This story was updated at 9:30 p.m.

The city has a new director of its embattled Dallas Animal Services department.

In an announcement late Tuesday, city officials said Ed Jamison, the former chief animal control officer for the city of Cleveland, was chosen for the position. A nationwide search whittled down the candidates to six finalists last month.

Ed Jamison (City Dogs Cleveland / Facebook)

Jamison takes over the spot that has been filled in the interim by Deputy Police Chief Rob Sherwin and former police Maj. Barbara Hobbs, who was also one of the finalists.

Hobbs has been leading the department on a contract since she retired from the Police Department Aug. 8.

Jamison is credited with refining Cleveland's animal care operations and improving the City Dogs Cleveland adoption program. He also oversaw the design of the city's kennel that is expected to be completed in 2018. Under his leadership, the Cleveland Kennel averages an 86 percent save rate for animals entering the shelter, according to Dallas officials.

Prior to his work for Cleveland animal control, Jamison worked in lawn care and then moved to maintaining military equipment in Iraq and then onto municipal equipment operations in Ohio. He said he fell into animal services by being "in the right place at the right time."

He told The Dallas Morning News last month that he will hold people accountable but will also be a collaborative leader who will get people to "put their egos aside" and work together. Although he comes from a smaller department, he said animal welfare is tough no matter where in the country someone is, but said Dallas appealed to him because "I don't want to walk into a place that has it all figured out."

Sherwin and Hobbs took the helm in September after being tapped by then-City Manager A.C. Gonzalez to overhaul the department and implement recommendations from a Boston Consulting Group study.

The department's previous leader, Jody Jones, was cast aside after coming under fire for having a strained relationship with rescue organizations and for failing to pick up enough loose dogs.

The city's loose-dog crisis came to a head in May 2016 when a 52-year-old Army veteran, Antoinette Brown, was mauled to death by a pack of dogs in South Dallas.

The fight to get a handle on the loose-dog situation has made the of job of running the city's shelter and animal control efforts increasingly visible and consequential.

Under Hobbs and Sherwin, who departed in December to head the Forney Police Department, Dallas has lowered euthanasia rates, picked up more dogs and increased citations.

City Manager T.C. Broadnax thanked them for helping implement improvements at the department.

"We are very grateful to Chief Sherwin and Major Hobbs and to the Dallas Police Department for their outstanding leadership and for the role they played in guiding the department during a very difficult time," Broadnax said in a written statement. "Their measured approach was critical to getting the department back on track and began a steady improvement in services and operations."

Jamison will report to Community Services Chief Nadia Chandler Hardy, who said she was excited to welcome him to the team.

"We look forward to the great things he and the newly formed department will accomplish for the city of Dallas," Hardy said in a written statement.

Dallas Animal Services, which was once a division under the Code Compliance Department's umbrella, is now a standalone department.

Jamison will begin his duties Oct. 18.