One Quick Fix at Dallas Animal Services: Making It Cheaper to Adopt An Animal

The city's still auditioning would-be managers for Dallas Animal Services, which is still recovering from a disastrous run of bad news, and hopes to have that wrapped by month's end. And while plenty items remain on the to-do list, one quick fix is identified in this afternoon's DAS update in...

By Robert Wilonsky

April 11, 2011

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The city's still auditioning would-be managers for Dallas Animal Services, which is still recovering from a disastrous run of bad news, and hopes to have that wrapped by month's end. And while plenty items remain on the to-do list, one quick fix is identified in this afternoon's DAS update in front of the Quality of Life Committee: making it cheaper to adopt dogs and cats from the shelter, which former Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle and now all the mayoral candidate want to make "no-kill" sooner than later ... if only they can figure out how.

Right now it's $85 to take a dog, $55 to get a cat -- which is way more than it costs in Fort Worth and San Antonio, among the cities visited by officials hoping to right the shelter. To that end, on the council's May 11 agenda will be an addendum to the Dallas City Code Section 7-2.7, allowing for discounted pet adoption. Among the examples cited in the briefing: Allowing for half-off discounts during "holidays and special events"; offering so-called "Companion Adoptions" year-round ("$42.50 for 1st dog/$42.50 for 2nd dog"); and giving seniors discounts (from $85 to $43 for dogs, from $55 to $27 for cats).

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