Amarillo residents will have a prime opportunity to sound off on issues related to Animal Management & Welfare tomorrow.
Tomorrow night, representatives from Animal Management & Welfare will host a town hall at the Downtown Public Library at 6pm. This town hall meeting is about a set of proposed ordinances governing Amarillo breeders, fee schedules and animal control officer conduct. Community members are encouraged to give feedback on the ordinances on this meeting, but any feedback will be received on operations of Animal Management & Welfare.
After a story broke last week that a mother dog was euthanized while in labor, or immediately after giving birth, attention turned to the conduct of employees and officials at Animal Management & Welfare. Department director Richard Havens confirmed that the story was true, but pushed back against some issues. Regardless, there has been a large amount of attention on how this department is run.
Tomorrow night's meeting provides a prime opportunity for community members to be heard on the operations of this department. This forum should allow every individual, whether opposing or supporting the department, to have the opportunity to sound off. It will also be interesting as a quorum of the City Council may attend. This is a group that needs to hear concerns. Social media won't solve the problems, but action in-person might be a step in the right direction.
Regardless of how you feel about the operations at Animal Management & Welfare, if you have an opinion, this is a meeting that you should attend. This meeting will allow you to share your thoughts and maybe help push to make a difference.
-Thomas Warren III, Editor-in-Chief
Photo by Dacia Anderson