HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 9613INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council
SUBJECT: ANIMAL CARE AND CONTROL STRATEGY
No. 9613
January 14, 2014
Page 1 of 2
Issue:
At the December 17th meeting, City Council requested an update on Animal Care and Control (ACC)
efforts to address stray animals and provide community education about the same.
Historv:
On average, ACC receives approximately 28,000 service requests each year. The majority of requests
involve stray dogs. In calendar year 2013, there were 4,588 stray dogs physicaliy captured by officers:
Council District 2 756
Council District 3 232
Council District 4 309
Council District 5 702
Council District 6 312
Council District 7 331
Council District 8 1,474
Council District 9 472
In addition to animals captured by officers, the City loans traps (traps can be more effective than having
staff try to capture strays on foot or using darts) and picks up strays that were caught by private citizens.
In 2013, this accounted for an additional 4,077 captured strays. Other requests and services include, but
are not limited to, rabies control, dangerous dogs, animal bites, cruelty investigations and other similar
activities.
All education and outreach efforts have been strategically developed based on internal and external
research and focus on real time issues facing the community. The Public Education Officer administers
the current campaigns which are produced in English and Spanish. The campaigns include the topics of
pet adoption, low-cost resources for pet vaccinations and spay/neuter, barking dogs and education on the
city's animal ordinances; including stray animals.
Stray Animal Attacks and Bites:
Stray animals, animal bites and other animal/public safety issues are all concerns that major cities face
across the nation. The issues become more complex in cities with large inner cities, with greater
percentages of large dogs per household, etc. (similar to Fort Worth). In addition, there is a great
assumption that the majority of dog attacks/bites are the result of stray animals and thus, if we eliminate
strays, we would also eliminate most attacks/bites. However, both nationally and locally, most bites and
attacks occur on the same property as where the dog resides. When they occur off property, they are
generally not the result of the animal being a long-term stray but rather a situation where the animal broke
loose from the owner, bolted off the property or would temporarily leave the property through an opening
in a substandard fence/enclosure and then return after the attack/bite. Two recent/local examples that
received media coverage involved a young child that was bitten at a baby sitter's home (baby sitter's dog)
and a fenced pet that broke out just prior to the bite. Even so, stray animals are always a concern and a
reduction in the stray population would result in some reduction in the overall number of bites.
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
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To the Mayor and Members of the City Council
SUBJECT: ANIMAL CARE AND CONTROL STRATEGY
No. 9613
January 14, 2014
Page 2 of 2
2014 Operations:
Adjusting for the loss of four positions, the department created a stray animal enforcement team for the
inner city (100% focus on stray animals only). This team will come online 100% (filling vacancies) in early
2014; however, it is partially in operation now using existing staff. This reallocation of staff, along with the
four reductions, will increase the number of strays caught by staff but will also reduce the response time
and services for lower priority calls such as barking dogs.
The department still has one Safe Neighborhood Team (four code compliance officers) who canvass high
risk areas to educate, notify and enforce code violations, including animal control ordinances such as
secure fence enclosures, rabies vaccines and city licenses. Their goal is to educate residents and abate
issues through door step conversations and hand-delivered educational material. The team has bilingual
staff and distributes bilingual material. In fiscal year 2013, the team visited almost 14,000 homes and
addressed over 5,500 animal violations. Over 15,500 total code violations were addressed.
Summarv:
In speaking with Code Compliance staff that have worked for the City for over a decade, all agree that
there are fewer strays on the streets today. Prior to Code Compliance and Public Health being combined
in 2009, an ACC Officer could fill his/her truck with stray animals in no time at all. While there are fewer
stray animals now, there are still way too many. Officers are having to rely more heavily on traps, dart
rifles and other techniques that also consume more of their time, (e.g., post darting vet care, etc.)
In addition, unwanted pet populations and the majority of severe bites come from unaltered pets. We
estimate there are approximately 160,000 unaltered dogs in the city. This is why the City built the spay
and neuter clinic at the shelter in 2009 and why the City has collaborative partnerships with Project Hope,
TCAP and others who are providing community-based low cost spay and neuter services. In fiscal year
2013 the three participating organizations accounted for 8,343 spays and neuters.
Code Compliance will include an improvement package for a second bilingual Safe Neighborhood Team
for the 2015 budget. Meanwhile, the department will continue to use existing staff to target zip codes with
high stray and bite data.
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iggins
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS