DallasDogs is a group of concerned pet owners who have united to tell the TRUTH about mandatory spay/neuter laws, pet limits, and the restrictive/punitive legislation that so frequently accompanies them. These laws serve neither the pets, nor the human community.

We formed DallasDogs to educate the public about RESPONSIBLE dog ownership. It is through responsibility that we succeed in placing and keeping ALL pets in their homes. Any community has the ability to accomplish this. When pet owners are educated and informed about how to choose the right pet, and to be prepared for and accept realistic obligations required in meeting the LIFELONG needs of that pet, then we have the “right” recipe for success. Training, affordable healthcare, and education are all critical components to insuring that a pet makes a successful integration into a stable, long-term, home environment.

Voluntary spay/neuter programs are a NECESSITY to save the lives of Dallas pets. They must be accessible low-cost/no-cost alternatives and they must be incentive-driven. However, research clearly shows that MANDATING this cornerstone of responsible pet ownership, and placing harsh penalties for failure to spay/neuter on the community serves to drive many away, especially if they are in non-compliance with current ordinances. By providing incentives, such as free licensing, free rabies vaccinations, or forgiveness of previous non-compliance when pets ARE spayed or neutered, you actually INVITE and REWARD the community. You are able to spay/neuter, vaccinate for rabies, and license, all in one. The City benefits by having higher vaccination and licensing compliance, and the public benefits by having low cost alternatives available.

Pet limits are also dangerous and will prove destructive to the Dallas pets and homeless animals most in need. Punitive laws that levy heavy fines or call for seizing the non-compliant family’s pets increase intake and/or abandonment and thus killing. Laws divert needed resources away from proven programs like adoption, trap-neuter return (TNR), foster care, and spay/neuter. Private grant programs, such as Maddie’s Fund, will no longer be accessible in Dallas, as grants cannot be approved in areas with MANDATORY laws. Arbitrary pet limit laws keep homeless animals from going to good homes, force families over the limit to surrender their pets, or worse, turn them loose, and place an undue burden on the “good Samaritan”. Licensing laws cost money to enforce, create a hardship if fees are high, and are not effective in the municipalities where they have already been enacted.

Current laws exist to insure that pets in Dallas are well-cared for. Lease, nuisance, noise, cruelty, neglect and abuse laws exist at the City, State and Federal levels and are more than adequate to prosecute persons found to be inflicting harm. Existing ordinances MUST be enforced. We fail to understand how creating MORE ordinances requiring MORE staff and MORE budget hope to be effective when current ordinance is not, or cannot, be enforced . High volume breeders are already subject to USDA regulations and inspections. The American Kennel Club and various other registries also have their own internal inspection requirements for high volume breeders.

Dallas Animal Services suffers the highest turnover rate within the City, and faces serious challenges in staffing, as 21 positions have been vacant for over two years. Due to departmental policies, it is our understanding that anyone accepting a promotion will be expected to pull their shift in the “Euth Lab”, and we feel this must have an impact on one’s desire to be upwardly mobile in this department. Obviously, other solutions must be found. A solution MUST be found that relieves both the innocent animal and the shelter worker of having to be involved in the unnecessary “KILLING” process. Help us implement the solution. End the suffering and death of so many animals. There is a better way.