Update from Dogtown

To those of you who have been following the recent sad incident at Dogtown, we promised an update and we are ready to share that with you.

Our Dogtown caregivers, team leaders and managers have combed the miles of dog area fencing--identifying, and prioritizing areas that will be reinforced to prevent any chance of a repeat of the unprecedented tearing of holes in three runs in one night that resulted in the death of one of our dogs, Beans.

Normal procedures call for double fencing between runs where behavior indicates that there might be the potential for aggression between neighboring dogs. Going forward, we will make selected areas extra secure. To that end, we will begin to install 9 and 10-gauge, 1”x 1” fencing which is very thick, durable and is used commonly at other animal facilities to house larger species of animals. Early last week the first roll of fencing (one of many to come) arrived, and our maintenance crew has begun installation.

Additionally, we are in the process of hiring two new night security positions. Until we fill both positions, security night shifts are being filled by Dogtown staff.

As for Tug and Denzel, they are doing very well. Many thanks for all the prayers and good thoughts for their rapid recovery. One of our caregivers has noticed that Denzel is back to his old goofy self, wagging his tail and playing with caregivers.

Although we will never know what happened that night, we do know that our policies and procedures will change as we take a fresh look at our animal care facilities and how we evolve the Dogtown environment to meet the needs of our ever-changing animal population.