The Commission, the Shelters, the Rescues, the Rangers...

OK, folks, let’s just dive into the day’s report – yep, the Animal Shelter Commission will come up. But first we must praise the Texas Rangers for playing winning baseball last night. Whew.  Now, moving along:
We’ll stipulate that every shelter in town has more animals than it needs.  We’ll also stipulate that the only ways to keep them empty are to quit making more animals and to make more homes. This will require animals and humans to change their behavior – note that it is cheaper to spay/neuter than it is to perform lobotomies.
That’s Inky, the Cocker Laureate of Texas, who lives with us, has never been in a shelter, is neutered and has a list of people who need lobotomies.
OK, read on:
POM RESCUED:  Updating a story from yesterday’s Readlarrypowell.com This Pom, suffering from a broken leg and facing euthanasia in the Dallas Animal Servies Shelter, was rescued yesterday by the SPCA of Dallas, reports DAS Rescue Coordinator Mark Cooper who sent out the original plea for help.
BROKEN LEG AND RUNNING AWAY: At mid-morning we got a report from Steve Hensley, a veteran rescuer, who was on his way to work this morning near White Rock Lake when he saw a “little black dog with a broken leg at the side of the road... He was running on three legs and holding up one of his back ones. He was watching the people pass by on the bike trail and looking like he wanted some human help, but when I approached him, he ran. I chased him around the area for about 30 minutes until I finally lost him. Even a three-legged dog seems to run faster than I do. I last saw him in the woods behind the liquor store at Garland Road and Winstead at the South end of the lake and he may still be around there. If you know of anybody who could go look for this guy or can get me any help in tracking him, please let me know. If I had caught him I was planning to leave him at a nearby vet with my credit card and get his leg fixed. He is a small black dog, maybe about 35 pounds and looks like a very small chow. I last saw him about an hour ago (9:30 a.m.) so he may still be in the area.” (If you know of this dog, e-mail Steve at [email protected].
THE MEETING: I will now attempt the impossible. What’s that? Wearing a loincloth and diving off a cliff into a pail of Dos Equis? I’m not that interesting.
Nope, I’m going to attempt to read my scribbled notes from Thursday afternoon’s Dallas Animal Shelter Commission meeting.
(First, though, some recognition for all the people who serve on that commission. It is evident that all of you do more than just one afternoon’s work when it comes to the commission, the shelter and animal issues. Also, thanks to the city employees who work with the commission and compile facts, explain issues, cite city policies and ordinances, etc.  There were lots of elements to Thursday’s meeting and rather than one long report, I’ll sprinkle them through today’s presentation.  And maybe throughout the next few weeks all the way to the next Commission meeting on November 17.  By then there may have been even more changes within the shelter – according to explanations during the meeting, Nov. 1 is apparently the day new hiring begins for important positions within DAS. You may recall that the city canned a bunch of lower-level shelter employees on Oct. 1 and replaced them with contract labor. Irony: When this contract labor idea was being pitched, the city had been working with the labor firm for years – now, suddenly, a different firm has the contract. Probably hiring from the same labor pool – who knows?)
FYI: Our meeting report will not be comprehensive – you want comprehensive, show up yourself. Which reminds me that at the meeting there were 16 to 18 commission members and city staffers (a couple of the city folks came and went) and 8 spectators, including yours truly.  Every spectator took part in the public comments session, including two people who are enthusiastic about the Nathan Winograd “just go no-kill now” theory of municipal shelter operation.  This may have been the first appearance of Winograd enthusiasts before the commission. (Irony: Some members of the commission and the audience are already involved in no-kill pursuits for the city. Kind of amusing to see the grinding of teeth when the new-to-the-fray people spoke as if nobody else in the room had ever considered “no-kill.” Can’t fault the enthusiasm, though. And, of course, who among us is not for “no-kill” though one of my former colleagues at the big paper in Dallas believes “You can’t save ‘em all.” That’s bunk of course. You can sure as hell try to save ‘em all.)
We interrupt the meeting report to bring you this:
HELP FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD DOG: Remember this dog? Neglected, developed prolapse, lost puppies to neglect, etc.
Rescuer Deb Elkins in Kaufman County is trying to get help for her. Here’s Deb’s latest report:
“Hi Larry, You wrote about this dog on Tuesday.  Well, here we are on Friday morning, and we are very close to having all the pieces of this puzzle in place.
“Dr. Erin Shults of Mazie's Mission has read the story and reviewed the photos.  She said the dog qualifies for Mazie's. I have talked to the family that owns the dog.  It is likely they will surrender her.
“Mazie's needs a foster home for the dog. Would you ask your readers if anyone who fosters has ‘room for one more’?” E-mail [email protected] .
THE CRUELTY CASES: As expected, during the Commission meeting there were questions about the two latest, most publicized animal cruelty stories in Dallas. Commission Member Chris Watts of The Petropolitan who had actually gone to the scene of the Aransas Incident in West Dallas asked about both cases. On Aransas, a dog had been left dead for days with its head stuck between ornamental iron bars at an unoccupied house. And, in downtown Dallas, Frisco the Maltese had been thrown from the 19^th story of a downtown building after a lover’s quarrel.
DAS Shelter Manager Jody Jones said the case of the Maltese was strictly under the jurisdiction of Dallas police and the department was investigating it -- both the domestic violence and animal cruelty angles. DAS had not been called to respond to the incident.
As for the dog on Aransas, she reported that things are “at a stall.” No evidence, no links to anybody. Nobody claims the dog. She said that the shelter staffers who were involved in the initial investigation had undergone training now to recognize signs of abuse and how to gather evidence of cruelty, such as taking photographs of claw marks left when a trapped animal attempted to free itself. She explained that the importance of protecting and acquiring evidence had been stressed. And she said the staff had been told not to assess the site from the truck and make a “pick-up” call to sanitation but to, basically, treat such sites as a crime scene and initiate an investigation.
So, (a) the Maltese case is in the hands of Dallas police and (b) the dog who died on the porch and was left to rot isn’t getting anything more than the sympathy of a handful of people. Somewhere someone knows about this case.  Connecting that person to the authorities – that’s the challenge.
THE COLONY’S ORDINARY ANIMALS: Last week, Patricia Barrington, The Colony’s Animal Control Division Manager, told us about the “ordinary plan” for Saturday’s “Save A Life Express Adoption Program”  -- it’s from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at 5 Star Sports Complex  at 4100 Blair Oaks Drive.
The theory is that “ordinary” animals are always overlooked in the animal shelter, so Animal Control decided to “showcase the ordinary” animals in hopes of getting them adopted.
Director Barrington told me about two of the animals – one was an “ordinary” dog and, son of a gun, if that dog wasn’t reclaimed by her owner who hadn’t had her spayed and refused to believe that the dog was probably pregnant. So, that “ordinary” dog was returned to extraordinary circumstances.
Also cited was an “ordinary” orangish cat named Marsden. As Patricia wrote, “Being the unfortunate owner of an orange tabby coat should not be a death sentence, especially when one is as perfect as sweet Marsden.”
Confession: We have a pal named Jo who was looking for a good kitty to be her companion. Sure enough, she and Marsden are now housemates. Yes, the “ordinary” cat Marsden was so charming and affectionate – like a “storybook cat” -- that he was adopted before he could go on display. Just FYI: It is clear that The Colony personnel make extra efforts to socialize the adoptables -- Marsden is a happy graduate of the "Hands On Cat Congeniality Academy."
These were not the only two ordinary animals at The Colony.
About Saturday’s event, Director Barrington says all animals will be available for $20 and, “rest assured, there won't be any fluffy, white 5-pound dogs or Himalayan kittens at this event - no sir, just unremarkable, ordinary, yet perfect pet companions who tend to get overlooked time and again in shelters.”
That smiling dog is from The Colony’s PetFinder site HERE – he’s Bowser, an ordinary Lab (well, except for that look!). He may be at Saturday’s event. The other dog, Baby, a Heeler/Lab mix, will be there. Other dogs and cats may join them. Some cats may be orange, some may not.
And that cat is, indeed, Marsden The Famous Cat, now off the market, but representative of just plain ol’ affectionate storybook orange cats everywhere.
COMMISSION MEETING—HALLOWEEN AT THE SHELTER: On Oct. 29 the Dallas Animal Services shelter and The Petropolitan will host a Howl-o-Ween Pet Psychic Fair celebration at the shelter. There’ll be pet contests, a pet psychic, etc. [No charge to have a booth there – contact the shelter to ask.]
The event, according to Shelter Director Jones, marks the debut of the shelter’s special adoption fees for animals -- $30. That’s down by a third or more from the usual fees. Get details of the eent HERE.
And, as I noted a couple of weeks ago, the psychic is the improbably named Kathy Kibbel. A pet psychic named Kibbel – what are  the chances? Someone saw it coming. 
SPCA SEIZURE IN DUNCANVILLE: This morning the SPCA of Texas and the Duncanville Police teamed to seize about 120 “cruelly confined dogs and cats” from three houses on a property in Duncanville, just across I-20 from Dallas on the south side. The SPCA was tipped to the situation by Duncanville police. More on this later, no doubt.
TIDBITS FROM THE COMMISSION MEETING: These are some of the things that came up during Thursday’s meeting. And, yes, the meetings are open to the public --- this is a democracy and there are only a few things that can keep the public from watching its government at work at any level.
Again: Want to have an influence on a situation, show up. If the Dallas City Council thinks the most public animal issue meeting only draws 8 spectators, how much attention do you think they’ll pay to animal people’s opinions? Can’t be at the meeting? Write letters. Make calls. It’s a public responsibility. Of course, so is spaying and neutering, properly restraining your animals and making certain that you obey speed limits. Our tidbits:
-- Jody Jones, the DAS manager who took the job and arrived in the midst of budget cuts and assorted pressures, continues to be patient and upbeat and focused on making things better at the shelter (This isn’t her first rodeo.)
In response to a question from Commissioner Deborah Hicks about “when” will the shelter be running as it's expected to run, she told the commission that she expects to have things in place by the start of the new year. Between now and then, she’ll be coping with shelter staffing, holiday vacations, Hiring for key positions is dictated by city manager office approval (expected Nov. 1) and acquisition of such things as a full and complete camera monitoring system (currently in the purchasing pipeline at city hall).
There are 81 ½ positions at Dallas Animal Services, she good-naturedly told the commission. “We haven’t figured out who the half-person is yet. I wondered which half I got.”
--During a discussion of hiring (as I recall), one of the city staffers, discussing the way city hall works, said< “I’ve been around long enough to see interesting things happen.”
--There’s a veterinarian crisis at the shelter – because of assorted leaves and vacancies, the shelter has a shortage and sometimes there is no vet to work with the hundreds of animals. Efforts to contract with outside vet providers have failed because of a workman’s comp complication – no comp, no funding.  Suggestions have been made to outsource spaying and neutering to low-cost spay/neuter organiztions such as the Kaufman County Animal Awareness Program and TCAP. More to come on this, no doubt.
-- Training continues for the newly arrived contract laborers who now do the jobs formerly done by the now departed animal care specialists. Ongoing process.
--The city has begun the process of contracting to outsource cruelty investigations and it is anticipated that the SPCA of Texas will be that agency, though there could be other bidders. As of now, there are 3 city staffers assigned to cruelty investigations in the big city – though, these days, staffers have multiple responsibilities. When? Stay tuned.
-- Some of the indoctrinated city employees use terms such as “customers” (taxpaying citizens) and “service level agreement” which apparently means “how much the city is willing to do to shut up a complaining citizen.”
-- A PA system will be installed in the sprawling shelter so staffers don’t have to chase down other staffers. (Aside: I don’t know. Maybe it was in the original design but just didn’t work out.)
-- In-truck computers are being repaired or acquired so that each DAS truck will have immediate computer communication with headquarters. Things had been allowed to deteriorate under the previous permanent administration.
--The Rapid Response system is being evaluated to determine which hours would be best for a live shelter human to answer the phone and which hours can best be handled by rolling the call to the 311 line were people will be told response could be within a 3-day to 2-week period. Actual  abuse-at-the-moment calls would still get immediate response. Currently weekend calls go to 311.  One commissioner said it seemed that weekend calls might carry more of an urgency than, perhaps, calls on a Tuesday. It’s all under study, the commission was told.
-- There has been “just amazing” response for the Big Fix For Big D spay/neuter program – the city partners with Kaufman County Animal Awareness Program. See HERE. Info about this has been distributed with the city’s water bills – I haven’t seen it, but, then, I’m a guy who just grabs a bill and throws away the extra stuff.
-- The shelter is working on getting an ASPCA and PetSmart Charities grant for cleaning up the computer system. A clean system means more reliable data and will help keep up with animals and other shelter business. Also a new system of “rounds” – an early morning cage check – has been established in the shelter so that animals can be properly inventoried and monitored.  This will help combat the phenomenum of "disappearing animals."
-- Malfunctioning doors are being repaired, shelter air vents are being cleaned. Some maintenance has been affected by the city’s downsizing in building services.
-- One staffer mentioned an unkempt appearance at the front of the shelter and blame for that went in several directions. Not enough maintenance staffers, mistaking “natural grasses” for weeds, and a failure of a clever water recycling system to work properly. “We share your frustration,” Director Jones told the commission.
The Shelter was opened in Oct. 20, 2007. Still got some new on it. Got some wear and tear, too. And, of course, now that the temps have dropped out of the fiery depths of hell level, the air-conditioning is no longer a problem at the shelter. Work continues to establish a better relationship between the shelter and the shelter air-conditioning system.
--The shelter continues to work with the No Harm No Kill project, Dallas Loves Animals and Dallas Animal Advocates. FI Dallas Animal Advocates hosted a farewell luncheon for those DAS employees unfortunate enough to be caught in the city’s clever plan to reduce costs by bringing in contract labors and letting the ol’ faithful employees go.
-- One of the themes of the new era shelter was repeated now and then: “Doing less better.”
Yes, “Doing less better.” May be the Dallas Cowboys theme this year, too --- I’m not sure.
--And that brings us to something that the shelter report indicates the shelter was doing less of though still was doing plenty of --euthanasia.
During fiscal year Oct ‘09.-Sept. 2010, the shelter euthanized 24,297 animals, the report said. For the Oct.2010- Sept. 2011 period, the euthanasia total was 21.763. That’s a decrease of 3,034, the shelter report says.
Adoptions went from 2,760 down to 2,686.
Owner reclamations went from 1,677 down to 1,547.
Recuse/Relocate went from 4,516 to 4,585. That was due to hard-working rescue groups claiming animals.
But the bottom line is the shelter killed 21,763 animals on one little spot of ground in Dallas, Texas, during the year.
Why? Because the city’s political stance is this old-fashioned Texas theory of animal control: “Got an animal problem? Let’s kill it.”
CONTEMPLATIONS: How do you kill that many animals? How can you? Of course, you can’t turn ‘em all lose in city parks and green spaces -- though there is an unsavory swath of Dallas residents who give it a shot each week. And where do they all come from?  Mind-boggling. Just absolutely mind-boggling. What kind of people are we? ...Got an e-mail with this subject line: “Half Off Clothes and Accessories at Flirt Boutique.” Half Off Clothes and Flirt – natural combination. ... Heard Texas Rangers Manager Ron Washington’s post-game press conference last night where he predicted tense games for the rest of the World Series and said, “So those of you who have bad hearts, watch yourself.” If I get excited and keel over during a World Series game this year, I’ve instructed my loved ones to put this Ron Washington quote on my grave: “That’s what baseball do.”
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