———-<\/p>\n
2011 | How One Neighborhood Discovered that Dallas Animal Services Does Not Meet the Needs of\u00a0the Citizens<\/strong><\/p>\n In 2010, a three dog pack was reported to animal services as roaming several neighborhoods killing cats. Their aggressive nature and repeated attacks earned them a \u201cdangerous dog pack\u201d designation from the city. In 2011, the three dog pack had grown to a six or seven dog pack. If you have never had the experience\u00a0of standing in the middle of a dog pack when they are hunting a cat, it is quite frightening. They mean business and they are not concerned with you trying to stop them. Several neighbors had the misfortune of seeing the pack in action.<\/p>\n In September\/ October of 2011, the pack leader, a large husky, came into heat and started spending significant time on South Rosemont. Simultaneously, a South Rosemont resident, who consistently violated\u00a0animal confinement laws as well as spay and neuter laws<\/a>, had a chihuahua that came into heat. DAS continued to let this homeowner keep the intact roaming animal without penalty and without working with them towards a compliance resolution. These two events caused the dog pack to grow to 15 dogs<\/a>, and caused the\u00a0pack to begin to spend excessive time on South Rosemont.<\/p>\n Neighbors found themselves coming out at 3 o\u2019clock in the morning to defend their cats against these large packs of dogs. The dogs generally did not want any human interaction, but would get within a few feet of people\u2019s front doors while scavenging<\/span> for cat food bowls left out on porches. They would lay in dark yards and sit on point watching and calling to each other\u00a0at night. They would fight and mate on people\u2019s front porches, in the road stopping traffic, where ever it suited them. \u00a0As the two intact breeding females<\/span>\u00a0came into\u00a0full mating season<\/span>, the dog pack grew in numbers, the fighting grew exponentially, and the pack was becoming increasingly dangerous due.<\/p>\n The neighbors tried to work with animal control to have the dogs trapped and picked up. Apparently it was not enough for half the neighborhood to see and report the dogs, it was not enough to have pictures of the pack, the \u201csweep team\u201d or an animal control officer had to see them and verify the pack before you could get a response. Animal control had difficulty making a visual on the dog pack for quite some time, weeks actually.<\/p>\n This went on each fall for three years. It was\u00a0very difficult over the three year period to communicate with the city and with animal control.\u00a0Reference numbers were given, special phone numbers, priority status, but no one with the city ever seemed to know anything about the dog pack. Each call was like we were starting over. The special phone numbers they gave out were not manned at nights or weekends,\u00a0which was the time\u00a0that the pack was usually the most active. It was very difficult to establish what was proper protocol with one exception: we were all made very\u00a0aware that the city had up to 72 hours to respond to just about anything animal related in the field. So while we waited for the pack to be validated and for special phone number and reference numbers to have meaning, the neighbors went to work problem solving themselves.<\/p>\n Citizens collaborated with Councilman Griggs’ office to get live traps, and they set out to catch the dogs themselves. Three years in a row <\/a>they dealt with the generations of the same feral dog pack until the last known pack dog was caught<\/a>. Citizens did all the work while DAS management complained about the residents in the area who were asking for change, meaningful collaboration, and to have the loose animals picked up.<\/p>\n While it is hard to understand or to believe that neighborhoods have known dangerous dog packs roaming their streets, they do. It has been documented all over South Dallas. Recently, the chairman of the Animal Advisory Commission, Peter Brodsky, who \u00a0has a good grasp on the issues, was quoted in the New York Times as saying<\/a>, \u201cIt\u2019s not that it\u2019s 24\/7, that there\u2019s constantly dogs out and people can\u2019t even leave their house.\u201d While Mr. Brodsky is relatively informed on the issue, that thought is incorrect and misleading. While a dog pack was roaming our neighborhood, a resident had to call in to to work and tell their boss that they would be late for work because an aggressive dog, from the pack, had trapped them in their house. They sleep in our alleys and in our bushes and our postal workers refuse to deliver the mail because these \u201cunowned\u201d dogs jump out of the shrubs they are hiding in and try to bite them.<\/p>\n We have knowledge of several occasions when residents were trapped in their cars and could not get to their houses because aggressive dogs were in their driveways circling their cars and would not let them out of the car. One such occasion happened the night before a neighbor was bitten on a walk. The dog that bit him had been reported the day before, holding a mother and her children hostage in her car in her driveway. It\u2019s real and it\u2019s that bad.<\/p>\n It is also why Councilmember Tiffinni Young stated in a meeting,\u00a0\u201cIt tears up my heart to see kids scared to walk to school and hiding out, late for school, because they have so many stray dogs in their neighborhood.\u201d The stark reality also prompted\u00a0Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Erik Wilson to comment during a Commission meeting about the disparity between districts. While constituents walked the Katy Trail without a care in the world wearing headphones and carrying their devices, his constituents walked with golf clubs and sticks to get their kids to school. It\u2019s real and it\u2019s that bad.<\/p>\n ———-<\/p>\n 2012 | Dallas Animal Services Critically Injured Several Animals with their Ineffective and Inhumane Catch Methods Causing\u00a0Gyspy Dog Ops to be Founded<\/strong><\/p>\n Gypsy Dog Ops<\/a>\u00a0was born out of the need to help the injured feral pack ‘leader’,\u00a0Tasha the husky<\/a>, and to make sure DAS policy was changed to reflect a more humane and effective Field Services program. \u00a0Gypsy Dog Ops also made it part of their mission to help the neighborhood, and the city, resolve loose dogs, feral dogs, and hard to catch\u00a0dogs pack<\/a>\u00a0issues. In an effort to educate city leaders and to work towards solutions, Gypsy Dog Ops put together a presentation for the city. The\u00a0presentation<\/a>\u00a0documents neighborhood dog pack issues as well as the challenges and roadblocks residents faced when using the city’s\u00a0system to address loose, aggressive, feral, or hard to catch dogs. \u00a0This report also pointed out the alarming communication issues between 311, 911, and DAS. At this time, and at many other times before Ms. Brown was killed, known problems with the reporting systems and communication issues were brought to the City and to DAS\u2019 attention.\u00a0Even with a request from Councilman Griggs directly to Ms.\u00a0Jones to work with the citizens on the 311 issues and several other identified issues, the presentation, the citizens, and the Councilman were dismissed by Ms.\u00a0Jones.<\/p>\n Since 2012, Gypsy Dog Ops has worked to confine, capture, and rehabilitate the known neighborhood loose dangerous dogs and pack dogs<\/a>. They have captured most dogs that DAS could not. Dogs have been found residing routinely at neighborhood schools<\/a>, libraries<\/a>, parks<\/a>, highways<\/a>, businesses<\/a>, hospitals<\/a>, and on residential property<\/a>. They have facilitated compliance interventions, rabies checks, and funded resources<\/a> for residents all while DAS leadership was complaining and bad-mouthing the rescues and the citizens for asking the City to come out and do their job.<\/p>\n ———-<\/p>\n \u00a02012 | The Oak Cliff\u00a0Animal\u00a0Initiative\u00a0is Founded<\/strong><\/p>\n The Oak Cliff Animal Initiative was born in a homeowners\u00a0association meeting full of frustrated neighbors who were concerned for their safety and the safety of their families. The neighbors wanted answers and help, and DAS was not providing it. Looking for solutions, they turned to their neighbor who was successfully\u00a0trapping loose, hard to catch dogs and a grass roots conversation and initiative was born.<\/p>\n The\u00a0group\u2019s\u00a0grassroots efforts worked to identify the issues and help our City leaders create a path to solving the systemic problems in the current Animal Services\u2019 policy and procedures and works to help support neighborhoods in addressing their animal issues.<\/p>\n While working to shape and change City policy and priorities, the Oak Cliff Animal Initiative hosts community animal-centric town hall meetings<\/a>, and\u00a0facilitates meetings with City departments<\/a> and the community to help the City and DAS better serve our residents and their companion animals.<\/p>\n Their work elevates the City\u2019s animal culture by connecting neighbors with information and low or no cost resources to help create a spay and neuter culture, strengthen communities, and improve safety and quality of life. In an effort to help show neighbors how to value and care for our companion animals, the Oak Cliff Animal Initiative, in conjunction with Gypsy Dog Ops and Tyler Street United Methodist Church brought the First Annual Oak Cliff Blessing of the Animals<\/a> event to Oak Cliff.<\/p>\n This privately funded event spayed and neutered a mash unit full of companion animals, and vaccinated, and microchipped hundreds of community pets. The record breaking event also brought information and services to the neighborhood that allowed residents to understand what it is to be a good steward of their companion animals and, with respect and dignity, enable them to better care for their pets. The event brought together a diverse group of residents over their love of their companion animals, and was such a success that other area churches immediately began asking for help for hosting a similar event at their churches.\u00a0In response to requests from other neighborhoods and churches, in 2016 the Oak Cliff Animal Initiative is planning three spay and neuter\/ Blessing of the Animals events across the city.<\/a><\/p>\n Additionally, the Oak Cliff Animal Initiative has successfully integrated animal issues into several local HOA\u2019s Crime Watch groups and has brought animal issues, educational material, and low cost microchipping to the Winnetka Heights National Night Out.<\/a><\/p>\n During this time, DAS continued to tell the southern sector\u2019s taxpayers that picking up loose dogs was not \u201cworth the return on investment\u201d and they continued to tell citizens that DAS didn\u2019t have the time or resources to help. DCAP and the Animal Advisory Commission were not any more cooperative, collaborative, and they were equally, if not even more dismissive of the public\u2019s stated needs.<\/p>\n Contrary to the behavior of the tax payer funded DAS, after attending all three annual\u00a0Oak Cliff Animal Initiative community meetings, as well as other community meetings the group has hosted, the\u00a0SPCA reached out to collaborate with the community. After actively listening to the needs of the community, they have partnered with Gypsy Dog Ops and The Oak Cliff Animal Initiative on several efforts and programs to help community animals, to help elevate the animal culture in South Dallas, and to actively become involved in the conversation to solve the dangerous loose dog issues plaguing our communities.<\/p>\n As many citizens and\u00a0groups struggled to be heard and taken seriously by DAS, advocates around the city began to reach out to the press, and the press began to find the grassroots advocates and ask why they were needed in the first place.<\/p>\n ———-<\/p>\n December 2014 through August 2015 |\u00a0<\/strong>The Media Picks up the People\u2019s Story<\/strong> Among other things, The Dallas Morning News\u00a0takes the city to task for its lack of data differentiating between owned-but-loose dogs and feral or abandoned animals.<\/p>\n The Dallas Observer also weighed in on the crisis level dog issues through several scathing articles that included\u00a0one article about the unethical and unprofessional behavior of DAS\u2019 social media coordinator.<\/a><\/p>\n Additionally, another\u00a0Dallas Observer article<\/a>\u00a0finds former DAS employees that confirmed that once Jody Jones started running DAS, policy changed; animal control officers\u00a0were directed to stop picking up stray dogs.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThey started telling us to not bring in animals,\u201d says Paul Ellis, an animal control officer for 25 years who retired on bad terms this year, under the two new directors appointed in 2011. “All of us saw a rapid increase in the population of the dogs in Dallas.\u201d \u00a0And indeed we did see a rapid increase in the population of loose dogs and dog packs in our Dallas neighborhoods.\u00a0We have data from open records requests that supports this statement as well.<\/p>\n ———-<\/p>\n January 2015 | The Aussie Incident\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n On New Year\u2019s Day, when the shelter was closed, shelter staff \u201cmistakenly\u201d euthanized four Australian shepherds<\/a> due to poor communication and insufficient policies and procedures. A rescue group was working to get these animals pulled from the shelter and they were not contacted prior to\u00a0of the euthanasia. An official investigation was launched, and ultimately a shelter worker was fired and the employee who made the mistake was counseled. \u00a0DAS broke the city charter while conducting the investigation, essentially creating an illegal investigation that resulted in this employee\u2019s firing. After this was pointed out to DAS leadership by Councilman Griggs, DAS leadership refused to acknowledge they had done anything wrong.<\/p>\n Additionally, DAS petitioned and pressured rescue groups and Dallas Companion Animal Project (DCAP) members to sign a petition<\/a> and to blindly stand behind DAS\u00a0and their mistake. This letter clearly implied that the media and the public didn\u2019t know enough about animal rescue to have an opinion about the mistake and the \u201ccomplexities of rescue\u201d. This letter was sent out by Rebecca Poling, who at the time was the DCAP Program Manager and the DAS Social Media Coordinator. She is still the DAS Social Media Coordinator.<\/p>\n This petition caused a serious rift in the animal rescue and advocacy community. The founder of Duck Team 6 left his organization over this petition letter.\u00a0DAS stood by as their partner transfer groups, animal commissioners,\u00a0and members of DCAP attacked and ridiculed individual rescuers and citizens. DAS and their partners stood firmly by DAS\u2019 message house: the citizens were the problem.<\/p>\n After the incident, advocates and Councilman Griggs meet with DAS and the Director of Code Compliance, Kris Sweckard, to discuss creating a standard operating procedure (SOP) that had checks and balances so that these type of human errors would not continue. DAS agreed to do this, but was never able to produce an SOP that had checks and balances. When Mr. Griggs ran the Aussie scenario, in a theoretical excercise with the new SOP, the Aussies ended up accidentally euthanized due to human error again. Nothing meaningful was done to address the problem and to give the SOP checks and balances.<\/p>\n DAS stated in this meeting with Councilperson\u00a0Griggs that they recommended the shelter only with work with 501-c3 groups. There is nothing about a tax status that makes a group a viable partner and collaborator, it is a tax status alone. Additionally, DAS is a tax funded municipal shelter, to imply that they no longer needed to work with citizens was\u00a0ridiculous and a\u00a0potential civil\u00a0rights violation.<\/p>\n Councilman Griggs directed DAS to write a \u201cfriends policy\u201d that would allow independent high volume rescuers and citizens to have a clear set of rules of engagement. DAS\u00a0had this on their agenda for years and repeatedly disregarded Griggs request for this SOP. It was even in the memo that Griggs wrote to the Mayor that triggered the DAS budget\u00a0briefing to the full council. It has not been written or addressed to date.<\/p>\n The problems continue today. Current best practices and training practices are so ineffective and insufficient that tragic mistakes are made every day. Mistakes in life and death temperament assessments, mistakes in simple tasks like documenting people\u2019s contact information, mistakes in contacting microchipped pets’ owners, even in adoption practices. In the last few months, there have been at least 4 \u201cAussie like incidents\u201d where dogs were accidentally euthanized and proper documentation was not kept<\/a>.<\/p>\n At the time of the Aussie incident,\u00a0conflicting information and incorrect policy was constantly being given out to the public. DAS justified this because they felt they were\u00a0understaffed. All DAS staff should be competent and understand policy \u2013 including management. At the time, citizens suggested that if\u00a0the challenges of training temp employees was too much, then they should overhaul the system. If DAS and City management didn\u2019t have time to set a vision and address the issues in a timely manner, they should bring in a consultant who could. How prophetic that turned out to be.<\/p>\n ———-<\/p>\n AUGUST 2015 | DAS PULLS a FAST ONE on the TAXPAYERS<\/strong><\/p>\n We now have documentation\u00a0that from Aug 12, 2015\u00a0\u00a0through Sept 11th, 2015, Dallas Animal Services was bringing in dogs and cats from outside of the city\u00a0limits for adoption contests. Getting this information was quite the journey. Councilman Griggs requested the data from the City and the City did not respond to his request. When Mr. Griggs could not get a response, a citizen put in an open records request. Five months later, and after a complaint to the Attorney General\u2019s office, the Attorney General demanded that DAS release the information.<\/p>\n Here is the big picture, DAS\u00a0was killing the animals that were from coming into the shelter from Dallas neighborhoods while transferring\u00a0in what they thought were \u201cmore adoptable\u201d animals from outside of the city limits; all to win a contest. These dogs cost the City approximately $13,000 dollars to process and place into adoptions. By the way, DAS did not win the contest.<\/p>\n Additionally, during this time period, intake from the field (loose dogs) declined dramatically, \u00a0between 100 and 150 fewer animals for August. We kept wondering what caused the sudden intake decline. Once we got the information from the ORR, we knew the reason. DAS stopped picking up street dogs in order to keep the overall shelter volume the same while they were bringing\u00a0in animals from outside of the city in order to TRY to win an adoption contest.<\/p>\n August is also the month that approximately five people and their animals were attacked in our neighborhood, including our mailman. This spike in dog bites is what caused Councilman Griggs to trigger the memo that caused the DAS budget briefing.<\/a><\/p>\n ———-<\/p>\n August 2015 |\u00a0<\/strong>Dog Bite Spikes in District 1 Cause Scott Griggs to Write a Memo that Triggers a Budget Briefing<\/strong> click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n ———-<\/strong><\/p>\n AUGUST\u00a02015 |<\/strong> The Full City Council Receives a Document Outlining The City\u2019s Animal Issues\u00a0<\/strong> ———-<\/p>\n SEPTEMBER\u00a02, 2015 | <\/strong>DAS Budget Briefing to\u00a0the Full City Council\u00a0<\/strong> DAS continues to make the live release rate the sole measure of success, all while dog bites and loose dogs calls are skyrocketing and the City Council and citizens continue to\u00a0demand that DAS picks up the loose dogs. After repeated requests to include dog bite information in DAS metrics and presentations,\u00a0there is still no mention of dog bites or tracking dog bite data as part of DAS\u2019s stats or goals.<\/p>\n The City Council was unanimously dissatisfied with the presentation and demanded a plan with specific strategies, goals, and metrics that would address the five issues in Scott Griggs\u2019 memo and a plan that would address the crisis level loose dogs and would pick up the loose dogs.\u00a0The mayor declares this situation a\u00a0priority one crisis level issue and put Councilmember Sandy Grayson and the Quality of Life Committee in charge of making sure this happens.<\/p>\n Notable quotes from the meeting:<\/strong><\/p>\n Councilman<\/span>\u00a0Scott Griggs<\/strong>: \u201cWhat\u2019s been presented today does not pass for a plan\u201d<\/p>\n Councilman Adam\u00a0<\/strong>McGough<\/strong>:<\/span>\u00a0\u201cDisappointed in the briefing….we’re not moving…it shouldn’t be this hard”<\/p>\n Councilman Scott Griggs:<\/strong> fixing this issue is \u201cparamount to the quality of life of the people of Dallas\u201d……above the euthanasia rate.<\/p>\n Councilman<\/span>\u00a0Philip Kingston:<\/strong> “Our strategy is ineffective. What IS our strategy for loose dogs?”<\/p>\n Here is the document:\u00a0DAS Budget and Metrics\u00a0<\/a>that was presented during the meeting.<\/p>\n
\nThe crisis level issue animal issues began to received both national attention and coverage from all the local media outlets, including a the\u00a0Dallas Morning News expose that included: front page of the Sunday paper with content above and below the fold with a huge color photo<\/a>; a double-page spread inside with eight photos, the graphic with Scott Griggs\u2019 memo to the Mayor<\/a>; \u00a0a third inside page with another photo and graphic and another sidebar on how suburban shelters are dealing with the problem<\/a>; PLUS the entire editorial space in the Points section, with \u201cfour things that would go a long way toward fixing<\/a>\u201d the problem, along with contact information for the mayor and all council members. It was\u00a0massive! Add to the print edition all the online coverage, with the slide shows<\/a>, a heart wrenching video<\/a>, interactive map<\/a> and, of course, Sharon Grigsby\u2019s blog posts that started it all. But this was just the beginning, local\u00a0papers started a series of articles<\/a>\u00a0following and outlining the issues.<\/p>\n
\nFrustrated by DAS\u2019 ongoing inability to deal with growing animal issues in his district and the subsequent spike in dog attacks against his constituents, neighbors, and mailman,\u00a0Scott Griggs called for a DAS budget briefing.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n![\"11144485_847554918655262_8360053387884902201_o\"](\"http:\/\/www.gypsydogops.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/11144485_847554918655262_8360053387884902201_o-232x300.jpg\")
<\/a>
\nAhead of the budget briefing the City Council, and the mayor are send\u00a0a document that outlines the City\u2019s crisis level animal issues.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n
\nTriggered by a memo issued by Councilman Scott Griggs, Dallas Animal Services briefs the full City Council on their budget and strategic plan.<\/p>\n