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.

Update 3-19-24:  The City could have shared the following document.

 

It did not share this with the public which might find fault with "deceased animal pickup" being a higher priority than "caught stray dog."  That does not sound like life-saving programming.

Update 9-27-24:  Five months of public meetings produced data from an average of three citizens per meeting.  Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden's report to City Council included

To give citizens an avenue to communicate their concerns, animal services held weekly open house hours for five months from February 2024 through June 2024. Visitors were invited to tour, ask the experts, share concerns and ideas for this come-and-go casual gathering of people motivated to solve San Angelo’s animal concerns. 

About two dozen people attended on 2/7/24 but no more than two individuals reported on any subsequent date.

The meetings were to run through August but stopped the end of June due to poor attendance.  Citizens now have to access Animal Services through their City Council representative to get any response.  I hope they keep doing that.  Maybe elected officials will figure out that something is wrong.

I would suggest veterinarians are included in the list of people motivated to solve the city's animal concerns.  They might be worthy of a special focus group meeting.  That is if someone really wants feedback/public input.  

Data says the weekly series of open houses was for show.  Three months in it was obviously not fulfilling its stated aim, yet there was no course correction.  

Council's lack of response continues.

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."

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.  

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.

Update 7-16-24:  City staff indicated the budget for the temporary shelter is $232,000 and indicated Council already approved that amount.

Update 12-3-24:  Mr. Torres informed City Council that an electrical change order is needed for the permanent shelter renovation.  Morgan will bring that change order to Council on December 17th.  Once approved the engineers need four weeks to complete the redesign.  The project can then go out for bid.  Construction is expected to begin in February 2025 and will take six to nine months to complete.  The temporary shelter is expected to be completed prior to construction starting on main shelter operations.  

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.

Update 6-10-24:  BFAS shared funds with Concho Valley PAWS, the shelter's adoption coordinator.  Were any of those funds used on shelter animals?

Street Meeting vs. Animal Shelter Open House

The City of San Angelo's public meeting on street construction and maintenance occurred on February 1st.  The audience included four citizens.  The public received seven days notice of the meeting.

Contrast this image with the October 2023 Animal Shelter Advisory Committee (ASAC) meeting which had nearly twenty people in attendance, hoping to give public input regarding San Angelo's loose dog problem.  The meeting did not happen as the Chair and Vice Chair forgot about the meeting.

In November 2023 sixty citizens involved in animal rescue asked for a meeting with City Council regarding Animal Services and the need for strategic redirection.  That did not happen.  

At the January 2024 ASAC meeting I gave the public comment that I hoped to give back in October.  The city stresses economic development but the shelter has not consistently responded to large employers with loose dogs on their property.  I assume City Council does not want employers building kennels to house such dogs.  

Also, I asked for a Town Hall meeting on animal issues, one held at a time when area veterinarians could attend.  Veterinarians raised a red flag on increased dog on dog attacks.  The shelter raised another red flag on animal to person bites, up 56%.  Holding a town hall meeting when veterinarian input could be gotten would aid the city in dealing with its loose dog crisis.

The City's Town Hall Meeting on Americans with Disabilities Act compliance gave citizens two weeks notice.

Facing a large number of people who wish to have discussion with policy makers, city leaders did what?  Initially, the city said the Animal Services Advisory Committee would "schedule a meeting in the near future for the public to offer comments to the City related to Animal Services."  That did not happen.

Eventually, city officials offered up an Animal Shelter Open House, complete with a tour of the building (badly in need of renovation).  The public received two day notice of the first Open House, later to learn they are weekly through August.   The open house is not recorded for the public to view.   

The Animal Shelter is not an inviting meeting place for public input, which Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden supposedly desires.

We’re still wanting to collect data from San Angeloans to determine a widespread support of lifesaving efforts.

The city can hold a Town Hall meeting at a time when area veterinarians and the public can attend.  Give citizens several weeks notice and record the meeting.  Provide comment opportunities for people unable to attend the meeting.  That is if they really want input from people dedicated to animal lifesaving.

Update 9-27-24:  Five months of public meetings produced data from an average of three citizens per meeting.  

To give citizens an avenue to communicate their concerns, animal services held weekly open house hours for five months from February 2024 through June 2024. Visitors were invited to tour, ask the experts, share concerns and ideas for this come-and-go casual gathering of people motivated to solve San Angelo’s animal concerns. 

About two dozen people attended on 2/7/24 but no more than two individuals reported on any subsequent date.

The meetings were to run through August but stopped the end of June due to poor attendance.  Citizens now have to access Animal Services through their City Council representative to get any response.  I hope they keep doing that.  Maybe elected officials will figure out that something is wrong.

I would suggest veterinarians are included in the list of people motivated to solve the city's animal concerns.  They might be worthy of a special focus group meeting.  That is if someone really wants feedback/public input.  

Data says the weekly series of open houses was for show.  Three months in it was obviously not fulfilling its stated aim, yet there was no course correction. 

Puppies Fill Shelter Again

The City of San Angelo has a multi-pronged loose dog crisis, uncontained aggressive dogs and unaltered dogs having litters (which are later abandoned).  In a January 31 e-mail Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden wrote:

January is traditionally a slow month for intake with 139 dogs impounded so far, but almost half this intake were young dogs with (1) almost no chance of owner redemption and (2) long medical observation periods to ensure they’re healthy for adopters.

This happened eight years into a mandatory spay-neuter ordinance.  That should be red flag to City Council, especially as they discussed the loose dog crisis during their January 16th meeting.

Flashback to August 2022:

"We are so overrun with puppies," stated Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden. She noted puppies and unwanted litters are a major factor contributing to the Shelter's current and ongoing space crisis.

Council discussed dangerous dogs in their January meeting.

City Councilman Tom Thompson said his wife was bitten by a dog due to inadequate fencing.

Shortly thereafter, a San Angelo resident walking his dog in a park was attacked by a dog that jumped a fence.  The owner called Animal Control because they believed the attacking dog to be dangerous and the fence inadequate to restrain the aggressive animal.  Their pet (the victim) was up to date on vaccinations and injured in the attack.  

The irony is the victim pet came to their yard in 2022 as an abandoned, injured and sick puppy.  No one knows which dog gave birth to their pet (that cost $500 in veterinary bills), but the shelter has a track record of releasing hundreds of unaltered dogs per year going back to 2018.

2018 - Shelter released over 500 unaltered dogs over 6 month period

FY 2019 - City released 730 unaltered pets from shelter

FY 2021 - Shelter released 708 unaltered pets

FY 2022 - City released 760 unaltered pets from shelter

In April 2019  the shelter began choking off intake  through "managed intake" of owned pets.    Four months later they extended managed intake to found pets.   That eventually turned into "let them roam unaltered."

Pets Alive and Best Friends Animal Society policies have driven shelter changes.  Neither group includes spay/neuter compliance in their mandatory measures.  Staff warned City Council what could happen if pets remained unaltered over a multiyear period.

City Council provided the tools:

Staff promised a one year adjustment period before enforcing mandatory spay/neuter.  Citations for failure to spay/neuter were few and far between until August 2022.   At that point the City Attorney's office began a focused review of unaltered pets leaving the Animal Shelter.

Staff informed Council in 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.

The problem can be seen in the recent shelter "at risk for euthanasia" list:

Staff admitted to City Council that "community sheltering" contributed to San Angelo's loose dog crisis.  Shelter changes "led to pet owners dumping their animals at the Animal Shelter or letting them loose."

It took years for the dog crisis to get this bad and it will take years to reverse the damage done by Pets Alive and Best Friends policies.  City Council awaits prioritized action items and corresponding budget commitments.  

There's much work to be done but it's hard to be encouraged that the people who led us into this quagmire are the ones to lead us out.

Update:  Four young dogs are abandoned on Knickerbocker.  Public safety organizations are not concerned and see no reason to mobilize resources.  Do they not remember the traffic accident on Loop 306 caused by loose dogs?

Weekly Animal Services Open Houses to Start Feb. 7th

San Angelo's City Council provided direction to city leadership to seek public feedback on Animal Services via a Town Hall meeting, similar to what the city did with ADA compliance in March 2023.  

Last week the city held a public meeting on streets.  The city informed the public seven days before the street Town Hall and twelve days before the ADA session.  Both the ADA and street meetings were livestreamed on SATV, the city's YouTube channel.

Fox West Texas and Concho Valley Homepage ran stories on the Animal Services Open House shortly after receiving the city press release.  

Both pieces make the open house sound like a one time event.  It's not, according to the City Calendar.

The information does not state if the weekly meetings will be recorded.  

The Concho Valley Homepage story closed with:

With an open house on the way and a canine overpopulation crisis growing within the town, it may be up to the community to decide whether San Angelo has gone to the dogs.

For years the shelter released unaltered dogs back to owners.  For years the shelter choked off intake from citizens wanting to responsibly surrender their pet.  Neither death nor moving to assisted living were good enough reasons for the Animal Shelter to take an owner surrender.  Amelia knows.

City leaders promised a mandatory spay/neuter ordinance combined with required microchipping would reduce the number of loose animals in city streets.  Managed intake and a hard cap on shelter capacity did the opposite.  Shelter policy effectively turned into "let them roam."  

Releasing unaltered animals back to less than responsible owners meant puppies became part of San Angelo's wandering dog problem.

Staff referred to enforcing the spay/neuter ordinance and breeder permit purchases as "kicking the ant's nest" in late Summer 2022.   City policies and practices helped create our "gone to the dogs situation."

The shelter applied Pets Alive and Best Friend Animal Society programming, which transfers sheltering to the community.  Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden and PAWS Director Jenie Wilson repeatedly stated San Angelo has a large number of irresponsible pet owners.  Who would count on them to step up and do more?  

San Angelo is five years into programming that kept unwanted dogs out of the shelter.  It should be no surprise that they fill the streets.

Councilman Harry Thomas said just that at the Council's last meeting.

“There are more dogs on the streets than there’s ever been.”

Yes there are.  It's from years of "letting them roam unaltered."

Update 2-6-24:  San Angelo Live informed residents of their opportunity to tour the Shelter tomorrow evening.  The city added the Shelter Open House to its news feed as of 10:00 am this morning.

Update 2-7-24:  Fox West Texas reported:

Open house events will be held from 5-6 p.m. Wednesdays through August.

Update 2-8-24:  Someone who went to the first Open House noted:

They had Animal Control Officers (ACO) in one section, to go ask questions, Shelter Chief Morgan was there and people could ask her questions and I saw her talk to three people, two at length, Morgan's boss Bob Salas was there.

"News" people taking pics and Carlos (ACO) gave an interview and that's about all that happened! And you could go look at the "ROWS" of dogs! Most of the people that were there were PAWS people and Fosters, and shelter workers.

Update 9-27-24:  Five months of public meetings produced data from an average of three citizens per meeting.  Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden's report to City Council included

To give citizens an avenue to communicate their concerns, animal services held weekly open house hours for five months from February 2024 through June 2024. Visitors were invited to tour, ask the experts, share concerns and ideas for this come-and-go casual gathering of people motivated to solve San Angelo’s animal concerns. 

About two dozen people attended on 2/7/24 but no more than two individuals reported on any subsequent date.

The meetings were to run through August but stopped the end of June due to poor attendance.  Citizens now have to access Animal Services through their City Council representative to get any response.  I hope they keep doing that.  Maybe elected officials will figure out that something is wrong.

I would suggest veterinarians are included in the list of people motivated to solve the city's animal concerns.  They might be worthy of a special focus group meeting.  That is if someone really wants feedback/public input.  

Data says the weekly series of open houses was for show.  Three months in it was obviously not fulfilling its stated aim, yet there was no course correction.  

Council's lack of response continues. 

Minutes Miss the Animal Crisis Mark

City Council minutes went light on San Angelo's loose dog crisis.  The minutes omitted a number of comments about the crisis and the problems with unrestrained dogs on city streets.  Two of those came from Councilmembers.  

Citizen Mary Robinson--“I have never witnessed an animal crisis like I've witnessed here."

Councilman Harry Thomas--“There are more dogs on the streets than there’s ever been.” 

Councilman Tom Thompson--“The dog that bit my wife still has an open gate where it can get out.”

Council minutes also failed to note the number of Concho Valley PAWS people mentioned on page 4.  Two are members of PAWS leadership while the other two are board members.

The city and PAWS partnered on Pets Alive and Best Friends Animal Society programs that choked off shelter intake and pushed "animal sheltering" back on the community.  That's the community PAWS Executive Director frequently calls as having "a large number of irresponsible pet owners."

Flashback to 2019 when Wilson said:

"San Angelo still has a population crisis coupled with a population of irresponsible pet owners which makes it a constant struggle for the shelter and PAWS to prevent euthanasia for space.”--Jenie Wilson, San Angelo Live

Five years of choking off intake put more dogs on the street.  

Combine that with owner failure to spay/neuter and the problem is of another order of magnitude.

City Council learned in 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.

Staff had seven months to work this backlog further, but the shelter's releasing unaltered dogs back to irresponsible pet owners compounds our loose dog issue.

Council also set an expectation that management would hold a Town Hall meeting on animal issues for the purpose of citizen input.  That too did not make the minutes.

The city's "let them roam unaltered" policy for loose dogs has harmed both pets and people.  There are no signs that is going to change.

City Goes Out of Its Way to Not Hear Animal Concerns

Close to the one year anniversary of the Animal Shelter's roach infestation and horrific hoarding conditions City Council met in a strategic planning session.

August 29, 2023

City Council discussed a disturbing dog attack situation on Jackson Street during their planning session.  Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden failed to inform Council under direct questioning of the shelter's significant reliance on Pets Alive and Best Friends Animal Society programs which divert shelter work to "the community" or BFAS funding of her tuition at their Executive Learning Certification.

October 19, 2023

Animal Shelter Advisory Committee failed to achieve a quorum with numerous citizens in attendance wishing to provide public input on the "loose dog" problem created by Pets Alive/BFAS programs.

Despite having three of the five current committee members in attendance staff claimed a quorum did not exist.  Missing members included the committee chair and vice chair.  Concerned citizens were excused with the promise that "the team" would work to quickly reschedule.

Citizens submit letter

Sixty concerned citizens submitted a letter to the Mayor and Council asking for an urgent meeting on 11-3-23.  This was not granted.

November 15, 2023

City staff met with a concerned citizen and asked the public not to attend.

We would like to clear up some misinformation regarding a meeting in regard to Animal Services and Code Compliance that has been circulating on social media. A meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 15, was intended as a small meeting with a concerned citizen and members of City staff. This meeting was not intended to be a public Q&A session. 

The Animal Shelter Advisory Committee will schedule a meeting in the near future for the public to offer comments to the City related to Animal Services. We will post an update on our social media, website and send to media outlets when and where the meeting will take place. 

Brian Groves, Communications Director for the City of San Angelo.

City staff did not reschedule the October 18th ASAC meeting prior to end of the year.   This failure caused the city to violate its ordinance requiring three ASAC meetings per calendar year.

January 16, 2024

City Council discussed national trends and local statistics regarding Animal Services.  Nationally shelters are doing more, while locally San Angelo's Animal Shelter did far less.  

At the end of the meeting Councilman Tom Thompson indicated his wife had been bitten by an unrestrained, uncontained dog.

Council asked for a Town Hall meeting on loose dogs in the community and for staff to bring back prioritized strategies for addressing the problem.

January 18, 2024

The first regular meeting of the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee was held.  Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden offered a weekly Open House at the Animal Shelter for people who want to better understand Animal Services programming.

I stated this was inadequate given the dire nature of our local situation where area veterinarians are concerned about increased dog on dog attacks and city statistics show animal to people bites rose 56%.  A well planned, publicized Town Hall could bring many community voices together to share information that would not be gotten via a weekly Open House with Morgan.

Morgan's Open House substitution is yet the latest effort to scuttle public input.  

Update 2-3-24:  Oddly Chegwidden claims to want that input (an e-mail to the people at Best Friends):

We’re still wanting to collect data from San Angeloans to determine a widespread support of lifesaving efforts.  10-12-23

If this is true a Town Hall meeting should quickly be arranged.  City Council wants it and Morgan wants data from citizens on the shelter's "let them roam unaltered" policies. 

Update 2-8-24:  Someone who went to the first Open House noted:

They had Animal Control Officers (ACO) in one section, to go ask questions, Shelter Chief Morgan was there and people could ask her questions and I saw her talk to three people, two at length, Morgan's boss Bob Salas was there.

"News" people taking pics and Carlos (ACO) gave an interview and that's about all that happened! And you could go look at the "ROWS" of dogs! Most of the people that were there were PAWS people and Fosters, and shelter workers.

Open Houses will occur weekly through August.  

Update 9-27-24:  Five months of public meetings produced data from an average of three citizens per meeting.  Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden's report to City Council included

To give citizens an avenue to communicate their concerns, animal services held weekly open house hours for five months from February 2024 through June 2024. Visitors were invited to tour, ask the experts, share concerns and ideas for this come-and-go casual gathering of people motivated to solve San Angelo’s animal concerns. 

About two dozen people attended on 2/7/24 but no more than two individuals reported on any subsequent date.

The meetings were to run through August but stopped the end of June due to poor attendance.  Citizens now have to access Animal Services through their City Council representative to get any response.  I hope they keep doing that.  Maybe elected officials will figure out that something is wrong.

I would suggest veterinarians are included in the list of people motivated to solve the city's animal concerns.  They might be worthy of a special focus group meeting.  That is if someone really wants feedback/public input.  

Data says the weekly series of open houses was for show.  Three months in it was obviously not fulfilling its stated aim, yet there was no course correction.  

Council's lack of response continues.