City Council Down to Two for Election Certification

San Angelo City Council conducted business with two members.  The two elected officials acted on a motion to accept the results of the November election.  Is that allowed given Council's quorum requirements? 

Spay/Neutering San Angelo's Legions of Unaltered Pets

info@cvpaws is yet to answer this inquiry.  On 11-1-22 I asked:

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? 

On 9-14-22 I asked Executive Director Jenie Wilson:

Which vets/vet clinics take PAWS SNIP vouchers as a general rule?

That question remains unanswered although PAWS website states participating vets are listed on the SNIP voucher.   PAWS website indicated 30 dog spay/neuter vouchers are available for the next 30 days.  Annualizing that figure equals 360 SNIP vouchers.

City of San Angelo policy makers need to consider the magnitude of our unaltered pet problem.  The Animal Shelter released nearly 1,500 unaltered pets the last two years, 760 in the fiscal year just ended.

There is a significant population of unaltered pets in San Angelo neighborhoods.  If City leaders want the Animal Shelter to have space to actually serve citizens then there is a serious backlog to begin working. 

Animal Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden said in 2020:

Once we’ve achieved and maintained 90%, we hope to become a community resource to families in need.

The problem of unaltered pets in our community will continue to grow, especially when leaders are OK with ring fencing the Animal Shelter.  

Update 1-16-23:  Concho Valley PAWS has the following re: Spay/neuter vouchers on its website:

NOTICE: NEW SPAY/NEUTER VOUCHER GUIDELINES COMING IN FEBRUARY 2023

Their Facebook page stated on 1-5-23 and 1-10-23:

Our low-cost spay and neuter voucher program will change in response to increases in veterinary costs and grant funding. We are in the processes of finalizing funding and contract agreements and should launch an updated program in February! We apologize for any inconvenience. WE WANT TO HELP YOU GET YOUR PET FIXED. But we have to secure the best possible ways to ensure we can offer the most help to the most people. Thank you for understanding. Please reach out to other rescues to learn about their available spay and neuter programs.

Update 1-17-23:  It appears the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee will not meet as scheduled for Thursday, January 19, 2023 given city staff are yet to post an agenda.  The Texas Open Meetings Act requires the agenda to be posted 72 hours in advance.  That deadline has passed with no agenda posted for the scheduled meeting.

PETA Letter Missing from City Council Agenda

The City of San Angelo released the agenda and background packet for next week's City Council meeting.  It does not include consideration of PETA's letter encouraging Council to reverse the closing of dog intake for November for public safety reasons.  

The Animal Shelter is on the Consent Agenda.  Item P is:

Consider a resolution accepting the donation of outdoor kennels and play yards to Animal Services (Morgan Chegwidden)

The donation includes 25 outdoor kennels and a play area.

Concho Valley PAWS has fundraised private dollars to construct outdoor kennels and play yards to offer enrichment to canines housed at Animal Services as well as provide for efficiencies in cleaning entire rooms of kennels empty of dogs for more thorough disinfecting. They will install 25 outdoor kennels directly south of the building as well as one large play group east of the animal shelter. The estimated cost of the project is $41,750 to be funded entirely through private dollars collected and remitted by Concho Valley PAWS.

During the roach infestation and horrific hoarding conditions the City purchased 24 stainless steel cages at a cost of $23,659.98.  City maintenance staff set them up in the 4H Building.  What is the current status of those 24 cages and how do they relate to this project?

Items not on the agenda cannot be discussed.  The public would like to know the status of the city's  review "of all the information that was in the letter sent by PETA."

An option would be to ask the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee for advice, however there is no ASAC meeting scheduled.   

It's hard to see where any policy setting body is considering the issues raised in the PETA letter.  

(PETA is short for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.)

Update 11-15-22:  City Council met today.  It did not pull the kennel donation from the consent agenda so the item passed without discussion.  The Mayor did not ask for future agenda items at the end of the meeting.  So, the December 13th meeting is Council's next chance to have the city's PETA letter response discussed in public.  The next ASAC meeting is scheduled for January 19, 2023.

Update 11-30-22:  Over three weeks ago "the City of San Angelo told Concho Valley Homepage staff that they are still reviewing all the information that was in the letter sent by PETA."  It's the last day of the month and there has been no public response to the issues raised in the PETA letter.

Update 12-13-22:   A dog attacked a neighbor on Oxford Avenue and the dog was shot with a gun during the attack.  Someone in local rescue posted:. 

Please let’s do something to open the city shelter back up at least for aggressive dogs. Citizens of this city should not have to deal with this

....this is what happens when animal control doesn’t take action for stray dogs.

Update 1-17-23:  It appears the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee will not meet as scheduled for Thursday, January 19, 2023 given city staff are yet to post an agenda.  The Texas Open Meetings Act requires the agenda to be posted 72 hours in advance.  That deadline has passed with no agenda posted for the scheduled meeting.

Mayor/Council's Response to PETA Concerns?

San Angelo's City Council has been encouraged to pass an "emergency citywide ban on breeding and selling animals in order to assist ones who are now in crisis and to require the city shelter to protect animals and the public by accepting every animal taken to it."

The recommendation came via letter to Mayor Brenda Gunter and members of City Council from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).   

City Council has options in responding to PETA's letter.  It could seek the advice of the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee (ASAC).

The Animal Shelter Advisory Committee makes recommendations regarding Animal Services policy to the City Council.

The ASAC will not meet again until January 2023, although the Chairperson Caitlin Wylie could call a meeting at any time.  

Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden is the Staff Liaison to the committee as well an ASAC committee member (Single Member District #6).  Chegwidden led the shelter since July 2017 and supervised the reduction of animal related services to taxpaying citizens.  

Under her leadership the shelter experienced a dog poisoning/cleanliness crisis (November 2021) and the recent roach infestation/horrific hoarding conditions (August 2022). 

A responsible City Council would take action in response to the PETA letter.  It remains to be seen what that is.  

Update 11-8-22:  ConchoValleyHomepage ran a piece on PETA's letter.  It stated:

The City of San Angelo told Concho Valley Homepage staff that they are still reviewing all the information that was in the letter sent by PETA.

Update 12-13-22:   A dog attacked a neighbor on Oxford Avenue and the dog was shot with a gun during the attack.  Someone in local rescue posted:. 

Please let’s do something to open the city shelter back up at least for aggressive dogs. Citizens of this city should not have to deal with this

....this is what happens when animal control doesn’t take action for stray dogs.

 

Few Breeder's Permits Issued by City of San Angelo

San Angelo residents are confused by the large numbers of puppies contributing to Animal Shelter overcrowding given the city adopted a mandatory spay/neuter ordinance in 2015.  At the time Council included a requirement that citizens obtain a breeders' permit in order for their pet to reproduce. 

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals weighed in the recent shelter crisis.  Their statement included:

PETA points out that while the shelter is turning animals away, anyone who pays a nominal fee can circumvent the city’s spay/neuter law and breed animals, inevitably adding to the flood of homeless ones.

PETA does not know that most of the puppies and kittens came from people who did not pay a nominal fee via the purchase of a breeder's permit.  Over a seven year period the city issued 16 breeder's permits.

PETA is unaware that the shelter does not have to comply with city ordinances.  The Animal Shelter released nearly 1,500 unaltered pets over the last two fiscal years.  It holds unaltered dogs for years, even allowing pregnant dogs to deliver in the shelter.  

Veterinary services contractor Concho Valley PAWS had two months to perform spay/neuter surgery and prevent the June birth of seven puppies into a shelter with endemic parvo.  They failed to do so.

PETA noted:

Astonishingly, residents are reportedly now being asked to house stray animals for the city, a plan that’s dangerous for animals and residents alike when untrained laypeople try to do the job of trained animal care and control professionals. 

This is ancient history under Pets Alive.  The shelter began choking off intake in 2019 and that hold got tighter and tighter until the shelter stopped taking dogs altogether.

The Animal Shelter has been full of large, long stay dogs.  The city has prioritized difficult to adopt dogs over service to citizens under Pets Alive.  City Council endorsed shelter operations, even through a poisoning event that involved adoption contractor Concho Valley PAWS publicly pleading for volunteers to clean shelter cages.  Council continues to support leadership that steered the shelter into horrific hoarding conditions amid a roach infestation.  

San Angelo residents don't care for outside groups telling them what to do.  That said, there are plenty of residents deeply concerned about the fencing off of Animal Shelter intake and the abject failure of Animal Services to enforce spay/neuter requirements and make the shelter "bad citizen" proof regarding spay/neuter.  Council is yet to listen to locals with statistics, facts and testimony.  They won't give PETA the time of day.

What will get Council's attention is an incident with a connected member of the community or an area employer.  It's a matter of time before that happens.

Aggressive White Dogs at ASU

On August 5, 2022 two large white dogs roamed Angelo State University's campus.  ASU Police received a call from university staff regarding the loose dogs at 9:16 am.  Before being detained the dogs attacked an Education Professor walking her two dogs on campus.  

ASU Education Professor --------  called University Police to report being attacked by two aggressive white dogs around S. Johnson and the crosswalk. Stribling said the dogs were last seen walking towards the University Center. Dispatch informed --------- that the dogs had already been detained and Animal Control had been called.

The Professor described the incident as frightening and said help from bystanders kept her or her dogs from being injured.  

Callers dialed Animal Control in addition to the ASU Police.  The dogs' owner drove up and retrieved his loose pets, according to the ASU Police report:

the owner of the dogs drove up in a vehicle bearing TX:----- , TX DL--------:  ----- lives on W. Ave K. The dogs were released to him. Animal Control had not arrived on scene at this time.

City of San Angelo Animal Control had this document regarding the incident:

 

No response to a Police involved incident from Animal Services.  That happened in December 2021 just blocks away with two large white dogs, one aggressive.  Had Animal Control responded they would be in a position to know if these two incidents were connected and if citizens with pets in the area should be concerned if two large, white dogs are rapidly approaching.  

Animal Services Promotes Shelter Intake Cutoff

SALive interviewed Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden and PAWS Executive Director Jenie Wilson the day after the city announced dog intake would be closed for November as long as the canine census remains over 170.  

Morgan continued her exclusive promotion of PAWS, saying the net reduction of over 100 animals through life saving measures was "entirely due to our relationship with Concho Valley PAWS and their life saving programs they offer."  

The City is extremely appreciative of all of the people and organizations that have stepped up in this time of need to help with temporary fosters and relocations of animals.

Chegwidden made no mention of other area rescues who took shelter animals during the roach infestation/horrific hoarding conditions.

Morgan said "we want to be answerable to citizens that invest in us.."   Shouldn't that be citizens who invest in the mission of animal welfare?  Otherwise, the shelter is just part of a political apparatus.

Citizens interested in attending the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee meeting had four opportunities to do so in the last seventeen months.  On 10-20-22 the ASAC stopped answering questions from citizens in attendance as public comment is not a question/answer session, especially for items not on the agenda.  The same thing happened at City Council on 11-1-22.  So there really isn't a forum to get answers from Shelter leadership for people committed to animal welfare.

There is SALive, where Joe Hyde and Yantis Green get to lob softball questions for Morgan and Jenie to answer.  Shelter capacity will remain an ongoing problem due to the city's charging pet owners for their animal's shelter stay ($86) and microchip fee ($13).  If their pet is unaltered, add the cost of a citation ($150) and court fees ($76).  Those fees and fines total $325.  Irresponsible pet owners may leave their pet in the shelter rather than pony up hundreds of dollars. 

City Council did not act on staff's recommendation for a monthly amnesty day on shelter fees or putting $10,000 towards low cost spay/neuter for low income residents.

Cats everywhere, dog packs, all made worse by the shelter releasing nearly 1,500 unaltered pets the last two fiscal years.  And the answer is to close dog intake?  San Angelo's pet problem will be as impressive to area employers as the condition of the streets where stray dogs roam. 

Update 12-13-22:   A dog attacked a neighbor on Oxford Avenue and the dog was shot with a gun during the attack.  Someone in local rescue posted:. 

Please let’s do something to open the city shelter back up at least for aggressive dogs. Citizens of this city should not have to deal with this

....this is what happens when animal control doesn’t take action for stray dogs.

Animal Shelter Planning for One Day of Service in November

The City of San Angelo announced:

As of Wednesday, Nov. 2, the shelter has 181 dogs. Due to this, intake is closed today and any additional days the population remains in excess of 170 dogs until the end of November.

Ways citizens can help reduce shelter population:

• Ask us about the Good Samaritan program – hold the pet for a few days while locating owner.
• If staying out of traffic, leave pet in home neighborhood. 70% of dogs stay within one mile of home.
• Reach out to local rescues.
• If a danger to itself or others, call us at 325-657-4224 to dispatch an Animal Services office

The city plans for the shelter to be open one day in November.  It was November 1, the day City Council approved a hard limit on shelter population.  City leadership ran to the press to put out an 8:16 am release.

The shelter did not offer to scan the stray for the city mandated microchip, a tool for reuniting lost pets quickly with their owner.  It did not refer citizens to HelpMeGetHome.com, a website that posts lost and found pets.

It did steer citizens to local rescue organizations, just as it did when it instituted managed intake in 2019.  That referral overwhelmed rescues.

The press release did not address ways the shelter can deal with overcrowding.  It did not mention the numerous large dogs that have spent years in the shelter.  It did not state that pregnant pets in shelter care would be spayed before giving birth in an environment with endemic parvo and paneleukepenia, diseases deadly for puppies and kittens.  It did not change practices to make the shelter "bad citizen" proof regarding spay/neuter (as it once did).  

Shelter services to the public have been reduced year after year.  Closing the shelter to the public in November occurred in 2021.  The current plan endorsed by Council is for it to be open one day in November 2022.  

That's thirty days for problematic strays to increase in the streets of San Angelo.  New employers might not appreciate San Angelo's third world approach to pets.

Update 11-11-22:  PAWS announced a twenty pound bag of dog food alongside a free dog adoption for November.

Update 12-13-22:   A dog attacked a neighbor on Oxford Avenue and the dog was shot with a gun during the attack.  Someone in local rescue posted:. 

Please let’s do something to open the city shelter back up at least for aggressive dogs. Citizens of this city should not have to deal with this

....this is what happens when animal control doesn’t take action for stray dogs.

Council Supports Restricting Current Shelter Operations

San Angelo City Council endorsed the current operation of the Animal Shelter and gave permission for those services to be restricted further when shelter occupancy reaches 170 dogs and 110 cats.

City Council person Lucy Gonzales said "there are packs of dogs running around and cats everywhere" during the Animal Shelter update.   Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden did not respond to her statement.

City Council heard staff's plan to track down and fine pet owners for not getting their pet spayed/neutered per a 2015 city ordinance.  City Attorney Theresa James said she needed to hire a part time person in her office to just handle spay/neuter citations for Municipal Court.  

Staff did not share the expected fine or court fees associated with a misdemeanor charge.  There also was no explanation for changing the time frame for citations from an August 16, 2022 date (as stated in a city press release) to the last two years (as shared by Morgan at the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee).  

Council endorsed a fixed maximum population for the Animal Shelter.  After this population is reached the shelter will no longer take in animals.  Morgan said the shelter gets 70% of its intake from citizens finding lost dogs in the community and 30% come from Animal Control Officers doing their job.  

Owners surrendering their pet to the shelter is restricted to two conditions, a local disaster and an aggressive pet that is a danger to persons in home.  Morgan said there is a wait list for owner surrenders.  The practical impact of completely restricting shelter intake means not taking lost pets found in city limits by residents or Animal Control Officers.

Council did not address the multi-year stays for numerous large dogs in the shelter in giving permission for a hard intake stop.   It did not consider the shelter released nearly 1,500 unaltered animals in the last two years or how those releases contributed to pet overpopulation.  

It will be up to staff to balance the needs of animals in the shelter against the needs of taxpaying citizens with loose strays in their yard or neighborhood.  Councilman Larry Miller arrived at the correct conclusion that he would forced to decide "to keep or let go a stray pet" when the shelter reaches its hard stop.  

That dilemma is not new to citizens trying to do the right thing by animals.  It occurs daily under the city's "keep the stray for two days" program.  Citizens regularly hear the shelter is full and not to bring in the stray dog.

Council asked about volunteers.  Morgan said the only volunteers used at the Shelter come through PAWS.   Council learned PAWS volunteers do not clean animal cages in the shelter.  

Last November 4, 2021 Concho Valley PAWS issued an urgent plea for volunteers to clean Animal Shelter cages.  Shortly thereafter, the shelter experienced widespread dog poisoning.  Morgan reported the incident to the police on November 19, 2021.

Staff proposed two items to council, monthly amnesty days for citizens to retrieve their shelter pet with no fees and funding spay/neuter surgeries for low income residents.  Council took no action on either item. 

Shelter pets could go unclaimed due to costly fees as the owner could just adopt a new "free" pet through PAWS.  Releasing an unaltered Husky twice from the shelter resulted in a third stay where the dog gave birth to seven puppies.  Veterinary service contractor PAWS had two months to fix this dog before it gave birth in the shelter.

Council learned that pay had been increased for shelter workers, however the cost was not listed under financial impact.  The roach infestation/horrific hoarding conditions cost the city well over $25,000 and that also was not shown in the update. 

A hard stop on intake and issuing citations does not help conscientious citizens and certainly doesn't make the shelter "bad citizen" proof. 

The same leadership that misrepresented citation writing misrepresented the support of area rescues going forward.  Most rescues have washed their hands of the Animal Shelter.  Concho Valley PAWS quit playing nice with other rescues after it changed its name from Humane Society of Tom Green County.  It's an exclusive Shelter/PAWS partnership, seen almost daily in City communications.  

Council doubled down on Shelter strategy, leadership and operations.  So, expect lots more of the same.

Update:  It took the city less than 24 hours to stop shelter intake.  No service for you....

As for those area rescues here's the response from Critter Shack's founder:

The answer is not to close a city-run, taxpayer financed shelter. The answer is to EDUCATE pet owners about spay/neuter, to offer city-sponsored LOW-COST or FREE spay/neuter, actually ENFORCE existing spay/neuter ordinance, issuing citations, with option to dismiss fines when proof of spay/neuter is provided. The city needs to address the root of the overpopulation problem, not just close down when limits are reached.

Sharon also wrote:

No mention of spay/neuter.  Let’s not try to begin to solve the problem at root of overpopulation. Let’s ask all of the overfull rescues who receive no help from the city (unlike paws) for assistance. They can’t admit that the “no kill” movement will not currently work here - how can they close to stray intake, found animals by concerned citizens?

A founder of Cassie's Place wrote:

They want the public to “reach out to local rescues” THAT ARE FULL and Damn tired of cleaning up their damn mess. paws is. A RESCUE- REACH OUT TO THEM .

The city is taking the same approach to Animal Services as it took for public health, endless cutting of services.  

Update 12-13-22:   A dog attacked a neighbor on Oxford Avenue and the dog was shot with a gun during the attack.  Someone in local rescue posted:. 

Please let’s do something to open the city shelter back up at least for aggressive dogs. Citizens of this city should not have to deal with this

....this is what happens when animal control doesn’t take action for stray dogs.

Update 1-17-23:  It appears the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee will not meet as scheduled for Thursday, January 19, 2023 given city staff are yet to post an agenda.  The Texas Open Meetings Act requires the agenda to be posted 72 hours in advance.  That deadline has passed with no agenda posted for the scheduled meeting.