Tammany Brooks, chief of police in Antioch, Calif., was recently honored with an award for his compassionate care for animals. It is a well-deserved recognition, as Chief Brooks has worked hard to transform the Antioch Animal Shelter by partnering with local animal welfare organization Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF), Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) advocates, and by hosting one of Alley Cat Allies’ TNR workshops.
Tammany Brooks, Antioch Chief of Police, is dedicated to making his community a better place for animals.
ARF presented the award, called the 2017 ARF Evie Award, to Chief Brooks after he was unanimously chosen for having “the greatest impact to the largest number of animals” following a year of nominations.
“Receiving the Evie award is a great honor for me,” says Chief Brooks. “I have had the opportunity to learn from, and work alongside, so many talented and amazing individuals. Being recognized as someone who had an instrumental part in our successful efforts is very humbling.”
Chief Brooks began working with ARF in late 2016 to improve the Antioch Animal Shelter and develop more lifesaving practices for animals. ARF’s staff analyzed the shelter’s operations, identified aspects to improve, and provided a roadmap of goals and recommendations to reduce the euthanasia* rate. These recommendations included hiring a manager, hiring an in-house veterinarian, and only euthanizing animals with untreatable medical conditions. The shelter also opened its doors to TNR advocates, working with them to keep more cats out of the shelter and prevent crowding.
For the past year, Antioch shelter staff have forged closer bonds with TNR groups PAWSitively S.A.F.E. and Homeless Animals Response Program (H.A.R.P.) and local community cat caregivers. Now, advocates come to the shelter, pick up impounded community cats, have them spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and eartipped at a veterinary clinic, and then return them to their colonies in their outdoor
homes. This method moves community cats, who are not socialized to people and are therefore unadoptable, out of the shelter, preserving space, saving resources, and saving cats’ lives.
“As an open admission shelter averaging an intake of more than 3,000 animals annually, our partnership with rescues is vitally important to help the greatest number of animals reach a positive outcome,” says Chief Brooks.
Chief Brooks meets Alley Cat Allies’ Associate Director of Animal Shelter and Animal Control Engagement Alice Burton at our TNR workshop in Antioch.
Chief Brooks was enthusiastic to learn more about TNR from Alley Cat Allies’ December 2017 workshop in Antioch so he could “know enough to respond to questions about it and arguments against it.” In fact, successfully implementing a strong TNR program to stabilize Antioch’s community cat population is one of the chief’s biggest goals. He’s also focused on building an on-site surgery suite for the veterinarian the shelter plans to hire and growing and better organizing the shelter’s volunteer program. A strong relationship with the community, Chief Brooks says, is the key to saving animals’ lives.
“I consider myself a servant-style leader. I truly care about the people I work with, and for, in this department and community,” says Chief Brooks. “I believe in giving my all to help others, and taking great satisfaction in helping others succeed.”
“This passion has blessed me time and time again in my career,” he says. “I’ve worked for the Antioch Police Department for 23 years, and I still wake up every morning excited to come to work.”