Frustrated at the pace of change at the Cranston Animal Shelter, a petition created by animal advocates demanding changes there has garnered more than 1,100 signatures over the past week.
Animal advocates and city officials, including representatives of the mayor's office and police department, sat down about a month ago to address a host of concerns raised about the shelter and its operations, mainly its volunteer policy (none have been allowed), among other concerns.
The meeting came on the heels of an open letter addressed to city officials outlining numerous complaints about the shelter.
At that meeting, city officials promised they'd address those concerns. But with more than a month gone by, impatience is growing among animal advocates, who have said on Facebook and other places that they're worried their concerns are being brushed aside.
But Cranston's Chief of Staff, Carlos Lopez, said in an interview Thursday change is in fact coming. It's just taking some time.
"City government can be a monolith and it sometimes moves at glacial speed," Lopez said. "It's not designed to turn at the drop of a dime. The reality is we have moved forward and we we're almost done with a checklist the [police chief] put together."
Lopez said the city has been working steadily to make changes at the shelter and a major announcement about its overall policies and procedures is coming soon, though he declined to elaborate on specifics about the volunteer policy.
But that checklist, which includes a laundry list of issues, some raised by the animal advocates, is in the process of being implemented.
Some of the changes include the addition of an iPad at the shelter to make it easier for staff to post pet information on the Internet, take pictures and interact with potential pet adopters on the web.
Members of the Parks and Recreation department have mowed an expanse of grass and weeds next to the shelter in the hopes of clearing an area that can be used for a dog run. New lockers have been installed. A window was fixed.
"The important thing is that all pets at the shelter are well taken care of and there's no pet that is in danger or suffering or in any condition I would not want my own pet to be in," Lopez, a self-described animal lover, said.
Lopez said the city has been "flooded" with calls and emails from constituents who have taken on the animal shelter cause. It has been impossible to get back to each person, Lopez said.
"But we want people to know we have listened, we're hearing you, and you will be pleasantly surprised," Lopez said.
Lopez noted that passion often leads to misinformation. For example, a story about a pregnant pit bull that was slated to be put down is simply not true whatsoever. That story had been making the rounds at the same time as the open letter surfaced. The fact is, Lopez said, that dog was adopted — along with all five of her puppies — and that type of situation at the shelter would not be tolerated.
In fact, Lopez's own dog comes from the shelter. And Marissa Campisani, the city's director of constituent affairs who has fielded many calls on the issue, adopted a three-legged Chihuahua known as "Lucky" from there.
"We just ask people to please be patient," Lopez said.
Note: An earlier verison of this story misspelled Marissa Campisani's name.