Often-criticized BARC euthanizing fewer animals – Jessica Priest, Houston Chronicle
Administration and Regulatory Affairs Department Director Alfred J. Moran Jr., who has overseen the shelter for 18 months, said turning around BARC mostly was a matter of cleaning house.
“Essentially, BARC was filled with employees that other departments didn’t want,” Moran said, noting that the Health Department’s primary focus is on people. “Animals, from a strategic point of view, became the lesser of the two,” he said.
The agency was transferred from the city’s Department of Health and Human Services to Moran’s department in 2009. Under his direction, BARC fired some five dozen shelter employees and began concentrating on building up the shelter’s infrastructure.
Credit where due — BARC (and the animals it shelters) seems to be in much better shape now than it was under the last administration.
Former Mayor Bill White’s high-priced CONsultant Gerry Fusco seems to want to take credit for the BARC turnaround, even though he is not cited in this story. According to his website, there apparently was even a Gerry Fusco Day in 2010! Who knew?
