Mayor and City Council Candidate Survey
Houston, Texas Municipal Election 2015
Candidates’ views on the state of
Houston’s sheltering system
Houston Voters For Companion Animals
Introduction
Houston Voters For Companion Animals is an initiative to increase the Save Rate of companion
animals at Houston’s taxpayer funded animal control facility/shelter i.e. BARC. The purpose of
this survey is to understand the stances and intentions of the candidates running for mayoral
and city council positions regarding animal welfare issues generally and related to Houston
becoming a No Kill community.
Definition of a No Kill community:
A No Kill community is a community in which all healthy and treatable shelter pets are saved,
including at Open Admission facilities like BARC. The only animals euthanized are those who
are irremediably sick or injured and suffering or who pose a genuine danger to the public. The
benchmark to be recognized as a No Kill community is the ability to save all healthy and
treatable pets (generally 90% to 100% of all animals) over a period of at least 1 year. There are
currently hundreds of shelters/communities who are saving 90% or more of all shelter pets.
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For instance:
Roughly 1,000,000 people live in communities saving between 98% and 99% of dogs and cats
in their shelters.
About 9,000,000 people live in communities saving between 90% and 99% of dogs and cats in
their shelters.
Over 40,000,000 people live in communities saving at least 80% of dogs and cats in their
shelters. (See Saving90.org)
Those No Kill communities have very little in common other than a commitment to save the lives
of shelter pets, while saving money in the process. These communities have achieved their life
saving successes by rigorously implementing the No Kill Equation, which is a suite of fiscallyresponsible, humane, 21st century animal sheltering programs that have been proven to
work. The programs of the No Kill Equation or No Kill model of sheltering are:
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Rescue Partnerships
Volunteers
Foster Care
Trap, Neuter, Release
Pet Retention
Comprehensive Adoption Program
Public Relations/Community Involvement
Medical & Behavior Prevention & Rehabilitation
High-Volume, Low-Cost Spay & Neuter
Proactive Redemption
Hard-working, Compassionate Shelter Director
Every candidate is being asked to complete this survey. Candidates’ responses will be
compiled as part of a voting guide that will be distributed to Houston voters in preparation for the
November 2015 election.
As part of an awareness campaign by Houston Voters For Companion Animals, candidates’
responses will also be rated, and then released to the media and posted on some or all of our
websites and social media sites. Responses, as well as non-responses, will be reported.
Thank you for your participation in this opportunity for the voters to get to know you better.
The survey is composed of 13 questions. Candidates are encouraged to respond in writing with
enough detail to adequately represent the candidates’ view of the current state of BARC, and
his or her views on how BARC should operate in coming years.
Survey Questions
1.
Since 2009, BARC leadership has known about the life-saving programs of the No Kill
Equation which is being used, across the country, to save all healthy and treatable shelter
pets. Despite this knowledge, BARC killed more than 10,000 pets in 2014 alone.
Are you satisfied with the amount of progress that has been made to date?
If elected or re-elected to Houston city council, are you committed to supporting/enforcing
the recommendations in international No Kill expert, Nathan Winograd’s, 2009 assessment of
BARC? (Winograd’s assessment can be found here: http://bit.ly/1M0vmk2)
Response:
Yes and I am committed to a no kill policy. I think we need to visit the successful shelters
running around the state. We need to adopt their programs into our own. We can also have
them visit our facilities to make their recommendations on how we can improve.
2.
The Houston area is home to five shelters/pounds that together, kill approximately 80,000
pets every year. According to the most currently available statistics, these shelters/pounds
have the following Save Rates:
1) Houston’s animal control (BARC) - 61%;
2) Citizens for Animal Protection - 48%
3) The Houston SPCA - 35%;
4) Harris County animal control - 15%; and
5) Houston Humane Society - 11%;
If the issue were to come before you, will you commit to making “No Kill” the official policy
of Houston and support any laws or policy changes necessary to achieve this goal?
Response:
Absolutely, I think this reflects upon us and our character as a society. We have to do
better.
3.
BARC is currently open to the public for adoptions on weekdays during hours when most
adults are working (Open: Tues, Wed and Fri 12:00 to 5:30). And BARC is open to the public
only 5 ½ hours each Saturday and Sunday. BARC fails to run a comprehensive adoption
program, including frequent and ongoing off-site adoptions in highly visible, high traffic locations,
extensive marketing of at-risk animals, public-friendly adoption hours and mobile adoptions.
If elected or re-elected to Houston city council, would you support a review and
restructuring of the BARC’s adoption program to include the elements mentioned above? (This
would mean different, family friendly hours of operation as opposed to more hours of operation).
Response:
Yes I will do a review of their operations and hours. I think we need to make sure we are
available when people actually come out. I struggled myself to make their cut off time to adopt
two pets from BARC alone.
4.
People frequently surrender animals to shelters when they perceive they cannot feed, train
or medically care for them.
If elected or re-elected to Houston city council, would you support programs which have
been proven to keep pets in their homes and out of shelters, such as surrender counseling, a
pet food bank, pet behavior assistance, and distribution of heartworm preventative?
Response:
Yes I think many problems can be resolved with education and dog training. Most of the
time these are just people that do not know how to care for a pet and need help. This will reduce
the number of pets living on the streets and in shelters.
5.
For years, BARC has consistently returned only 7% of animals to their rightful
owners. Conversely, some No Kill communities are able to return upwards of 60% of animals to
their owners who want them back. If BARC implemented the same Return to Owner program
as other successful communities, it could free up 8,100 kennels per year and save the city
$972,000 per year.
If elected or re-elected to Houston city council, would you support an internal review, and if
necessary, a restructuring of the City’s Return to Owner program?
Response:
Yes I think this improves the quality of life. I had my pet lost for a few hours and
thankfully I had her microchipped. Another home owner and turned her in to Oak Forest
Vegetarian clinic. They had me on file as that is Sandy’s clinic. I got called up and was able to
bring Sandy back home. I real relief.
6.
Many dog breeds are being banned in many of the rental housing markets in Houston.
This makes finding appropriate housing very difficult for owners of these dogs, despite high
levels of owner responsibility and great dog temperaments and training. This slows adoptions
of these breeds and forces many owners to surrender their pets to shelters or abandon them.
If elected or re-elected to Houston city council, what steps would you take to find solutions
to this problem, in working with the apartment associations and property managers in Houston?
Response: .
I think reaching out to the apartment communities and educating them will help a lot. We
also need to address the non-refundable fees they charge renters. This also prevents or
discourages pet owners from adopting.
7.
If elected or re-elected to Houston city council, would you support the implementation of
performance standards that tie BARC leadership’s performance, particularly with regard to the
number of live releases, to salary increments or continued employment at BARC? If not, please
explain why not.
Response:
I think everyone should have performance standards on the job. I don’t think it is fair
that we allow government workers off the hook in that way. I will insist on performance
standards and enforce that 100%. If someone is not upholding the standards we set they need
to be let go. There also needs to be proper training with those standards.
8.
Considering that BARC killed over 10,000 pets in 2014, how would you rate the
performance of BARC leadership?
Do you believe that it is time for different leadership at BARC? If not, what do you see as
the most powerful opportunity for improvement open to BARC?
Response:
I think it is time for new leadership in BARC. Their performance is not up to our standards.
This needs to be addressed and will be under my watch.
9.
If elected, or re-elected, what do you envision as the role of the Houston Animal Shelter
Advisory Committee in providing oversight for BARC?
What kind of person will you appoint to the Committee as the terms of current members
expire?
Would you consider appointing No Kill advocates as members to provide an alternative
viewpoint to others already on the committee?
Response:
I will seek out professionals and grass root citizens to be on the Committee. These are our
first line of defense in the conduct and standards we will set going forward. This needs to be
treated with great care and diligence.
10. BARC is required to release its Save Rate information (i.e. intake and outcome records)
to the public as required under the Public Information Act (PIA). However, 3 kill shelters in
Houston are not required, under the PIA, to release this information to the public [i.e. Houston
SPCA, Houston Humane Society and Citizens for Animal Protection (CAP)]. These shelters
have refused to be open with the donating public by releasing their intake and outcome
records. Houstonians donate many millions of dollars to these facilities, under the assumption
that they are No Kill shelters. Yet, these facilities are killing tens of thousands of shelter pets
every year and are able to hide this information from the donating public.
If elected or re-elected to Houston city council, would you support a city mandate that all
animal shelters in Houston publish statistics, on their websites, regarding the numbers and
types of animals that each shelter takes in and euthanizes? (Note: some states, such as
Colorado, already mandate that all shelters and rescue groups must provide their statistics to
the state so that it is available to the public).
If so, why do you feel this important? If not, why not?
Response:
All shelters should produce their records. I believe in transparency. When it comes to the
city operations nothing should be unregulated or beyond the people’s ability to see what is going
on. I like metrics and being able to measure success and opportunities for improvement.
11. In 2010, Austin’s city council created ordinances based the Companion Animal Protection
Act (CAPA) which, among other things, mandated that Austin’s animal control facility save at
least 90% of all animals; a Save Rate that Austin has met or exceeded every year since the
ordinances were passed. Rockwall, Texas passed a version of CAPA in 2011 and
subsequently saved 97%. The states of California and Delaware have passed similar versions
of CAPA and saw an increase in Save Rates.
Considering the lifesaving successes after passing CAPA, if elected or re-elected to
Houston city council, would you support the implementation of CAPA, or some parts thereof, in
Houston?
(A
model
version
of
CAPA
can
be
found
at http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/?page_id=51)
Response:
I certainly would recommend CAPA and travel to Austin myself to sit down with those
running CAPA. The best way to look at this is through those who have championed the problem
already.
12.
Would you be willing to meet with representatives of Houston Voters For Companion
Animals and/or No Kill Houston to discuss your views of the improvements that must be made
at BARC in order for Houston to make substantive increases in the number of animals that are
saved from death at BARC?
Response:
Absolutely, I think engagement with the public offers great ideas to the table in city hall. It
also helps any policy put into place to be jointly written by city council and the citizens alike.
13. Would you be willing to participate in a public Candidate Forum/Town Hall, involving all
willing candidates, on the current state of BARC and Houston sheltering issues?
Response:
.
I certainly would and did last night. I will continue to do so until we have achieved our goals
in Houston.
My German Sheppard means the world to me. When I came back from the Iraq War I was
very withdrawn. I’d seen two solid years of war and I needed help. When Sandy came into my
life she taught me to love again, live again, and to have patience. I started to enjoy the things I
used to do before the war. I’m all for other Veterans having a four legged family member help
them too. I can’t think Sandy enough for all she has done for me.
Regards,
Michael McDonald
Houston City Council District C candidate