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Dallas Animal Services Q3 report: higher live outcomes, growing community programs and a projected $2.2 million FY25 shortfall
Summary
Director Paul Ramon told the commission that FY25 quarter 3 (April'June) metrics show increases in community spay/neuter and rescue transfers and improved live-release rates for cats and dogs, but the department projects a roughly $2.2 million overrun due to overcapacity and added cruelty investigations.
Paul Ramon, director of Dallas Animal Services, presented the department's fiscal year 2025 quarter 3 performance report covering April through June and highlighted program growth alongside an emerging budget shortfall.
Ramon said the department exceeded several operational goals: it held eight free vaccine clinics in southern Dallas (the target was two), exceeded a 2,000-target for subsidized spay/neuter surgeries, and increased transfers to rescue partners. He reported a live-release rate near 87 percent for dogs (up 5 percent from the prior year) and improvements in cat outcomes; kitten-season intake increased cat intake by 35 percent in the quarter.
The report listed other program results: 273 dogs participated in a "daycation" program that produced 95 percent positive outcomes; subsidized community-cat surgeries year-to-date exceeded 3,000 through a mixture of in-house and partner services; volunteer hours rose by 7 percent, saving the city an estimated quarter-million dollars in labor value; and the pet food pantry served 234 families across six events.
Ramon also described operational pressures. Intake of dogs was down about 12 percent for the quarter, partly because of an unrelated contagious disease surge the department worked through earlier in the fiscal year. He noted that suspected animal-cruelty work, taken on in recent years, was not originally budgeted for DAS and that the department now anticipates a FY25 shortfall of approximately $2.2 million tied to overcapacity, cruelty-case work and overtime.
Victoria Cheatham Bennett, assistant director over administration and finance, summarized the fiscal position: the FY25 budget was $19.6 million; as of June 30 the department had expended $15.7 million with another $142,000 encumbered, leaving fiscal-year projections that place the department roughly $2.2 million over budget for the year.
Ramon said staff turnover has been driven in part by promotions: several DAS managers were hired into other leadership posts outside the city, and the department is recruiting replacements. He also announced plans to restore spay/neuter society partnerships and to maintain outreach such as vaccine clinics, neighborhood walk-and-talks and expanded field services that integrate community-cat trapping and outreach teams.
Administrative business at the meeting included approval of the July 17, 2025, meeting minutes. A motion to approve the minutes was made and seconded; commissioners approved by a show of hands. The record does not include a line-by-line roll-call tally in the transcript.
Ending: Ramon urged commissioners and members of the public to continue supporting foster and rescue partnerships, volunteered and donated supplies, and said budget and staffing needs will be discussed in the city's fiscal review process.
