Animal Society programming which pushed responsibility for loose pets on to the community by choking off shelter intake.  

The City contracted with PAWS for adoption services in 2017 and the push for Pets Alive/BFAS "managed intake" began in 2019.  Nearly five years later San Angelo has a significant loose dog problem.  


Last month Council asked staff to bring back a prioritized list of strategies with corresponding costs to tackle the crisis.  That is not on the agenda.  This is:

Discussion and review on Animal Services' partnership with Concho Valley PAWS (Presentation made by Neighborhood and Family Services Assistant Director Morgan Chegwidden and Concho Valley PAWS Executive Director Jenie Wilson)

The background packet states:

Summary/History:  Concho Valley PAWS is local 501c3 non-profit organization and a contracted vendor for San Angelo Animal Services to facilitate adoption services for shelter pets, but also provides many other support services. The purpose of the presentation is to provide the council with additional information and knowledge regarding the services offered and how the public-private partnership functions.

Financial Impact:  As a contracted vendor, Concho Valley PAWS will receive $73,792.00 in FY 2024 for the purpose of providing two full-time adoption specialists to promote pets for adoption and facilitate their placement. However, Concho Valley PAWS provides additional services at no-cost to the city, such as medical care for pets arriving or residing at the shelter. All program funding outside the vendor contract is raised by Concho Valley PAWS via donations & grants. Through adoption and low-cost spay and neuter programs, Concho Valley PAWS seeks to reduce the number of animals entering the shelter. Over time, we expect this to help conserve city resources.

Other Information/Recommendation:  Concho Valley PAWS would like to encourage the City Council to support furthering spay and neuter initiatives in San Angelo, as Concho Valley PAWS strongly believes that spaying and neutering pets is key to decreasing the number of stray pets and reducing the burden on city animal services.
The "presentation" is not included in the packet made available to the public.  I hope it includes key performance measures like the number of adoptions.  City provided data shows adoptions fell 49% from FY 2022 to FY 2023:


Staff informed the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee that pets adopted or transferred from the shelter dropped 32% from the prior year.  

The background packet shows staff recommends Council "Accept" the item that has no attachments and nothing under "funding source."

PAWS strongly believes spaying and neutering pets is key to decreasing the number of stray pets and reducing the burden on Animal Services.  They should be happy to explain why PAWS stopped issuing low cost spay/neuter vouchers for two multi-month periods since the September 2022 roach infestation/horrific hoarding conditions crisis.  At that time PAWS promoted their "Be the Change", "Please Spay/Neuter Your Pets" campaign.


The calendar is from December 2022 to September 2023.

PAWS should also be happy to share data on the their spay/neuter programs.  In November 2022 I asked PAWS via e-mail:
I am interested in learning the # of Dog and Cat SNIP vouchers PAWS issues per month. What is the current number issued and does PAWS plan to increase that number to serve the City Animal Shelter?
PAWS did not respond.  

We'll see what questions City Council asks of PAWS and Shelter leadership, the two groups that strategically steered San Angelo into its current crisis.  It's been years in the making and will be years in undoing.