More bad news for advocates who want the city's animal shelter to go no-kill: a proposed contract between the city and national no-kill consultant Nathan Winograd appears to be stuck in limbo....sorta like a puppy in a pound, come to think of it.Bett Sundemeyer of No Kill Houston tells Hair Balls that she can't get any information on the hold-up - an especially frustrating thing since, she said, no-kill supporters raised $8,000 to pay for Winograd's consulting fee. (Winograd successfully turned
Since its inception, Houston's Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care has been defined by mismanagement. Relegated to an unsightly corner of Houston's Fifth Ward, the facility, which operates with a staggeringly high 80-percent euthanasia rate, has been a historically low priority for Houston's leaders.While other cities throughout the country have taken proactive measures to implement low-cost spay-and-neuter programs and create foster homes and successful off-site adoption centers, Houston's lea
Photo by Daniel KramerVeterinarian David Rundell resigned today from the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care, spokeswoman Kathy Barton confirmed. Nicole Sica at the Houston Examiner was the first on the story. Rundell was suspended with pay three weeks ago for allegedly treating a sick dog with Valium he brought into facility. Rundell, who animal welfare activists have complained about for years, operated without proper state registration for most of his time at BARC."We have posted
Photo by Daniel KramerTickets are still available for no-kill animal shelter advocate Nathan Winograd's seminar Saturday. The California-based Winograd will present his "Building a No Kill Community" workshop at the South Texas College of Law, 1303 San Jacinto Street. Tickets are available at www.NoKillHouston.org for $14.99, or $20 at the door. (It runs from 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m., so make sure to bring some coffee).Winograd, former head of the Tompkins County (New York) SPCA and author of Rede
Photo by Craig MalisowAs BARC's new bureau chief, Ray Sim has his work cut out for him. He now heads an organization that has historically resisted change and ostracized volunteers who have made claims of cruel conditions, with the full support of an administration and city council that believes the best way to deal with things is via bargain-basement lip service.
But Sim brings some experience to the table. Most recently, he was the director of Broward County's Animal Care & Regulation. His
Photo by dunkvThe biggest surprise during yesterday's City Council Committee on Human Services and Technology meeting on BARC was not that it was three hours of meaningless bureaucratic babble -- Hair Balls had $50 on that -- but that the ghost of Dante Alighieri showed up. "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!" he shouted over and over, before being escorted from chambers by security on grounds of possessing too much common sense.
The meeting -- which was also attended by mo
Photo by abcrumleyCity Council delayed voting again on extending the contract for Gerry Fusco, the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care's interim chief. Council members Ronald Green and Pam Holm asked that the vote be tabled. (Green told Hair Balls earlier this week that he hadn't read the contract yet). The $135,000 contract would extend Fusco's stay through January.But in a general discussion about the contract at today's council meeting, council members Ed Gonzalez, Sue Lovell, Toni L
Photo by wsliverHair Balls has just been making our way through "no-kill" advocate Nathan Winograd's just-released assessment of the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care, and we have one question for city officials: When are you going to sue this guy for libel?!We ask that because the BARC described in this highly detailed, photo-laden 196-page analysis is not the same BARC we've been getting vague "attaboy!" reports of since Gerry Fusco was brought on as interim bureau chief.Now, we don
City Council unanimously approved hotly debated 6-month contract for Gerry Fusco, interim chief for the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care.
The unanimity was a bit of a surprise, given the sharp critcism doled out two weeks ago by Councilwoman Jolanda Jones, who said she felt Fusco had refused to give her enough information about the benchmarks on his contract, among other things.
The $135,000 contract will keep Fusco at BARC through January.There was no mention we heard of the report released
