RESCUE ME

MEET OAK CLIFF’S ADOPTABLE DOGS AND THE HEROES WHO HELP THEM

Dallas Animal Services Has Improved Its Euthanasia

RATE — about 52 percent of animals the city sheltered in 2014-15 were adopted out, marking the first time in recent history that more animals were adopted than killed. But few city departments have been scrutinized more than DAS. Over the past few years, it has struggled with slashed budgets, an employee who faced a felony indictment after a cat was left to die inside a wall, dead dogs dumped on remote South Dallas roads and overwhelming numbers of stray and loose dogs, especially in southern Dallas. The privately funded Big Fix for Big D campaign offered free spay and neuter services for years, but that hasn’t been enough to improve our canine crisis.

It’s often considered a problem for the southern sector, easily ignored by those on our side of Dallas. But the crisis came barreling into the public eye when 52-yearold Antoinette Brown was mauled by a pack of dogs while walking in her South Dallas neighborhood May 2. She died from her injuries about a week later.

Dallas Animal Services received funding recently for a volunteer program, but it’s possible the city department won’t receive a budget increase this year.

Oak Cliff residents have a way of finding fixes to citywide problems when officials can’t seem to figure them out, says Chris Watts, who owns Petropolitan and is City

“It’s really important for everyone’s voice to be heard,” he says. “If people have creative solutions, things they’ve seen in other cities that have impacted the wellbeing of people and ani-