Natalia- Thank you for your template response. I was hoping to get something that addressed my direct concerns for this facility. The lack of care and update to date information are just the tip of the iceberg here. If the City of San Antonio was in the business of saving lives then why would Brooks be a closed shelter? Like I said before in my email where you didn’t address the lack of photos on pet harbor for dogs. Why is that? How can that life be saved if there is no picture? And when workers at the facility were questioned about the lack of photo they gave some blasé response as if it didn’t matter. Why is that? If San Antonio was in the business of saving lives, then why don’t people who care about animals work there? Someone who cared about animals would make sure that upon intake a photo was taken and properly put on pet harbor. What about all the empty kennels at Brooks but every day, truckloads of dogs are brought up to the main facility to be killed? If San Antonio wanted to be no kill, why would they KILL if there were PLENTY OF OPEN KENNELS? Also I love how you highlight he live release rate. I would also appreciate if you actually started keeping track of the dogs that come from Brooks vs. the dogs that come from the main ACS. Because Brooks dogs do not have the luxury of having people FREELY walk down their corridors, their chances of survival are NOT the same as at the main ACS facility. Any comment to state otherwise is flat out lie. I also love how you shift the blame onto the struggle with the “roaming dog population”. My query is not about the homeless dog population. It is about the APPAULING conditions at the Brooks Facility where dogs go unseen every day. How are people supposed to know about a shelter that is closed to the public? I am wracking my brain trying to think of why you are trying to tell me about everything under the sun, except answering my DIRECT questions in regards to Brooks. But if you think that having Brooks run the way it is run and the city will move closer to a “no-kill” city, the you are living in a fool’s paradise. Please answer my direct questions. Meghan McConnell David Black & Associates Employees of The Corporate Law Department State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company 713-437-8240 From: Natalia Martinez [mailto:natalia.martinez@brookscity-base] Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2013 2:49 PM To: Meghan McConnell Subject: RE: Brooks Dogs Dear Meghan, Brooks City-Base has received your communication regarding the operation and limited accessibility of the San Antonio Animal Care Services kennel on the campus. The kennel is run entirely by the City of San Antonio and all operational procedures for visiting are determined by ACS. Brooks City-Base began leasing the former military K-9 holding facility to ACS in October 2010 at no cost in an effort to help the city achieve its “no kill” goals. Their lease states that public access is restricted and that only “adoption, rescue services, or other services that have established relationships with ACS” may have access to the facility. While the former military kennels are not designed to be a public adoption center, Brooks City-Base does not actively prohibit the public from accessing the facility. Any member of the public who desires to visit the kennel is welcome to do so by contacting ACS directly. Furthermore, the lease clearly prohibits euthanasia on the premises except for an emergency medical need in the case of an individual dog. San Antonio’s large stray dog population is a community-wide problem. By providing additional overflow space and allowing ACS to use the kennel facility at no charge, Brooks City-Base demonstrates their active role in helping solve the problem. It’s worth noting that as a result of this facility and other steps taken by ACS over the past three years, the live release rate of animals in San Antonio jumped from below 30% to an impressive 77%, which includes dogs housed at the Brooks kennels. Although our community continues to struggle with the roaming dog population, we are proud that this kennel has helped to increase ACS’ capacity to hold pets, which has helped fuel the increasing live release rate. We support the City in its quest to find every dog a great home and we encourage citizens to visit the ACS website, saacs.net, to view the dogs available for adoption. Best regards, Natalia Martinez Public Affairs Manager Brooks City-Base email: natalia.martinez@brookscity-base 3201 Sidney Brooks San Antonio, TX 78235 brookscity-base From: Meghan McConnell [mailto:meghan.mcconnell.m49j@statefarm] Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2013 1:08 PM To: Leo Gomez Subject: Brooks Dogs Mr. Gomez- I send this email to you with the hopes you or someone on your staff do actually read it and act. The dogs at this facility are at a SEVERE disadvantage compared to the other dogs at the main ACS facility. With no foot traffic in this shelter, being that it is not open to the public, is a travesty. What’s worse, is that some animals come in and they won’t have a picture on pet harbor for days! An animal that is in a facility closed to the public, with no picture is supposed to find a rescue/foster/adopter in the small window given to them? How is that possible? And why is this happening??!! As it stands today the brooks shelter is merely a purgatory for the animals kept there. Animals that have done nothing wrong, but ending up with the short end of the stick by being relegated to brooks. Animals who are completely adoptable that would make an excellent member of any family lucky enough to have them. A wonderful idea was brought up by a rescue worker Jennifer Lopez at a meeting several weeks ago. Brooks brings animals up to the main facility several times a day. The animals are either brought to be vetted or an adopter or to be put down. Since brooks is a “closed” facility, why not make it the medical ward? Dogs being worked up for adopters/fosters can be kept there and out of the way, while dogs at the main facility are there purely to be seen by the public for foster/adopter/rescue. Please take all this into consideration. These animals are counting on us to act in THEIR BEST INTEREST. Please give them a fighting chance at life by restructuring Brooks. Or better yet, closing it for good. Best Regards, Meghan McConnell David Black & Associates Employees of The Corporate Law Department State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company 713-437-8240
Posted on: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 20:21:29 +0000
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