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HomeMy WebLinkAboutASAB minutes 091708Animal Services Advisory Board (ASAB) Approved Minutes for September 17, 2008 Meeting Present ASAB Members: Daniel Textoris, Ross Oglesbee, Jean Austin, Susan Elmore, Bonnie Norwood, Suzanne Roy, Pat Sanford and Rachel Beckham. Absent ASAB Members: Dewana Anderson, Tracy Carroll, Kris Bergstrand, and Moses Carey. Others in Attendance: Animal Services Director Bob Marotto, Animal Shelter Manager Jessica Allison, Animal Control Manager Irene Phipps and Administrative Assistant Paula Ragan. Public Members Present: Ted Dorsi and Jennifer Binkley (with All Creatures and Animals Sanctuary) Welcome and Opening Comments—ASAB Chair, Ross Oglesbee, called the meeting to order. Motion was made by Bonnie Norwood and seconded by Susan Elmore to approve the Agenda dated September 17, 2008. VOTE: Unanimous. Motion was made by Bonnie Norwood and seconded by Jean Austin to approve the minutes dated August 20, 2008, with changes to wording under General Public Comments and the removal of the sentence listing the new shelter hours; instead the handout provided at last month’s meeting will be added as an attachment. Several typographical errors were also corrected. VOTE: Unanimous General Public Comment—None Unfinished Business— Tethering Ordinance Update—Bob Marotto reported that it was expected that the BOCC would hold a work session on September 22, 200, and that tethering will be an item on the agenda for that meeting. Three things had been requested of staff for the meeting: (1) prepare an Abstract that summarizes where we are in the process; (2) summarize the comments that were made at the public hearing; and (3)-summarize recent related events in Durham County. Mr. Marotto indicated that the Commissioners would like to take this time to discuss the issue of tethering among themselves and would do so during the Work Session. August Statistical Summary—Mr. Marotto gave an overview of the August 2008, statistical summary. He reported that there continues to be an increase in the intakes compared to last year and that this is a very significant trend for the summer of 2008. He also stressed that the actual (or absolute) number of adoptions has not decreased notwithstanding the state of the economy and the challenges presented by the UNC remediation project. Animal Services Advisory Board August 20, 2008 Meeting--Approved Minutes Page 2 Also, Animal Control conducted seventeen (17) rabies investigations in the month of August and two of these cases had confirmed positive tests. So far in 2008 there have been fifteen (15) positive rabies cases by comparison with a total of nineteen (19) for all of last year. Irene Phipps reported there have been 2 vaccine clinics held this month. She noted that one was held at the Animal Shelter where a total of 46 vaccines were administered (32 dogs and 14 cats) and the other at Paws and Claws where 14 dogs and 2 cats were vaccinate (despite bad weather). Public Notification of Dangerous Dog Declarations—Mr. Marotto reported that a memo was completed today that addresses the concerns Mr. Dorsi raised at the August ASAB meeting, but that the by-laws required that such documents be distributed 3 days prior to the meeting. Chair Ross Oglesbee suggested that Mr. Marotto provide an oral summary instead of distributing the document and provide the memorandum for the October ASAB meeting. Mr. Marotto summarized Mr. Dorsi’s two main concerns and indicated that he had reviewed these concerns with the Office of the County Attorney and the Animal Control Manager. He noted that the County’s ordinance does require the payment of some fees prior to the recovery of an animal but that these fees do not include civil penalties or fines. It is not the practice of Animal Services to require the payment of civil penalties and/or fines prior to the release of an impounded or quarantined animal. He also noted that according to the ordinance the payment of the costs associated with the impoundment of an animal does not relieve the owner of responsibility for paying civil penalties. With regard to the issue of a registry or other forms of notification, he indicated that there is no such legal requirement in the County’s ordinance or North Carolina’s general statutes. He noted that Orange County Animal Control encourages the reporting of any violations when a declaration has been made to ensure that the owner of a dog is in compliance, and that Animal Control is available and has attended neighborhood and/or other community events to inform and help to educate the community regarding these types of issues. ASAB Committees— Potentially Dangerous Dog Committee— No hearings held. Spay/Neuter Committee— As no meeting was held, there was nothing to report at this time. Placement Partner Update—Revisions were made to the agreement from comments provided at last month’s ASAB meeting. In addition to those revisions, the draft Agreement, Guidelines and Brochure were sent out to approximately 60 rescue groups that work with Animal Services. The rescue groups were requested to provide us with any comments or questions so that we could factor those in to the final revisions. One of the main questions and concerns that rescue groups Animal Services Advisory Board August 20, 2008 Meeting--Approved Minutes Page 3 had was the cost associated with having to purchase liability insurance in order to rescue animals from the Animal Shelter. Ms. Binkley with All Creatures and Animals Sanctuary expressed her concerns regarding the high cost of an insurance policy and said that as a small rescue group they could not afford the insurance. She noted that the members of groups such as hers are covered under homeowner’s insurance policies and indicated that should be sufficient. Another rescue group, Doberman Rescue, replied via e-mail, saying that most small rescue groups do not have the funds to obtain insurance specifically for rescues and that if this was a requirement they would not be able to take in animals through Placement Partner Group. After much discussion it was decided that it would best to craft the agreement with an exception for responsible organizations that could not afford their own insurance. Ross Oglesbee and Jean Austin agreed to draft such a provision, with the understanding that staff would have the final provision reviewed by the County Attorney and Risk Manager before submitting the document to the BOCC. Six-Month Foster Program Report—Jess Allison gave an overview of the January-June 2008 foster report. There were a total of 114 animals fostered through the Shelter’s foster program, which was 6 percent of the total number of animals admitted at the Shelter during this period. Compared to the previous six-months there were 31 more animals fostered and 36 more compared to the same period in 2007. Ms. Allison also reported that the areas of improvement that had been identified previously such as revising documents and forms had been implemented and have provided a positive change and resulted in increased efficiency. New Business— Pet Co-location in Disasters—Bob Marotto and Captain Clint Osborn of Emergency Services provided a handout (attached to these minutes) and gave an update on the current practices in Orange Count and the prospect of pet co-location. Co-location means you can bring your animal to a shelter with you and that you would be housed in one area of the building while your animal would be in another area such as a corridor. Their work has been done at the request of the County Manager, and they noted that school administrators are in support of this program and will work with Orange County. Emergency Services Departments is looking at purchasing a Companion Animal Mobile Equipment Trailer (CAMET), which contains the equipment needed for a co-located pet facility. Co-location standards have not yet been developed but Emergency Services and Animal Services are reviewing best practices as part of this project. Motion was made by Jean Austin and seconded by Susan Elmore that the ASAB support this initiative as it provides for humane treatment of animals and promotes the bond between human beings and animals. VOTE: Unanimous. Animal Services Advisory Board August 20, 2008 Meeting--Approved Minutes Page 4 Other Business—Mr. Marotto asked that the ASAB take the time in the coming months to talk about Animal Service priorities as it is expected to be a very tough year financially. The initial projection that was presented to the BOCC last week was a negative 10 million dollars for fiscal year 2009-2010. Along with other County Departments, Animal Services has been asked to inventory services so that we can clearly assess how our resources are and should be allocated. We may have to operate on another continuation budget unadjusted for inflation which means we will need to prioritize what we are doing and how we are allocating the resources we have. Motion was made by Jean Austin and seconded by Susan Elmore to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 p.m. VOTE: Unanimous. Next ASAB Meeting: Wednesday, October 22, 2008, at 6:30 p.m. in the Government Services Conference Room, 200 S. Cameron Street, Hillsborough.