To: City of Fort Worth, Mayor Mattie Parker, Fort Worth City Council, and Texas State Oversight Authorities

We, the undersigned, demand the immediate removal of Megan Bittel from her supervisory role at Fort Worth Animal Care & Control (FWACC).

(Do not donate at the end)
Why We Are Taking Action:

For years, Megan Bittel has overseen practices that are not only cruel but unconstitutional and corrosive to public trust. Her leadership has been marked by:

• Targeting adoptable dogs, including many puppies, for euthanasia. She has consistently approved the premature deaths of puppies and young dogs, even when there were fosters and adopters waiting, tagged, or in the proceess. Mislabeling behavior notes has repeatedly been used to block rescue tags, convince fosters to back out, and justify the killing of friendly, adoptable dogs while sparing those with severe behavioral issues. This pattern has intentionally kept highly adoptable dogs from being saved.

We have documented cases and ID numbers for many of these young dogs over the years. There will be a list of 20 + behavioral dogs at the north shelter, and they will choose the most adoptable ones with the least issues to die first. There’s no management or humane euthanasia happening here. It’s downright animal cruelty.

• Dismantling transparency. Bittel spearheaded the removal of the public “Last Call” lists, which previously allowed the community to know the night before which dogs were scheduled for euthanasia. This critical safety net gave rescues, fosters, and adopters a chance to act in time. By eliminating it, it cut off the community’s ability to intervene and directly increased preventable deaths. Not to mention it’s both cruel to the dogs, and the people networking them. No other shelters in Texas have this inhumane rule. North shelter removes the dogs it kills offline after they have been killed which is illegal and violation of shelter protocols. They do it so we can’t help the digs before they are killed. The North shelter refuses dog test. It won’t give you information on Dogs unless you’re Rescue. Now south is following suit and not even allowing the public to help in rescue efforts. Our money paying their salaries and they can’t even tell us if a dog is dog friendly or not

• Bullying and censorship of volunteers. Volunteers are currently been coerced into surrendering photos, videos, and media under threat of removal from the program. This is coercion, suppression of evidence, and an abuse of taxpayer-funded authority. It is also a violation of First Amendment rights, as photos and recordings are legally recognized forms of protected expression in matters of public concern. This unlawful censorship shields leadership from accountability and keeps the public in the dark. But its further suits her agenda to continue to mislabel and hide evidence.

• Creating conflict instead of collaboration. Rather than building cooperation, Bittel has been the driving force behind conflict between other supervisors, staff, rescues, fosters, and volunteers. She has undermined community partnerships and created an atmosphere of hostility that works against the shelter’s mission of being humane. The average live release rate is now 87-89 percent the worst in any major Texas city thanks to Megan Bittel, Christopher McCallister, And Brian Daugherty.

* Currently North shelter has a illness that is spreading and they continue to take new inmates and strays, which is causing the killing of capacity/long term residents, the perfect dogs. we lost four yesterday: Hershey, Bandit, Darla and Red. This crisis is being completely mismanaged and it is irresponsible to continue to put more dogs at risk to increase their funding quotas and false persona to the community.
These patterns resemble racketeering: manipulating labels, silencing whistleblowers, and controlling information in order to eliminate accountability, while animals pay the price. Including and not limited to: Texas Whistleblower Act (Texas Government Code, Chapter 554 which Protects public employees (like city shelter staff) from retaliation if they report a violation of law by their employer to an appropriate law enforcement authority.

We call on Fort Worth city leadership to:

1. Immediately remove Megan Bittel from her position at FWACC.

2. Investigate all euthanasia decisions under her tenure, including cases where dogs had fosters or rescues waiting or where mislabeling is evident.

3. Restore public transparency by reinstating Last Call lists due at the closing of each shelter workday, and protecting volunteers’ rights to document, advocate, and share to save dogs lives.

4. Adopt humane, evidence-based practices that prioritize lifesaving and rebuild trust with the community.

Why This Matters

Fort Worth taxpayers fund FWACC. This shelter belongs to the public, not to a few supervisors abusing power. The deliberate killing of adoptable dogs, including puppies, the silencing of volunteers, and the destruction of community trust cannot continue. No longer can the community and dogs be bullied by the small group of people who are mismanaging the entire Fort Worth shelter system for their own benefit.They continue to behave this way and get away with it because there is no public outcry. You have to email, sign, and get the media involved to save lives. .

We demand change, we demand accountability, and we demand leadership that values compassion over cruelty. Add your name to stand for the dogs, volunteers and rescues. Nothing will change until this management is gone.