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Let’s Make Dallas Even Better

Another Shoe Drops at Dallas Pound

By Glenn Hunter Published in FrontBurner August 13, 2010 11:39 pm

Capping a week that saw animal-shelter official Tyrone McGill charged in the negligent death of a cat there, sources tell us that Dallas Animal Services manager Kent Robertson has abruptly resigned, effective Friday. Callers to Robertson’s phone number at animal services tonight heard a recording saying he’s no longer with the city. Developing.

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  • Reasonable

    The information I heard was that Robertson was given his pink slip a week ago, Friday 8/6, along with many other city employees. Strangely, it had nothing to do with the most recent fiasco at Dallas Animal Services – instead is said to do with his position being cut due to budget considerations. I am reminded of a terrible weekend in March of 2009 when five dogs were crying (bleeding, suffering and dying) in a yard in west Dallas, within a mile of the DAS shelter. The address was well known for the dog fights reportedly held at that location as well as for other reported criminal activity by the property owner.

    My brave colleagues stood on ladders to take pictures of these pitiful animals over the high privacy fence that surrounded them and we sent those pictures and made the reports of a severe cruelty situation at that address to DAS. Then we began three long days of begging for the “authorities” to please help these animals. Despite repeated promises via email and phone message by the managers of DAS that the suffering dogs would be helped – nothing was done. By Monday, they had been taken off their tow-truck chains and removed from the yard by the owner (probably dumped at the Trinity River bottoms or used as “bait” dogs in dog fights at other locations). The property owner had three different, happy, healthy, puppies in the yard when the “authorities” finally arrived to see about them. We always wondered if he had advance notice and thus, plenty of time to remove the dying dogs – before City employees finally arrived on Monday. DAS received the first notice on Friday morning.

    A year and a half later – that criminal dog owner is now in federal prison, McGill and now thankfully, Robertson as well, are gone from DAS. But it is far too little and far too late. There was no help for the suffering dogs that horrible weekend and no comfort for a helpless cat that died a miserable death. DAS has big problems and it will be interesting to see what the City Secretary does about it – will she put more of her unqualified pals in place to continue running the “shelter” of living, breathing beings as if it were just one more warehouse of boxes to be shoved someplace – or will she put qualified people in place and allow them to manage it correctly? Only time will tell but many people are watching.

  • Cynthia

    You seem to run with a strange crowd, in rough neighborhoods. I’m not quuite sure how “reasonable” you really are. If you do rescue, all of you, sad as it is you should be taking care of the ones you have instead of trying to be murdered by someone (you say) who is a criminal!

    I’m not sure where you were exactly but then I don’t know where the drug dealers and dog fighters are ??? living. Somehow it sounds as if your friends and maybe you? were just as illegal as the people you were spying on (or they were). I do know that its not possible to take care of the animals you have charge of if you are dead or jailed. How reasonable is that?

  • Cynthia

    McGill was aided in the death of that cat. Munoz was a Cruelty Investigator, who hired him?, Robertson is skipping out, umm, the Shelter Commission has not really changed in years, so who’s really minding the store and who needs to be kicked to the curb? I’ll answer that, the heads of that group need to be kicked to the curb and find people who will take the Commission positions that know how to work with animals, until that kind of group is on the commission, the people who work at the shelter aren’t going to be good people!

  • Reasonable

    Yes Cynthia – that is one fundamental difference in those who exploit animals by breeding them for a living and those of us you like to demonize as animal rights zealots. We would never be able to ignore one animal crying in a yard – let along several. And we would go to extra efforts (all of them legal) to see what was wrong with any crying animal (bleeding, unable to stand, in pain and suffering). We manage to take excellent care of the many rescue animals that we all own already. They are definitely not purebreds bought from breeders and perhaps not beauties to anyone but us. They are frequently waifs from mean streets and vacant lots of this cruel city, sometimes missing limbs and with scars and bald spots. In addition, we also manage to be aware of the locations (west Dallas, south Dallas, East Dallas even parts of north Dallas) of the huge numbers of animals in this city that do not live lives of comfort and love – and we endeavor to help – not ignore them. Again, that is just one of the fundamental differences.

  • Cynthia

    I don’t know anyone who breeds animals for a living but I do know how to be a responsible pet/animal owner. I understand that you can’t legislate responsibility but it sounds very irresponsible to me for people to put themselves in jeopardy when, perhaps, the police should have been called if they were drug dealers. Not to discount the animal abuse at all but if you “knew” drugs were being sold out of that place, the animals would have ultimately been sent to the shelter anyhow, wouldn’t they?

    I just see no reason for anyone to disregard their current responsibility by putting their life at risk and that was the way I took your post. It isn’t a contest to see how many you can save, is it?

  • ThreeRedDgos

    Cynthia – get your facts straight. Munoz did NOT hire Tyrone – he worked for him. Assistant City Manager Forest Turner is the one responsible for putting McGill in the shelter. The next Commission meeting is 8/26 – will you take the time to attend? Or just leave it to those you are so quick to criticize.

  • Tammy

    It’s not a contest. Just a never ending story! Some of us can’t just turn our heads in hopes that someone else will take care of things, or someone else will notify the authorities. They were trying to do the right thing. They took pictures, they did not trespass or break through locks and chains. We all try to do what we can, when we can. If all you can do is take care or your own animals, that’s great! And more then many are doing these days. But don’t chastise those that are trying to make the extra effort to save the lives of those that can’t speak for themselves.

  • KMY

    Cynthia, you should feel fortunate not to be more informed about rescue work because if you were you would not be judging reasonable. Of course there are many responsible pet owners who don’t do rescue, and there are some rescue people who go over board, but just as many mothers cannot ignore a child they see in an inappropriate situation, many animal lovers cannot ignore the cry of helpless animals being abused and neglected. Until you have walked in the shoes of somebody who has seen such evil, do not judge.

  • Melissa

    @ Cynthia: You are about the dumbest person I have seen in a while… First of all, you said: “You seem to run with a strange crowd in rough neighborhoods”… Seriously???? Did you not read that the house was located within a mile of the DAS shelter, meaning an animal rescue group would *obviously* frequently be in the area, nevermind the fact that you go where you are needed…. Second of all…. who said it was a rough neighborhood? Just because there was dog fighting and/or other criminal activity going on makes it a rough neighborhood?????? According to that severely warped logic, Michael Vicks’ neighborhood, where his MULTI-million dollar house is located, must be the dealiest, roughest ghetto around, huh? Also you seem to think that just because those animal rescue workers were in the area they must be shady themselves… Let me hear you tell that to the doctors, nurses and pysicians with “Doctors without Borders” who are in dangerous areas to help refugees and impoverished people who are in desperate need of healthcare… Why don’t you go get your nails filled or something and quit busting the humps of the people who actually give a crap and are willing to do something to help?

  • Melissa

    an edit to the above post: “…dentists, nurses, and physicians…” I was thinking way to fast for my fingers to keep up, lol

  • Melissa

    OK, I give up on the editing, there are way too many mistakes to fix, but I believe you get my point, regardless of the errors.. :0)

  • lori

    wow that cynthia is a pretty nasty character. perhaps in bed with the piece of crap shelter worker that is leaving or the one being tossed to the curb?

  • Reagan

    Cynthia”

    “The world is a dangerous place not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing…”
    Albert Einstein

    Sadly for the animals in peril, you appear to be among “those who look on and do nothing”

  • Cynthia

    Reagan, the world is a dangerous place because of criminal activity taking place in the “name” of good works. Look at the government! From City to Federal they make bad laws to criminalize citizens from ridiculous “code” laws to talking salt off of the table!

  • Cynthia

    Excuse me, that should have been TAKING SALT off the table!

  • Bonnie

    Cynthia have you ever been to a Dallas Animal Shelter Advisory Commission meeting? We have term limits just like council members do. Thanks to the caring individuals on the Commission the new shelter was built. Unfortunately we can only make suggestions to management as we are an advisory commission. As a member of the commission I encourage you to show up at the public meeting so you will see we are about the business of animal welfare…minus city politics! Check the City of Dallas website for the next meeting date and time.

  • Cynthia

    I don’t see anywhere that I suggested that Munoz had the authority to hire anyone. He was hired by “someone” at the City to be a Cruelty Investigator. I question his ability to do that job correctly. I would have to assume that he would have gone after anyone in the city who had left an animal in a wall and he’d heard of it, why did he not do the same with those employed by the City or at least go to those with authority to do something. I have to guess that since McGill was “only” a Manager, those over him had authority to take more action, where were they? I have always been led to believe that “Ignorance is no excuse”.

    Perhaps I shall see you people at the next meeting! Can you tell me time and place for it this month!?

  • concernedcitizen

    Bonnie,

    Thanks for the invitation…but just where can the “public” find information about the time and place of the ASC meetings? I have searched the City of Dallas site and could not locate any info regarding the date and details of the next meeting.
    Interesting info about term limits…from what I can see the same people are on the commission for years, they simply get “appointed” by another council-member for another district, regardless of their actual residence.
    By the way I do believe the new shelter was built as the result of a bond proposal approved by the citizens of Dallas. Perhaps you meant to imply the proposal got on the ballot due to the shelter’s interests. Regardless, since the citizens of Dallas pay for it, they should attend all Commission meetings and check out where their tax dollars are going.

  • Angela

    It is time for our city to move forward and embrace the true No-Kill methodologies championed by Nathan Winograd (http://www.nathanwinograd.com/)

    Read “Irreconcilable Differences” and “Redemption”. No-Kill is possible, but only if it is implemented in a business-like, pragmatic way. And let us not kid ourselves that the SPCA is no-kill. They have the DAS come pick up dogs that they want euthanized.

  • Cynthia

    Thank you, Bonnie, but as concernedcitizen suggested, either the term limits aren’t working as they were intended or the system is being abused. As kind as it is for those of you on the commission to give of your time, something is wrong, dreadfully wrong. Are any of you planning to attend the aforementioned seminar that Angela mentioned? It should be obvious to you all by now that what you are doing and have done, does not work, perhaps that would be the way for you to go, after you repeal the ordinances passed since 2008.

    Try Winograd, you have nothing more to lose at this point, do you?

  • Jonnie England

    As a just-retired Commissioner who served the max, I can assure you that the term limits work. They are set by the City’s Charter. Each term is two years, and a Dallas resident can be appointed to four consecutive two-year terms–the same number of terms City Council members can serve. After staying off the Commission for one term, that person is eligible to be appointed again. By the way, these rules apply to the other City Boards and Commissions as well–not just the Animal Shelter Commission. And as Bonnie stated, the ASC is strictly an advisory commission with no authority. And it’s the City’s responsibility to post notice of meetings on the City’s website, so if you’re not finding it, contact the City Secretary’s office. Commissioners have no access to the website and must reply on staff to publish the minutes, agendas and meeting notices.