Hunt for new Animal Care Services director comes up short
Facing a string of high-profile dog maulings and a sinking live-release rate, this year San Antonio hired a professional recruiter to conduct a nationwide search for the city’s next Animal Care Services director.
Roughly six months later, after four finalists were brought in for in-person interviews, none of the candidates have been offered the job, according to the city.
“We have gone through a recent recruitment and interviews with potential candidates,” Walsh told the mayor and City Council Monday in a letter updating them on the search. “I have chosen to continue to recruit candidates for this critical role for our organization.”
Walsh announced that the city’s Development Services Department Director, Michael Shannon, will temporarily oversee the department. He has prior experience serving on ACS’s Advisory Board.
The decision to ask the recruiter to cast a wider net came as a surprise to some of the stakeholders who were excited about potential applicants.
“Many of us who were in the interview panels are completely flabbergasted as to why they didn’t consider any of those candidates,” said Lorena Havill, a medical scientist who has served on ACS’s Advisory Board since 2021. “…In my head I’m screaming, ‘We are in a crisis,’ and yet we are acting in slow motion.’”
Animal welfare advocates grew concerned about the department in 2022 when the number of animals being euthanized was on the rise at the same time the city was taking in fewer animals.
The nonprofit Petco Love sponsored a shelter consultant to help turn things around, but months later the department was rattled by a tragic incident, when dogs with a prior record of aggression attacked and killed an 81-year-old man.
In light of those events, the animal rescue community has been closely following the recruitment process for a new director.
“My successor, whoever it is, will be criticized heavily, regardless of their actions,” Sims said at a May meeting of the Animal Care Services advisory board.
“Some residents want animals off the streets and other residents don’t want more animals euthanized,” he said. “The existing infrastructure cannot do both simultaneously, and will not be equipped to do so for years to come.”
Sims was supposed to see the organization through to its next leader, but retired shortly after that meeting. Assistant City Manager David McCary temporarily filled his role in the meantime.
In spite of the department’s tough year, the position received numerous applications from eager candidates with significant experience running municipal animal shelters, according to a review of the applications.
Havill said she was concerned about the lack of transparency in the process, and couldn’t get answers from city leaders about what more they were looking for.
In an interview last month, Walsh said his priorities for a new director include rebuilding relationships with the animal welfare community, demonstrated leadership skills and the ability to move the needle on the department’s public safety elements.
“[We need to] make demonstrable progress on all fronts,” he said. That includes “enforcement, holding irresponsible pet owner owners accountable, enhancing our spay-neuter [and] enhancing our live-release rate with the help of stakeholders.”
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