The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutASAB Meeting Summary 08182021 Orange County Animal Services 1601 Eubanks Road, Chapel Hill, NC 27516 919-942-PETS (7387) ANIMAL SERVICES ADVISORY BOARD (ASAB) 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, August 18, 2021 Virtual Meeting Summary MEMBERS PRESENT: Edmund Tiryakian (Chair), Bryan Stuart (Vice Chair), Lori Gershon (Secretary), Lucia Welborne, Brenda Scott, Lee Pickett, Sunita Driehuys, Allan Polak, Meggie Romick, Dawn Roberts (arrived late) ABSENT: Susan Spinks STAFF PRESENT: Dr. Sandra Strong (Animal Services Director), Rachel Plast (Administrative Assistant) PUBLIC PRESENT: Paula Greeno (not for a particular agenda item) Call to order: 6:34 p.m. Virtual meeting voting guidelines: Bryan Stuart, ASAB Vice-Chair Review and adoption of the agenda: - No changes or objections Vote (Motion/2-d) Ed Tiryakian Y Bryan Stuart Y 2id Lee Pickett Y Lucia Welborne Y Sunita Driehuys Motion (Y) Dawn Roberts Not present for vote Meggie Romick Y Allan Polak Y Susan Spinks Absent Brenda Scott Y Lori Gershon Y Review and approval of June 2021 meeting summary Ed proposed changes to the following Second Chance Committee: Ed Tiryakian offers to chair the committee o Lee Pickett points out since this was not done at last meeting, not an appropriate amendment/correction - Motion to adopt the minutes with the following corrections; o Minutes refer to Brenda Scott as Brenda Smith. The correct name should be Brenda Scott. o Lucia Welborne was also present at the June meeting Vote (Motion/2.d) Ed Tiryakian Y (2"d) Bryan Stuart Y Lee Pickett Motion (Y) Lucia Welborne Y Sunita Driehuys Y Dawn Roberts Y Meggie Romick Y Allan Polak Y Susan Spinks Absent Brenda Scott Y Lori Gershon Y Review of public participation guidelines: Bryan Stuart, ASAB Vice-Chair General public comments on items not on agenda: Monthly Meeting Attendance Record (confirm completion): Confirm - 2 Vacancies on ASAB: 1 Chapel Hill Representative, 1 Carrboro Representative o Rachel will follow up to see if Meggie Rom ick can change her designated role to allow additional applicants for the vacancies - Alan Polak needs to resign from hearing panel as current designation but will be elevated as the chair (may need to be recognized by Board of County Commissioners) New Business - Priorities/Initiatives from Director Dr. Strong o Short term initiatives: ■ Fulfill staff vacancies (6 FTE); • Received approval from the County to start filling those vacancies • Includes 2 shelter staff, customer services supervisor, and customer service staff position • Vacancies due to frozen hiring ■ Hired an Assistant AS Director(Greg Cezzeretti) from Wake County AS (9 years) ■ Closed the night drop off boxes • Animal welfare issue (left overnight when needed specific care) • Staff safety challenge • Other counties' residents doing the drop offs • Not widely advertised but signs have been posted at AS for a week (effective today(August 18, 2021)) o Long Term Initiatives ■ Increase efficiencies ■ Look to automating pet licensing ■ Create position for a fill-time veterinarian(addition to 6 FTE) ■ Employee health, team building, and resiliency o Update on Wolf Dogs ■ 9 in custody ■ Kept in a room where most of them are kept together but they are not leash trained and cannot be "walked" ■ Placed on anti-anxiety meds to help with the adjustment ■ Sanctuaries full- hard to place ■ Working with an expert from NC State and she will help to transition wolf dogs to placement ■ Upon placement, dogs will be spayed/neutered ■ Rabies vaccines will be administered but they are not considered vaccinated ■ 1 female wolf dog remains at large in the community in Orange County(trap set up by Underwood Grocery Store) Wild Dangerous Animal Escapes in Raleigh o Bryan Stuart shared expertise as chief herpetologist of Museum of Natural Sciences on the zebra cobra incident in North Raleigh. ■ Person had more than 70 snakes (not his first offense) ■ Zebra cobra not even the most dangerous snake in his possession ■ Possessor facing charges in court under State statute, Article 55 (took plea deal) ■ Private citizens keeping venomous snakes in their homes are more common than one might think which is extremely dangerous (despite differences in climate because living in a human habitat) ■ Confiscated snakes rehomed in other facilities o Museum of Natural Sciences official repository for venomous reptiles captured pursuant to state statute. ■ No threat of reproducing with native species ■ Venomous snakes are especially dangerous where, as here, the anti-venom is hard to find o Orange County specifically bans venomous snakes under the Exotic and Wild Animals Ordinance. o City of Raleigh reacted and his proposing an ordinance that would ban the keeping venomous snakes as pets. But, lots of added language resulted in proposal being voted down. o Wake County has a separate ordinance that addresses exotic and dangerous animals, from the City of Raleigh (Raleigh AS falls under the police department). o State Assembly is not looking at this as a state wide issue so, no pending legislation. Old Business: - Updates from the Racial Equity Committee o Taken a break to allow Dr. Strong to settle into her position o Plan to resume in time for a report to the ASAB next month Second Chance Committee o Ed Tiryakian volunteered to chair this committee o Ed Tiryakian reviewed genesis of this issue (dog killing chicken) o ASAB has previously discussed that many minor issues with dogs are really reflections on owner behavior o Wake County has ordinance that allows for minor infractions where the dog would be designated as "potentially dangerous" and not automatically subject to the lifetime muzzling requirement ■ Review of Wake County Potentially Dangerous Ordinance • Owner put on notice • If same activity occurs more than 1 time in 2 years, then declared dangerous ■ Currently in Orange County, Potentially Dangerous gets same penalties as Dangerous ■ State statute differentiates potentially dangerous and dangerous o Ed Tiryakian spoke with Attorney Anne-Marie Tosco who is currently assigned to represent Animal Services. She expressed some concerns about the Wake County approach. Dr. Strong also spoke with Attorney Tosco for clarification. Attorney Strong clarified that hearing panel would only vote on the designation before the panel. Panel would not be able to alter designation from designation to potentially dangerous. Dr. Strong also pointed out that a dog killing a chicken would still be considered a dangerous animal even if the ordinance allowed for potentially dangerous designation. State statute does not allow for second chances. Ed Tiryakian would like to be able to include findings about whether the dog has a"proclivity" toward dangerous behaviors. o Can the ASAB look into a different approach from the current ordinance that would address these less serious offenses while protecting ■ Not adopt Wake County's ordinance ■ Town ordinance in Washington state has an ordinance worth looking at Motion to Continue to Explore Second Chance Option and Propose Revision to the Current Ordinance Vote (Motion/2^d) Ed Tiryakian Y Bryan Stuart Y(Motion) Lee Pickett Y Lucia Welborne Y Sunita Driehuys Y (2nd) Dawn Roberts Y Meggie Romick Y Allan Polak Y Susan Spinks Absent Brenda Scott Y Lori Gershon Y - Remote Location Committee - Background: o ASAB supposed to meet 10 times per year at AS o Suggestion to have some meetings in the community to engage more citizens and share what AS does o Per County Attorney John Roberts, ASAB need to preprint dates and locations of all meetings in a year must be done in January. Any changes need BOCC approval o Targeted 3 venues in OC for 3 meetings in 2022 (for adequate notice) ■ Senior Center(2) ■ Community Centers (3) Cedar Grove, Rogers Rd.,Efland-Cheeks ■ School - Update from committee members (Ed Tiryakian, Lucia Welborne, Alan Polak) o Seymour and Passmore Sr. Centers are eager and welcoming (Ed) ■ For June 2022 meeting, Passmore Sr. Center in Hillsborough ■ Suggestion by senior centers: combine meeting with AS services events (rabies clinic, mobile spay and neuter, adoption drive) o All Community Centers (Lucia) interested but given Covid-19, no centers are doing in person events and do not have an idea about when they might be able to accommodate an ASAB meeting. Lucia recommended as part of outreach to send flyers for Clear the Shelters (national event)to the community centers. There is advertising on WRAL. Dr. Strong was amenable. o Schools (Alan): no success and not an ideal time to be approaching the schools - Update on Wild and Dangerous Animals Ordinance Committee o Bryan Stuart will send email to ASAB with attachments prior to next meeting for discussion at the September 2021 meeting. Miscellaneous Informational Items July 2021 Monthly Statistics for Sheltering Services (http://www.orangecountync.gov/Archive.aspx?AMID=46) • July 2021 Monthly Statistics for Field Services (http://www.orangecountync.gov/Archive.aspx?AMID=45) Informal Discussion Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 8:09 p.m.