Houston PetSet is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to ending the homelessness and suffering of companion animals and elevating their status in society. Houston PetSet works to achieve its mission by focusing its efforts in six key impact areas including spay & neuter, transport & rescue, community service & education, cruelty prevention, research, and advocacy. In addition, Houston PetSet provides annual grants to animal welfare-related organizations in the Greater Houston area. By providing critical funds and collaborating with strategic partners, Houston PetSet seeks to end the crisis of animal homelessness in our community.

On behalf of Houston PetSet, our partners, and those in the animal welfare community, we thank you in advance for taking the time to provide your responses to this questionnaire. It is important to note that Houston PetSet will NOT be endorsing any candidate in any municipal race and will be using this completed document as a resource for groups and individuals that are interested in learning more about your candidacy. Your responses will be posted to our website and will be accessible for all.

The current animal homelessness population presents a public health and public safety issue that affects the quality of life of many Houstonians. The Houston PetSet questionnaire includes questions covering general animal welfare, city services, and partnerships. We ask that you complete this questionnaire (by filling in your answers via Microsoft Word) and return it to marketing@houstonpetset.org no later than July 1st, 2019.

Sincerely,

Tena Lundquist Faust Tama Lundquist

Co-President Co-President

Animal Welfare

1. To what extent have you been involved with any animal welfare issues, including rescue, spay & neuter, foster, transport programming, legislation, and anti-cruelty?

Answer:I grew up on a farm in a very rural area. I’ve taken care of animals my whole life. As a child, my family rescued multiple horses that were abandoned or abused. We would routinely rescue puppies that were left on the side of the road, foster them, and find them homes. As an adult, my first rule with my kids was: “Buzbee’s are kind to animals.” I’ve adopted two beagles so far since I’ve lived in Houston and have contributed routinely to Houston Beagle Rescue.

2. Do you have a plan to address underserved areas that need low cost spay & neuter programming and other veterinary services?

Answer:My plan is two-fold: First, incentivize veterinarians to take classes on high-volume S/N and then provide rotating areas where services are provided. Scheduled shifting locations serves more areas of need. Services include shots, wellness checks, microchipping, and city animal licenses. We can do this with a focused approach to city animal services.Funding will come from outside grants, efficiencies we create with our overall animal

plan, and fees provided from improved pet licensing procedures that are part of our overall animal welfare plan. My animal plan is on my campaign website.

3. Do you have, or have you ever had in the past, a companion animal? If so, was it a rescue animal?

Answer:Growing up on a farm, we regularly rescued puppies and dogs from the roadside where they had been dumped. Recently, I’ve adopted two beagles from Houston Beagle Rescue.

Quality of Life/Public Safety/Public Health

4. What impact, and how will reducing the stray animal population improve the quality of life of all Houstonians, if any?

Answer:The emotional pain many suffer from seeing innumerable strays and dead animals on the road is the first “win” in reducing overpopulation. Houston becomes a destination city and visitors have a better impression of us. We become a city people point to and say, “Houston did it! So can we!” Animal protection and stray animal control could be something we could be known for and be proud of.

5. How do you plan to work with communities that have historically reported high rates of stray animals? Please describe below.

Change must come from the top and we will start with changing the paradigm we currently see at BARC. We have to have officers dedicated to specific areas so they know the community and they are empowered to help. We believe by working with Harris County we can make both entities more able to serve all the communities within Houston and the county. We will put more resources where the need is the greatest. The City of Houston current cost per animal is over twice that of Harris County and there are wasted resources there. I will get to the bottom of that. We MUST have transparency at BARC.

6. How do you plan to address animal homelessness and the stray population citywide?

Answer:Eliminate backyard breeders. Incentivize people to spay/neuter and microchip their animals. Provide for all pets given a rabies vaccination to be automatically licensed by the city. Every vaccinated animal will also be microchipped with a goal that every companion animal in Houston is chipped within 4 years. This eliminates long stays for lost animals and opens up space at BARC. Open up surrender periods to a realistic level at BARC and certify rescuers who bring in strays as VIPs. Have ACO’s that are focused on the population and incentivized to bring in animals.

City of Houston Services

7. Do you have a strategy to address overcrowding in the city animal shelter? If so, please describe below.

Yes_x__ No___

As I stated in response to the previous question: rabies vaccine, microchip, and license reduces lost pets’ time in city facilities. This will easily bring in an additional $2 to $3 million dollars for animal needs. Enforce transparency at BARC so that we know what our issues really are. Then address the real issues. Explore satellite facilities to reduce stress on the main facility and make pet adoptions easier by keeping animals in a community. Work with specific rescue groups to improve animal transportation modalities and procedures. Help these groups to raise more funding so they can do good work. More collaboration amongst all groups is key.

Additional Comment:

8. Should BARC (City of Houston animal shelter) receive additional funding based on budget comparisons to national standards and peer cities? If so, how much and how would you increase the department’s overall budget?

Yes___ No___ Yes & No

First, we should not throw money at a problem if we are simply going to continue with the same practices. If there is a model city with a higher budget, we must be prepared to implement proven practices if we are to raise the budget. As soon as we have a plan to implement best practices, I am prepared to raise the budget commensurate with the need. I can convince others that this is a pressing need that reflects on us all! Our city licensing plan will already have an additional two or three million dollars yearly(likely much more) that can be earmarked before we look at pulling from other city areas.

Additional Comment:

9. Will you commit to expanding intake hours for animal surrenders at the city shelter?

Yes_x__ No___

Day one of my first term we will instruct BARC to open up with hours that meet the needs of our citizens and our animals – owned or stray.

We will provide BARC with a plan to have animal rescuers certified and they will be able to drop off animals in an even broader range of times. These rescuers will be instructed that this is a privilege and violating any law will cause them to be removed from the program. We cannot work counter to the volunteer efforts for the animals of Houston!

Additional Comment:

10. Will you commit to funding additional Animal Control Officers to respond to 311 and BARC calls?

Yes___ No___ Yes, If…Again, with a new model we will do whatever is necessary to fund more officers. We admit there is a problem and current methods are failing. Hope is not a strategy! We will improve the training of current and new officers and educate them as to what is cruelty and what is neglect. We will teach them to use their intelligence to understand the real issues when dealing with citizens. We will also flatten management structures so more officers are on the streets. Finally, we will institute response time analytics to ensure we are responding faster and smarter.

Additional Comment:

11. What is your plan to address animal abuse, including dog fighting (and cock fighting) in the City of Houston and how would you involve the community to assist in this effort?

Answer:The Harris County Animal Cruelty Taskforce has already proven that strong public/private coalitions do work. We would work with the Taskforce and Crime Stoppers of Houston to improve awareness in all communities so that we increase reporting. This problem requires community involvement in order to stop it and to arrest the perpetrators. Groups that promote these types of events move regularly and we must teach the citizenry that they are the voice for all animals.

12. There are a number of duplicative services (ex. animal control services, investigative/enforcement, wellness services, etc.) that are offered between the City and County. Do you believe in the existing model, based on geography OR would you explore other options? If you would explore other options, what specific options do you have in mind?

Yes___ No___ The current model is a complete failure. We must work with the county commissioners and the county judge to change it. By combining services, we will be able to explore efficiencies that are necessary to bring about change. We will introduce a similar licensing plan into the county to increase county revenues and decrease lost animal time in HCAS. By combining services we can more logically place officers where they are needed. We would explore working with the county to strategically place satellite facilities as previously mentioned.

Additional Comment:

Partnerships

13. Would you support a partnership with local animal welfare organizations to address the growing issues relating to animal welfare? What specifically would you propose?

Yes_x__ No___ Assist the Taskforce as needed. REQUIRE that the head of BARC attend every Taskforce meeting. Promote our volunteers through our VIP Program. Get out of their way and quit working at cross-purposes. I will create a council of 5 – 6 diverse groups (transportation, welfare, foster based, shelter based, street dog groups, etc.) to provide me input on how to better use them and keep me informed as to what they see daily. We must engage everyone to understand the problems. Animal welfare groups know the problem better than most and we need animal welfare advocates to work with our city to fix this depressing problem.

Additional Comment:

14. Are you familiar with the six key impact areas of Houston PetSet? How would your administration support Houston PetSet’s impact areas?

Yes_x__ No___

We have spoken about Spay/Neuter previously. Include transport/rescue as partners in our effort to change outcomes for Houston animals. Work with community centers to bring informative programs to our citizenry. Work with HISD to implement elementary and middle school programs on our role as animal caretakers. Work with Taskforce as previously mentioned. Our research will be more systems and process related in order to improve what the city delivers. We will provide transparency to outside researchers in order to inform quality research. Where the legislature fails, Houston will provide advocacy. We will push the state to follow our lead. I will make sure Houston leads!

Additional Comment:

City of Houston Ordinance/Advocacy

15. Would you support a local ordinance that prohibits apartments or home owners’ associations from banning specific dog breeds?

Yes_x__ No___

There is plenty of data and many studies that disprove breed specific aggression. All of these point to humans as the cause for the vast majority of aggressive behaviors of animals. We will also seek to bring better education to the community about what behaviors enhance aggression in dogs and what human behaviors are necessary to keep a dog as a companion to all.

Additional Comment:

16. Will you support the creation of a local ordinance that better defines and creates a higher standard of shelter for animals?

Yes_x__ No___

Our ordinance will mirror or be stronger than the bills brought by THLN around adequate care and tethering restrictions. We will create an ordinance that is enforceable and that eliminates any cure period. We will also present ordinances:- Creating an animal cruelty registry - Banning backyard breeders from sales on city property or private property within the city limits.- Mandate that veterinarians report suspected cruelty/neglect within the city limits.

Additional Comment:

17. Will you support a local ordinance that bans the sale of dogs from breeders and puppy mills in retail locations within the City of Houston?

Yes_x__ No___

We have no need for outside animals being bred for sale in Houston. We have a vast population of wonderful strays who need homes. We will work to make the ordinance require that any rescue be local, and any pet shop will be required to prove where the pet came from and show records of local veterinary care. Any pet shop attempting to circumvent ordinances via means such as breeders masked as 501c3 organizations will be enjoined by the city and sued. The breeders will be sued for fraud. Work with the city attorney to ensure ordinances have teeth and are enforceable.

Additional Comment:

18. Would you support mandatory microchipping for dogs and cats in the City of Houston?

Yes_x__ No___

As previously discussed ,our plan is to require microchipping and pet licensing with rabies vaccination. This reduces lost pet stay times in our facilities, provides more room for strays, makes it easier to find the pet owners and reduces the emotional toll for the animal and the owners of the animal. Furthermore, when animals are found to be victims of cruelty this provides a vital investigative path to those we have entrusted with the enforcement of our laws.

Additional Comment:

In future, please contact Houston PetSet if you would like information or educational materials relating to the subjects above.

We ask that you complete this questionnaire (by filling in your answers via Microsoft Word) and return it to marketing@houstonpetset.org no later than July 1st, 2019.