Her Shelter Remains Overcrowded

Shelter Chief Morgan Chegwidden frequently states "My shelter..." in media interviews and Animal Shelter Advisory Committee meetings.  

Her shelter released 671 unaltered dogs to their owner/guardian in FY 21-22.  It received "100ish" formal complaints/provided written citations for failure to spay/neuter their pet over the same period.  That means city practice is to not write citations 85% of the time and only cite 15% of pet owners for failure to have their pet spayed/neutered.  Note these numbers are only for pets in shelter care and not for the wider San Angelo population.

Shelter adoption contractor/veterinary service provider Concho Valley PAWS patched up their relationship with the city after mounting a vigorous "It's not PAWS fault" public relations campaign.  

PAWS remains the voice of the shelter.

Executive Director Jenie Wilson had to miss yesterday evening's interview with San Angelo Live but will return for the next update. 

Three members of the public asked questions at yesterday's Animal Shelter Advisory Committee meeting and most went unanswered.  

One asked about the dog poisoning in November of last year, saying it had been swept under the rug.  Another asked how many pregnant pets delivered puppies or kittens in our shelter with its deadly endemic viruses (parvo and panleukopenia)?  Another pointed out a pet owner might not pick up their animal from the shelter for financial reasons (boarding costs plus citation/court fees) and just adopt a free pet via PAWS at their next event.

In the ASAC meeting Morgan could not answer the question about where the shelter stands relative to its capacity target and what plans are in place to reach the target as it was not on the agenda.  She did answer Yantis Green from San Angelo Live when he asked "Where do we stand today and where do we go from here?"

Morgan responded to Yantis' question about euthanasia and the November 30th deadline from city management.  She said the shelter needed to be down to 186 dogs by the end of October.  That information seems timely and pertinent to members of the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee, yet it could not be shared with them yesterday.

She did promote PAWS PetCo adoption event stressing the need for twenty shelter dogs to be adopted and said the shelter is "on fire" for spay/neuter.  "On fire" means not reporting spay/neuter status of shelter pets in monthly reports and no new money.

Chegwidden promoted Concho Valley PAWS SNIP spay/neuter voucher (while neglecting other low cost spay/neuter options in our community).  Morgan told Yantis "there are so many puppies."  Backyard breeding was mentioned but not the need for citizens to get a breeders permit should they desire to have that one litter.  

It's sad that a local media personality can get their questions answered but citizens attending an Animal Shelter Advisory Committee meeting are held off by staff not putting pertinent items on the agenda. 

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.

SALive wrote the city reached an agreement with Concho Valley PAWS and other area rescues on the shelter capacity.   The city reached an agreement with itself and stuck to its over reliance on adoption/veterinary services contractor PAWS as the city's sole Animal Services partner.  Expect more of the same.  SALive serves as the mouthpiece for the City/PAWS Animal Service exclusive partnership.  

Update 10-27-22:  The City issued a press release with "A message from our adopting agency Concho Valley PAWS."  It's on the shelter being full of long stay, large dogs.