09/21/2026
From the September issue: At a well-attended public meeting last June in Lakewood with Dallas Animal Services (DAS), frustrated neighbors talked about being overrun by outdoor cats, trouble accessing Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) resources and feeling like they weren’t being listened to. DAS officials explained they are doing the best they can while managing their resources. The meeting focused on DAS's loss of funding, a deficit in the ability to provide shelter animal surgeries, a vacant full-time veterinarian position, and short-handed staff serving about 2,600 animals in foster homes and 600 in the shelter.
Any animal reproducing quickly and unfettered leads to a bigger population with higher risks for “disease transmission, parasites, sanitation concerns, nuisance behaviors,” says Amanda Earl, DAS assistant director of operations. “One of the primary benefits of TNR is that participating cats are vaccinated against rabies,” Earl says. “They’ve been sterilized. They’ve at least been looked at by a veterinarian. They have an ear tip so that we can identify those animals. It does help stabilize colony size. It does help reduce nuisance behaviors, but there are only so many resources.”
Almost 8,500 service requests regarding stray cats were placed between August 2023 and September 2025 throughout Dallas but especially in East Dallas, Oak Cliff and southern Dallas, according to a City report. Some advocates think Dallas Animal Services should actively participate in TNR. The department calls the practice “the only proven, humane method to control outdoor cat populations” on the City’s website, but currently isn’t proposing a City-run TNR program. “We would need the staff support. We would need the funding support. We would need community support. We’d need those partnerships,” Earl says.
https://oakcliff.advocatemag.com/2026/09/dallas-is-short-on-trap-neuter-return-resources-for-cats-2/
📷️: Courtesy of Dallas Animal Services
Some advocates think Dallas Animal Services should participate in TNR. The department currently isn’t proposing a City-run TNR program.
