Three Dogs Gave Birth in City Shelter

The City of San Angelo instituted a mandatory spay-neuter ordinance in October 2015.  Despite the ordinance three Animal Shelter dogs had puppies in early May   Two of the three arrived very pregnant and delivered shortly after their shelter admission.  However, one had a distinct track record of shelter stays and releases.  How did the same owner get to reclaim their unaltered dog multiple times from the shelter? 

Also how did a pregnant dog in city hands for two months deliver seven puppies?  The City gave veterinary surgical equipment to Concho Valley PAWS in December 2019 for such a purpose.  

PAWS committed several times to recruit a full time veterinarian to serve the needs of the Animal Shelter including spay/neuter surgeries.  It did so in 2017 and again in 2020.

It's latest RFP submission from February 2020 has a commitment to employ a Veterinarian.  PAWS veterinarian search specifically mentions the shelter's need for veterinary care and spay/neuter surgeries.

It's been over two years since PAWS made service commitments in writing.  Surely someone could have fixed a pregnant dog during its two month stay in the animal shelter.  

That the unaltered dog was released twice to the same owner by city staff should be a surprise given leaderships statements from 2018.

"100% of dogs adopted have been spayed/neutered or are scheduled for their surgery."

...."tremendous trust in this process where there's a reconciliation.  We know who is outstanding for their (spay/neuter) surgery and who is not." 

“So the veterinarians report a missed appointment but we would not report a compliance issue.” -- Morgan Chegwidden to City Council on 2-20-18

Consider this dog's experience in light of staff's words.   The speaker is the person entrusted with enforcing the city's mandatory spay/neuter ordinance.

The present is a chronically overfilled shelter that saw three litters (20 puppies in total) born in May.  One third of those were entirely preventable as the dog had been in the shelter twice before and released unaltered.  It's disturbing that PAWS service commitments made two years ago remain unfulfilled and that spay/neuter surgery could not be accomplished during a two month window while the pregnant dog was in the Animal Shelter.  

Update 6-29-22: