Private Donors Raise $13.5M for Massive Spay and Neuter Effort of Southern Dallas Dogs

A consultant's report on Dallas' loose-dog crisis last year offered city leaders two major solutions: fix Dallas Animal Services and fix as many dogs as possible.City officials believe they've done the former, and on Thursday, nonprofit leaders will announce they have raised enough money to begin a massive spay-and-neuter effort.The Rees-Jones foundation, the W. W. Caruth Foundation and the Dallas Foundation have contributed a total of $13.5 million toward an unprecedented $24 million spay-and-neuter campaign.The city's goal is to perform 46,000 operations on dogs every year for the next three years. Veterinarians working for the SPCA of Texas, the Spay Neuter Network and Operation Kindness will perform the surgeries and target ZIP codes in southern Dallas.Mayor Mike Rawlings hailed the effort as a key to spurring growth in southern Dallas, where some residents have said they carry around blunt objects such as sticks and bats just in case."The loose dog crisis in southern Dallas plagues our citizens on a daily basis, reducing their quality of life by limiting their ability to have full enjoyment of their neighborhoods and causing them to fear for their safety and the safety of their children," Rawlings said in a statement.  Continue reading...