GOVERNMENT Sugar Land Animal Advisory Board approves new policies
Policy changes The Sugar Land Animal Shelter finds itself over dog capacity and understaffed as it approves a new set of policies on euthanization and sterilization. The city’s 2019 bond was set to fund a new animal shelter, but the project has been delayed.
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BY JACK DOWLING
shelter capacity. “It is the policy of the city of Sugar Land that an animal shall not be euthanized because the city’s animal shelter has insufficient capacity to care for the animal or because the animal has been a resident of the animal shel- ter for an extended period of time,” the new euthanization policy states. Under the new policy, there are two instances of permissible euth- anization. Those are that an animal must suffer mentally, emotionally or physically with a poor prognosis for recovery, or with anticipated pro- tracted painful recovery from injury or illness; or if it is deemed to pose an unacceptable danger to other animals, itself or humans. These are categorized as “medical” and “behavioral” euthanizations, Dawn Steph, Sugar Land’s director of environmental and neighborhood services, said to the board. During the March 8 meeting, Steph acted as a staff liaison to the animal advisory board. Final decisions for euthanizations rest with the animal shelter manage- ment team and are to be carried out by a licensed veterinarian, according to the policy. The policy also added guidance about how soon after shelter admis- sion sterilization should take place as well as allowing terminal spays, or abortions carried out on pregnant animals, up to and until the animal is in active labor. Staff also clarified that animals are checked three times prior to initiating a terminal spay. Not approved during the meeting
Six months after Sugar Land officials announced an investigation into the unauthorized euthanization of 38 dogs and cats at the city’s animal shelter, the Sugar Land Animal Advisory Board approved a set of new policies on euthanization and sterilization. The policies offer a step toward clarifying the shelter’s stance on euthanization and sterilization but are not a foolproof solution, city staff said. “You can have all the policies in the world, and you can have all these things that try to guide—but if you hire unethical people ... these policies aren’t going to mean anything,” interim Shelter Manager Danny Cornelius said at the March 8 animal advisory board meeting. Cornelius and interim co-Manager Cindy King have worked to run the shelter after the September firing of five shelter employees and former Shelter Manager Don Specks following an investigation by the city, Sugar Land Communications Director Doug Adolph said. Cornelius is employed by the Sugar Land Police Department, and King is employed by the Sugar Land Fire Department. Updated policy With the 40 animals euthanized without authorization, employees said the animals were killed due to “aggres- sive behavior” or medical diagnoses, according to the city’s report. One key difference in the new euthanization policy is the shelter will not consider euthanization based on
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were a new round of standard oper- ating procedures. These procedures outline appropriate courses of action during various specific scenarios, city officials said. Steph said the city is still complet- ing standard operating procedure documents for both sterilization and euthanization. No estimated or definite completion date was provided at the meeting. Capacity, staffing issues Despite these new policies, the animal shelter remains understaffed and well over capacity for dogs. The Sugar Land Animal Shelter, called “Barksburg,” has 23 cats and 45 dogs, according to the latest city reports presented at the March 8 meeting. A recent roundup led to the intake of 10 dogs in one day, Steph said. The shelter’s latest expansion in 2017 raised the maximum capacity to 56 cats and 31 dogs, according to the • ” Capacity care ” clauses have been removed from the shelter’s euthanization policy, meaning animals will not be killed if the shelter is over capacity or an animal has been in the shelter a long time. • The new policy also lays out grounds for euthanization, including the standards for mental and behavioral euthanizations. SOURCE: CITY OF SUGAR LAND/COMMUNITY IMPACT
shelter’s website. No strategy was presented at the March 8 meeting for addressing capac- ity issues, except to continue market- ing for both volunteers and adoptions, but Adolph provided a statement on the city’s $90.76 million 2019 bond program, which included $6.6 million for a new animal shelter. “Due to financial constraints caused by the COVID[-19] pandemic, the schedule for the delivery of the projects was expanded from three to five years,” Adolph said. Construction on the shelter is set to begin in 2025 but depends on City Council approving a higher tax rate to fund the project as well as community fundraising contributions, Adolph said. He also said the city is consider- ing regionalizing the shelter. As of the March 8 meeting, shelter officials were searching for three posi- tions: an administrative coordinator and two kennel technicians. • Animals taken into the shelter will now always be sterilized “as soon as possible” after a three-business-day stray hold for animals not microchipped and a five-business-day stray hold for microchipped animals. • ” Terminal spays ,” which are abortions carried out during a spay or neuter, are also provided for and approved in the new policy.
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SUGAR LAND - MISSOURI CITY EDITION • APRIL 2023
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