It's been nearly one month since a ransomware attack knocked many Dallas city services offline.
On Monday, the Dallas Municipal Court Building finally opened back up for business after it was closed due to both the attack and planned upgrades.
Dallas Police are also reporting multiple systems, including its evidence retrieval system, are back online.
We're told Dallas' IT Services department is still working to get all servers across the city back online. It's unknown how long that could take. The city continues to update the progress at this link.
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But many other city departments are still trying to get back to normal, including Dallas Animal Services.
The ransomware attack totally crippled the computer system, known as Chameleon, that the shelter relies on to function and find homes for hundreds of animals.
"It tracks where animals are in the shelter and it tracks, medical notes, outcomes, and intakes. It's basically just a crux of what we do and that was off-line for the greater part of two weeks,” said Amanda Atwell, the Public Information Coordinator for Dallas Animal Services. “So we were pretty much at a standstill right after it happened."
Staff resorted to a completely manual system of operating – reminiscent of a time before computers.
"We created an old-fashioned, filing cabinet. Every single dog had a file. We ran around and took pictures of every single dog in our care and with paper and scissors, cut out the photos to get them attached to that kennel card. We typed out the notes for the dogs,” said Atwell. “Our shelter staff did an amazing job just kind of acting on a dime and with really minimal information.”
The shelter was also dealing with outbreaks of illnesses in the kennels, which is common in large shelters. However, the ransomware attack just made the work more difficult.
“Some of our dogs can’t go out to the play yard, they can only do kennel side meet and greets. Just having those interactions is so important to getting dogs adopted and not having access to those notes was really difficult. So we had to find a way to off-line that entire system,” said Atwell.
REACHING CRITICAL CAPACITY
New intakes could also not be processed into the computer system during the two-week outage. Upwards of 60 dogs are taken in daily. During the ransomware attack, there was one day when nearly 80 dogs were taken in.
The shelter implemented emergency intake restrictions during the outage but it was lifted last week. The silver lining was that euthanasia for kennel space was put on pause. However, since moving away from emergency intake, the shelter received over 200 animals in just five days – putting them in a critical capacity.
Those hundreds of intakes during the outage are still being added into the system and unfortunately, difficult decisions are being made as kennel space runs out.
In addition, another crucial component that was affected was the adoption software that links the shelter’s main system to its online adoption site.
"That has been completely disconnected, up until the last couple of days. We're finally getting some of those dogs that are showing up on the site again,” said Atwell.
Because the adoption website isn't back to 100 percent, Dallas Animal Services said the best way to adopt is to physically come to their location to see the animals in person.
A full and accurate list of immediately adoptable dogs is available on this Google spreadsheet.
Dallas Animal Services runs one of the largest shelters in the country, with an in-shelter capacity for about 300 dogs and 50 cats. Hundreds more are in foster care. With the site down, it has made it difficult to adopt out fostered animals who could not be seen in person at the shelter.
Dallas Ransomware Attack
“So there was really no way to market these foster pets. They’re just in foster, they’re not on our website, so what are the fosters supposed to do? So that was a really big setback as well,” said Atwell.
The attack also hit just as the shelter struggles to adopt out larger dogs.
“Adoptions have been down nationwide for large dogs, which is a majority of the dogs we have in our shelter and the majority of what you will see getting euthanized,” said Atwell. "I ran the report today and we're at 105% capacity for large dogs at this time."
As the city's IT services continue to get servers back online, the shelter hopes the community can step up to adopt animals who need a home and ease the burden.
"It's taught us a lot moving forward and now we have notes on how to proceed if something like this, hopefully, does not happen any time in the new future,” said Atwell. “But it's always a risk obviously."
The shelter is in need of foster volunteers and shelter volunteers (especially for the neonatal kitten unit). Click here for the application form.
Donations are also needed of beds, blankets, toys, treats, and food are needed and can be dropped off at the shelter on 1818 N. Westmoreland Road in Dallas. You can also donate through an online wishlist.
Those who are interested in adopting can also foster before adoption to limit the amount of time the animal spends at the shelter, which allows more space for other dogs in the kennels.
To view adoptable pets and learn more information about bringing home a forever friend, click here. Vet vouchers of $250 are offered with every adoption along with a pet starter kit.
Shelter Hours
Monday: 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Tuesday: 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Wednesday: 1 p.m. – 7 p.m.
Thursday: 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Friday: 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Saturday: 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Sunday: 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
