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.

Animal Shelter Update to Council Next Week

Animal Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden will update City Council on the myriad of issues raised before Labor Day weekend.  

Roach infestation -- "Our pest control vendor has completed three treatments to the impacted area and continues to spot treat assessing progress."

Horrific hoarding conditions -- "Standards of care have improved greatly and will continue as we invest in staff training, maintenance and outreach."

Overcrowding due to puppies and strays-- "Management recently adapted the shelter capacity, further defining the maximum animals housed.

• No more than 180 dogs*
• Opportunity to house 20 additional dogs in exigent circumstances with an expiration of one week

• No more than 120 cats*
• Maximum length of stay will be determined by routine assessments of each animals' needs based on individual pets' temperament and demeanor

*Cats (kittens) and dogs (puppies) under four weeks of age are excluded from capacity as their mother cares for them. No additional staff time is needed to clean the kennel.

Statistics on puppies and kittens taken into the shelter for the last seven years is below.  This does not show how many puppies or kittens were born in shelter care or the age of those infant pets.

Spay/Neuter Enforcement and Compliance -- "Our prior practice was to educate citizens on the requirement to spay/neuter and refer families to low-cost options, such as Concho Valley PAWS' SNIP voucher program.... After a 10 days’ grace period, we’d follow up with the citizen to collect proof of
compliance and write a citation if no progress was made."

"Pet owners may visit conchovalleypaws.org/snip today to avoid costly fines and invest in the long term health of your pet. City Council may consider funding $10,000 annually for spay/neuter assistance for families in need."

Veterinary service provider PAWS and the shelter released nearly 1,500 unaltered pets in the last two years.  That is over 62 unaltered animals per month.  Most of those were returned to owner/guardian. 

Monthly citations for failure to spay/neuter since Morgan was promoted to Shelter Chief show minimal ticket issuance (only an average of 2.9 citations per month over a five year period).

The average for the last two years was 3.76 citations per month.  Shelter data does not support Morgan's assertion that citations were written for failure to spay/neuter those 62 unaltered pets released per month over the same period.  

How does a city staffer get to characterize an unfilled responsibility as an operational practice?  Five city leaders approved the content of the memo to Council.

There is at least one oddity in the update.  It includes a recommended monthly amnesty day where citizens can claim their pet(s) at no expense.  It lists an $86 revenue loss but does not detail the components of that revenue, boarding charges, citation/court fees...   Staff recommend Council approve funding for three amnesty days but does not indicate the funding source for the other nine amnesty days in a calendar year.

The City continues its exclusive alliance with adoption coordinator/veterinary service provider Concho Valley PAWS.  Morgan told SALive the shelter is "on fire" for spay/neuter, yet shelter statistics provided to the public and Animal Services Advisory Committee do not include shelter animal spay/neuter status.  

Veterinary service provider PAWS had two months to address a pregnant Husky in the shelter.  They did not and it gave birth to seven puppies in June.  

City Council has ignored the city shutting off shelter services to taxpaying citizens facing a life event, illness, moving into assisted living/nursing home or death of pet owner.  

Shelter overcrowding is not due to citizens surrendering their pet or returning an adoption.  It remains at a fraction of prior year numbers.

City Manager Daniel Valenzuela asked Assistant City Manager Michael Dane to address the roach infestation/horrific hoarding conditions crisis.  Neither of those gentleman are on the approval list or slated to speak to Council in the update.

The update does not directly address Valenzuela's statement about record numbers of stray pets in our community.  It fails to respond to Concho Valley PAWS assertion that shelter workers are underpaid and overworked.  Hopefully, those issues will be explored in City Council next week.

Update:  The day after informing the public that the shelter is full and posting a PAWS image of large, long stay dogs the City announced  the Animal Shelter will be closed Monday, October 31 for staff training.  Concho Valley PAWS will also be closed.  The closure announcement came at 2:14 pm on a Friday afternoon.

Update 11-1-22:  Morgan informed City Council of changes to shelter worker pay.  Changes in pay were not included under the financial impact section of the memo to Council in the background packet.

Council chose to restrict the number of animals taken into the Shelter. When the dog population hits 170 the shelter will not take in new dogs from San Angelo citizens who find a lost dog.  Councilman Larry Miller asked what his options would be if he found a dog in his front yard in that situation.  Morgan said he would need to knock on doors in his neighborhood.  He said he would be put in a difficult situation with no service from the shelter and release the animal.  That has been the case for many citizens since the shelter went to managed intake.  

For years shelter staff regularly told citizens that they will not take their owner surrender.  The practical impact of restricting intake means shelter staff will leave strays on the streets or good-hearted citizens will be forced to decide to release the stray they found.

The idea of spending more on spay/neuter was not addressed in the meeting. 

Shelter Owner Surrenders Remain Low

Overcrowding at the City of San Angelo Animal Shelter was not the result of pet owners surrendering their pet or returning an adopted pet.  Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden blamed the situation on litters of puppies.  City Manager Daniel Valenzuela said the problem of stray pets in our community had gotten out of control.  

The question is how the shelter's intake diversion for the last four years impacted the number of dumped, unaltered animals in our community.  To that answer add the nearly 1,500 unaltered pets the shelter released to owners in the last two years.

PAWS cited overworked and underpaid shelter staff in its public relations efforts around the horrific hoarding conditions.  Hopefully, Council's shelter update on Nov. 1 will hear back from staff on these issues, puppies, strays and shelter worker pay.

City Council to Tackle Service of Longstanding COSADC Board Member

The City of San Angelo is close to closing the chapter opened in the September Development Corporation Board meeting by former Economic Development Director Guy Andrews, Economic Development staffer Nolan Sosa and Development Board First Vice President John Bariou.  

Andrews had already retired but shared the reasons he left city employment.  Guy cited bullying by Assistant City Manager Michael Dane and avoidance of important issues by City Manager Daniel Valenzuela.

Nolan Sosa switched employers after raising leadership concerns and the ire of interim boss Michael Dane.  That leaves one person for City leadership to address.  City Council will discuss in Executive Session on 11-1-22.

Section 551.074 - Personnel matters regarding the evaluation, discipline, or dismissal of John Bariou from the COSADC Board.

John Bariou has served on the Development Corporation Board for a number of terms and over the years shown his knowledge and dedication.  Will Council discipline or dismiss Bariou for taking what appeared to be an ethical stand in the September COSADC board meeting?  It's on Council's closed agenda. 

Update 11-1-22:  City Council dropped the Executive Session agenda item regarding "evaluation, discipline, or dismissal of John Bariou from the COSADC board."  Mr. Bariou asked Council to move the item from closed to open session and referenced state officials in his point of order to City Council.  City Attorney Theresa James suggested training for Council and the COSADC board on state laws/regulations as she believes Council and members of COSADC are talking past one another on this issue.

Update 11-2-22:  John Bariou gave public comment at City Council and informed Council members of the many public authorities watching the meeting and concerned about the recent developments between the city and the Development Corporation.  

Bariou spoke with SALive the evening before the Council meeting and shared his concerns.

Update 1-17-23:  City Council did not slap down Bariou directly but Mayor Gunter scuttled a number of proposed bylaw changes that would have given the Development Corporation Board more power in COSADC leadership and officer selection.  Councilman Harry Thomas said he was surprised the City Attorney allowed the document to be brought forward.  This is the second item from COSADC that Council rejected since former Economic Development Director Guy Andrews spoke out against City Manager Daniel Valenzuela and Assistant City Manager Michael Dane.  

Update 3-7-23:  City Council approved the minor bylaws change.  After Executive Session Council approved a number of Development Corporation Board members.  John Bariou's name was not among the nominees approved.  City Council enacted their desired discipline on behalf of Dane and Valenzuela.

Shelter Released Nearly 1,500 Unaltered Pets

The City of San Angelo Animal Shelter released almost 1,500 unaltered pets over the last two fiscal years.  The vast majority of intact dogs and cats (nearly 1,400) were in the return to owner/guardian category.  Adoptions accounted for 100 unaltered pets.

Shelter management and adoption/veterinary services contractor Concho Valley PAWS have long complained about irresponsible pet owners allowing their pets to reproduce and run free.  In some cases the shelter has facilitated reuniting shelter animals with those irresponsible owners.

This two year time frame is important because City leadership changed the time period for giving citations for failure to spay/neuter per city ordinance.  It informed the public in a press release:

Effective Aug. 16, 2022, citizens who have failed to prove compliance for spaying or neutering their pets have received citations through a newly approved process that allows violations to be issued by mail rather than in person. This has replaced the shelter’s practice of allowing a 10-day grace period to collect proof of compliance for those in violation. 

Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden said citations would be written going back a "two year period" in the 10-20-22 Animal Shelter Advisory Committee meeting.  

When asked why the switch from a two month to a two year citation period the city's public information officer found no responsive documents. 

Hopefully, the Animal Shelter update for City Council will shed some light on this decision, as well as the myriad of issues raised during the roach infestation/horrific hoarding conditions crisis.

Update 10-26-22:  The City issued a press release on the plan to reduce shelter capacity,the very information it was unable to share with the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee last Thursday.  The press release did not address the large number of unaltered animals that enter and leave the Animal Shelter.  Animal Shelter staff will provide an update to the City Council at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1.