Concerns about how the Fort Worth Animal Shelter is operated will have the city council taking action on Tuesday night.
The council is set to approve a resolution to create the Animal Shelter Task Force, an independent body of experts that will look into concerns and any possible improvements.
The task force comes at a time where it appears the shelter is doing quite well.
On average, 240 animals leave the shelter each week via adoption, rescue groups or being returned to their proper owners. From September 2014 through October 1 of this year, the shelter's live release rate is at 77 percent.
The year before for the same period had it at 65.6 percent. The live release rate is the percentage of animals that leave the shelter alive out of those that entered.
Animal Care and Control has also seen great success in its PetSmart Charities adoption centers, which have been nationally recognized and used as examples to other cities in the state.
But on Tuesday, the council will create the task force to make sure the shelter is indeed operating with state law and following best veterinary practices. The task force's creation comes just two weeks after council members told city staff they had been receiving numerous concerns.
"I think it's time we get an independent task force put together to go out and review what's going on out there to make sure we're taking care of the animals and our citizens and the trust they put in us," said Councilman Zim Zimmerman in the Nov. 3 pre-council meeting.
"It's probably time to have a report back to look at it, the task force is not a bad idea," Mayor Betsy Price said.
Mayor Price said some of the comments were coming from a small group of people. City staff believes everything is on the up and up, but an independent review by experts volunteering their time can't hurt.
"There are many points of pride about the animal shelter, but if there are things that we can do better, we want to know that as well," said Fernando Costa, an assistant city manager.
Costa says the city has received positive feedback on the shelter's operations, as well. He said that from time to time, any organization can use some outside perspective.
"The kind of independent expert prospective that we need to assure the public that we're doing the best job we can with the resources that are available to us," Costa said.
Costa said some of the complaints are already shown to be unfounded, but that the city wants to make sure everything is operating best for the animals and citizens.
The task force will not be looking at personnel issues associated with the shelter, but rather simply on its operations and following of procedures and laws.
The task force will hold at least one public meeting about the shelter as it operates between December and March. A final report is expected back to the city by the end of March.
The task force is made of the following five people: Charles Daniels, former Fort Worth and Dallas assistant city manager, Max Dow, the director of Texas Animal Health Commission Region 3, James Bias, the president of SPCA of Texas, Dustin Deel, the director of the Weatherford-Parker County Animal Shelter and Patrice Randle, city auditor and a non-voting member.
