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Animal Shelter Advisory Committee Minutes - 07/26/2019THE ANIMAL SHELTER ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ASAC) MINUTES July 26, 2019 Animal Services Center 1207 Hatton Road Wichita Falls, Texas COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Nicki Bacon Animal Shelter Administrator Amanda Pfeffer Local Rabies Control Authority Leslie Harrelson Public Citizen Marvin Peevey Animal Walfare Organization COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENCE: Bryan Wade, DXM Lou Kreidler Amy Fagan Steve Jackson Diann Bowman Lauren Linville Abby Foster I. CALL TO ORDER Nicki Bacon, Chair, called the meeting to order. Veterinarian Director of Public Health Assistant Director of Public Health City Council Liaison Animal Care and Adoption Supervisor &Mgm I M MUM 2 1) lr� 11. REVIEW & APPROVAL OF FEBRUARY MINUTES The minutes from the ASAC Meeting from September 13, 2018, were distributed and reviewed. Mr. Peevey made the motion to accept these minutes with a second by Mrs. Pfeffer. The motion was carried. III. OLD BUSINESS None. IV. NEW BUSINESS Mrs. Bacon started the meeting by given the shelter numbers to the committee. Mrs. Bacon stated that Animal Services intake consisted of 14 percent coming from owner surrenders, 47 percent coming from stray intakes and 37 percent coming in through the front desk. Mrs. Bacon also stated that 19 percent of the animals went to rescue, and another 19 percent were returned to the owner, and 56 percent were euthanized. Mrs. Kreidler then took over the meeting by introducing herself to the committee as the Director of Public Health and asked the rest of the committee to introduce themselves. Mrs. Kreidler then started the presentation informing the committee that Animal Services was doing an ordinance revision. She continued with the question of why now? Mrs. Kreidler proceeded with the animal ordinance was last revised in its entirety in 2009. There have been some THE ANIMAL SHELTER ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ASAC) MINUTES July 26, 2019 issues that have come up in sections of the ordinance, and we really wanted to look at those, and once we started looking at the ordinance we realized that we need to do a comprehensive review. Since 2009 we have added sections and had done some minor changes, but it has not been thoroughly revised since then, and it just felt like it was time. So the process that we have been through was: the review of the ordinance, then discussed the problem areas and the needed changes, we also reviewed the feral cat section to include the discussion that we held when the ordinance was initially passed. Then we spent many hours researching ordinances from all around the state. Many from different cities and of different sizes. Once we got the draft ordinance, we then meet with legal for review, which made several changes to the ordinance. The draft ordinance was then finalized, and we are now reviewing it with the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee (ASAC), we the will then have stakeholder meetings and gather their suggestions an feedback and make any needed changes before bringing it back to the ASAC committee and then to the Board of Health then to City Council. Mrs. Kriedler continued by stating that they made some changes to some definitions. One which was to the definition of an animal. Animal Services would have carnivals come in and want to give away hermit crabs, fish, and turtles and say that those were not animals. Mrs. Kreidler stated so we had to change our definition of animal to align with the definition in the dictionary so when carnivals come into town we can say now that we consider them animals. We are also changing the name from Animal Control Officer to Animal Care Office. Mrs. Kreidler informed that this was something that was important the officers. This new title would be more reflective of what they do every day and help how they are seen in the community. Mrs. Kreidler said that they are also changing the way they do foster homes. She continued to explain that in the past foster homes were to have a foster permit. The foster permit will now be moved under the rescue groups. We will keep a list of the approved rescue groups, and the rescue groups will now be responsible for their own fosters. Mrs. Kreidler continued. We updated the definition of grooming and grooming business. We wanted to more clearly define what grooming business meant, and we also added mobile grooming facilities which we are seeing more of in our community and wanted to be able to regulate them as well. We defined what an owner is and when a person becomes the owner of an animal. We changed pet shops to pet stores as there won't be any longer what people think of a pet shop. Pet stores are store like PETS MART and PETCO and all animals up for adoption must be from a recognized rescue. Mrs. Kreidler also included the addition of a private animal shelter there have been individuals inquire about opening an animal shelter, and there wasn't anything in the ordinance defining what that was or giving us the ability to permit or regulate them. Mrs. Kreidler also stated that legal wanted to add a definition of what a prohibited animal was to clearly outline what animals were not allowed. The first definition was livestock production area. The current ordinance stated if you had over 25 acres you didn't have to meet all of the requirements of a permit and we just thought if you are going to have livestock inside the city limits of Wichita Falls then you should meet all the requirements of the ordinance. We also changed the vicious dog language to dangerous dog to align that with the state law. Mrs. Krediler continued with disposal of a deceased animal. Removal of dead livestock is the responsibility of the person responsible for the livestock both physically and financially. Animal Services will still pick up domesticated animals and small wildlife, but there will be a removal fee. Mrs. Kreidler continued with owner surrender of an animal. In order to surrender an animal, the owner will be required to schedule an appointment, provide proof of ownership, and pay a surrender fee. The reason we have done this is we want that owner to come in and set up an appointment with an animal specialist so they can have a conversation with them about why they do not want to have that animal anymore and to see if there are any resolvable barriers. Some potential barriers are if the problem is a 2 THE ANIMAL SHELTER ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ASAC) MINUTES July 26, 2019 training issue, behavior issue, or financial issue. This will help us to connect them with additional resources and to help keep that animal in their home. Removal of waste is important because 20 percent of animal control complaints are due to citizens walking their dogs and not picking up feces. Currently, for us to enforce that an Animal Control officer would have to be on -site, see the animal defecate, and see the citizen not pick up the waste matter. We looked at other ordinances and added language that says if they are going to be out walking their dog then they will need to have materials or implements that can either alone or in combination with each other could be used to pick up and immediately disposed of the waste. The other thing that we added was for multi -housing units or apartment complexes who have rules in their leases that say if you have animals, you are responsible for picking up your pet's waste but they do not want to enforce that they want animal control to enforce the ordinance. So this will put the responsibility of enforcing that on that complex. Mrs. Kreidler continued on with adoption policy We wanted to come up with a way for individuals who use veterinarian's that are not inside the city limits for spay and neuter have an ability to do that, so we came up with a thirty -mile limit that will allow us to go as far out as Electra, which is inside the county. But there will be a transport fee assess with that service. The citizens can return an adopted animal at no charge or if they choose to rehome an adopted animal, but they must update the information with animal services within 14 days. The next thing we added is a Responsible Pet Ownership Program. This is a new program that will be designed to provide education on pet care, state law, and local ordinances. The class can be mandatory for offenders who have violated a policy, and it will be taught by the animal services staff. The goal is to reduce the number of repeat offenders. Mrs. Kreidler started another ordinance we added was duty to locate. A person will commit an offense if they take possession of a stray dog or cat and fails to make reasonable effort to locate the animal's owner with 72 hours. The reasonable effort would be considered calling the number listed on the tags, taking the animal to a veterinarian or another animal agency to be scanned for a microchip, making a found report with animal services and that information should include contact information, description of the animal, and where the animal was found. Mrs. Kreidler then stated that she had a friend that had a full breed small white fufu dog. Her friend's dog got out, or she lost it. She had posted all over Facebook that she had lost the dog and she couldn't find it, then six months later there was a woman walking her friend's dog down the street. Her friends stopped her and said I believe that's my dog, and the lady said that they found the dog but didn't know where the dog belonged. Mrs. Kreidler continued to Microchip Requirement. The ordinance will say that microchips will be required on all dogs or cats 16 weeks of age or older. Any unchipped animal that is redeemed from Animal Services must be chipped prior to leaving the shelter and charged the appropriate fee. The owner must maintain current contact information with Animal Services and the microchip company. If the animal is sold or then transferred, then that information must be updated with Animal Services within 14 days. The next topic is wearing of collars. Dogs are required to wear a collar and must have a rabies tag, and the city license has to be attached to the collar. Cats are required to wear a collar, as well, and must have a rabies tag and city license attached but the cat's collar can be a breakaway collar to prevent strangulation. Mrs. Kreidler continued with permits. This section was one of the biggest reasons why we started looking at the ordinance. We have divided the permit section into two separate sections commercial and residential. In the general permits, all cats and dogs owned by the pen -nit holder or residing at the 3 THE ANIMAL SHELTER ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ASAC) MINUTES July 26, 2019 permitted property must; have a current rabies vaccination, have a current city license, and be spayed or neutered. It is required that the permit holder meets all standard of care set out in the ordinance, not limited to food, water, shade, and shelter. If an individual fails to comply with any of the regulations or fails to get a permit, then it may result in a seizure warrant or removal of animals from the property. So if a citizen was to get a livestock permit all cats and dogs would need to be either spayed or neutered. Commercial permits. Mrs. Kreidler stated that it includes fowls, rabbits, guinea pigs, and ferrets. We didn't make any changes to that part of the permit section. She stated that Grooming now includes mobile grooming. With the grooming business, we added standards of care and record -keeping requirements. The kennel permit now reads one or more dogs or cats over 16 weeks must have a current city license if the permit holder resides inside the city limits of Wichita Falls. Mrs. Kreidler went on to state that the current ordinance went by the number of animals that you have. So at the end of the day if your boarding animals, then you will need to be permitted as a kennel. Mrs. Kreidler stated that performing animals such as petting zoos and circuses must provide a certificate of health for each qualifying animal, a rabies certificate for each animal, a negative Coggins for all equine, any federal permits that are required, and hand sanitizes stations at both the entrance and exits for those people who have contact with the animals. We kept the stable and riding school permits the same. Some of the new permits we added to the commercial permits are a private animal shelter. The shelter must be an adequate size for the number of animals that are to be held. They must check for ID and for microchips and notify the owners when they come into the shelter. They must be open during regular business hours. Records must be kept for data and for critical processes and outcomes. These records must be available for the staff when we come to inspect the facility, and all animals must be spayed and neutered prior to adoption. We also added a wildlife education center that would include Kemp wildlife and River Bend Nature Center. We didn't have anything in our current ordinance that would allow us to go in and check on those animals and we just wanted to put something in place that would allow us to. We also will not take any animals that may be potential rabies carries to wildlife rehabber. Wildlife rehabilitation has to comply with all state and local laws and must submit the name and address and phone numbers of any sub -permit holders. This is important because we received a call about raccoons in the front yard adjacent to a busy street where the public could come into contact with them. So this will just help us have better control over where those wildlife rehabbers are located. Mrs. Kreidler moved to residential permits. She stated that the fowl permit was remaining the same. She continued with the livestock permit and that there was no longer a livestock production area. Currently, the ordinance says if you have over 25 acres that you do not need to meet all of the requirements. Mrs. Kreidler continued that they thought it was necessary for everyone who had livestock meet all of those requirements. All livestock should have identifying markers, and documentation should be provided to animal services at the time of being permitted or when new animals are added. The non -conforming use is a permit that we only have a few of inside the city limits. The next is the pet fanciers permit all animals being permitted in the home must be spayed or neutered, microchipped, and have a city license. Spay and neutering is a new requirement. The numbers allowed will be determined by adequate housing space and by the size of the animals. We thought this was important because if you're a pet fancier and you have Great Danes, or you're a pet fanciers, and you have a Chihuahua's then the space you'll need for four Great Danes are going to be different than for four Chihuahua's. 4 THE ANIMAL SHELTER ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ASAC) MINUTES July 26, 2019 Mrs. Kreidler explained the project animal permit is a new name for the 4H and FFA permits. Things have changed due to how originations and schools now have project animals. However, the requirements are still the same. On the swine permit, we changed the weight on the pot-bellied pig from 90 lbs to 125 pounds, and when doing our research, that was what an average weight of a pot- bellied pig. We will not be allowing any new permits, and we will be grandfathering in those citizens that have current swine permits. We had a lot of issues with pot-bellied pigs over this last year. We had seven pot-bellied pigs in the shelter that were too large to belong in the city and had to find home for them outside the city. We have a feral cat colony ordinance informed Mrs. Keridler. We do not have any permits, but we have an ordinance. To obtain a cat colony permit, they have to have permission from their neighbors to have a colony. The colony cannot be located on a sidewalk or public right of way. All animals must be microchipped, and all food and food containers must be placed between the hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and removed by 5 p.m. All registration should be posted in a clear location and visible at all times. Mrs. Kreidler continued, the next permit is rescue groups. The requirements are that the rescues groups must be approved by Animal Services Center. The rescue group is responsible for ensuring their registered foster homes meet all city required ordinances. They must provide a list to Animal Services of all registered fosters homes which will include names, and address of foster home caregiver, and must update the list anytime changes are made. Mrs, Kreidler continued that foster homes must be registered with an approved rescue group. They must maintain rabies vaccinations for all animals in the home for over 16 weeks. They must meet all requirements of the ordinance for care of all animals. Any animal in the home over 6 months must have a city license, and any foster animal in the home over I year is considered an owned animal and is no longer considered a foster. They may have 4 personal animals. If they have more than 4 animals, they must have a Pets Fancier permit. Foster animals are not counted in the number of animals for the pen -nit, and they must be the owner of the residents or have written permission from the landlord. Litter, Stud, and Seller permits are current permits that we have added according to stated Mrs. Kreidler. They will now have to show a health certificate from a veterinarian in the past 12 months for any permit in this section. They must attend the Animal Services responsible pet owner program. In addition, they must maintain a record for all animals sold or given away for I year. They are also prohibited from selling or giving away animals in parking lots, flea markets, temporary events, or public gatherings. We had a farm in Clay county inform Mrs. Kreidler that were giving puppies away, and one of the puppies had rabies, so then we were trying to track all these puppies down, and some had gone to Oklahoma becoming a jurisdictional issue, so just for rabies purposes we need to know where those animals have gone. Mrs. Kreidler continued with Private animal sales any animal for 6 months of age must be sterilized, implanted with a microchip, have current rabies vaccinations and are prohibited from being sold in parking lots, flea markets, temporary events or public gatherings. Mrs. Kreidler continued with cats running at large. She stated that under the current ordnance, cats are not to be considered running at large. So, when we looked, there is such an issue with the cat population we wanted to address this issue. Cats will be considered running at large unless wearing a W THE ANIMAL SHELTER ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ASAC) MINUTES July 26, 2019 collar with a city license, and this can be a breakaway collar. They must be spayed or neutered, they must have their rabies vaccinations, their city license, and they must be microchipped or be a member of a registered feral cat colony. Mrs. Kreidler continued that any dog or cat found to be running at large will be required to be spayed or neutered whether returned home or impounded. We have lots of animals that are returned to their owner's prior coming into the shelter. We will require those animals to be spayed or neutered. If the animal is returned home and is already spayed or neutered, then the citizen has I day to provide that proof to us, If the animal is impounded and is not spayed or neutered then they will be required to show proof of spay or neuter or prepay for an appointment within 20 days of release. Mrs. Kreidler continued that the vicious word in our ordinance has been changed to dangerous. We have added some requirements and changed some of the requirements to align with state law. If the animal is deemed as dangerous the owners must obtain liability insurance of $750,000, and the animal must be spayed or neutered, register with the national dangerous dog registry, and are required to license the animal annually. They must have permission from the landlord if they are not the property owner, they must notify Animal Services within 10 days of moving to a new location so we can inspect the new location. The owner may not sell, give away, or transfer ownership; it must be relinquished to Animal Services or a veterinarian for euthanasia. Failure to comply with the requirements will result in the revocation of their city license and seizure of the animal. Mrs. Kreidler stated that we added impoundment to the ordinance. If an animal has been impounded, prior to release the animal must be microchipped and must provide proof of spay or neuter or prepay for an appointment within 20 days of release. Mrs. Kreidler continued to trapping. If individuals want to trap, they need to sign a contract with Animal Services prior to trapping. They must monitor the traps daily and notify Animal Services immediately of any trapped animal. They may not trap on the weekend or on any city recognized holidays. They may not trap when the temperature is below 45 degrees fahrenheit, above 80 degrees fahrenheit, or during inclement weather. Mrs. Kreidler continued to home quarantine ordinance. Home quarantine will be allowed on a limited basis only after all other available options are exhausted. Home quarantine must be approved by the Local Rabies Control Authority (LRCA) and meet specific criteria. They will be required to show proof of spay and neuter or prepay for spay and neuter within 20 days release of quarantine. Mrs. Kreidler continued with an ordinance regarding inhumane treatment. We added language to include any animal that is abandoned at Animal Services, or at any other business, on public property, or with any person that has not consented or has revoked consent to be responsible for the animal. Also, failure to reclaim any animal that a person owns or has temporary possession of will be considered inhumane treatment. We have had issues with owners refusing to reclaim their animals, so this will give us a way to ticket them and hold them responsible. Mrs. Kreidler continued to the ordinance regarding animals in an open bed of a motor vehicle. It states that a person will commit an offense if he/she carries, transport, or leaves unattended an animal within 0 THE ANIMAL SHELTER ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ASAC) MINUTES July 26, 2019 the open bed of any parked or moving pickup, flatbed, or similar vehicle. They can be in a carrier / dog box which is secured in the bed of the truck. We just had our stakeholder meeting with the veterinarians, and we will be changing the carrier dog box language based on our feedback from that meeting. The carrier or other devices shall also provide adequate ventilation, shelter, and shade. Mrs. Kreidler said this is important because our current ordinance talks about confinement in a vehicle, but we have people who leave on the flatbed or in the back of the pick up without any type of protection, and on days like today the metal gets very hot. Mrs. Kreidler explained the next steps are to have the stakeholder's meetings, seek public feedback and comments throughout the process, revise the ordinance based on feedback, back to Animal Shelter Advisory Committee (ASAC), Board of Health, and then to City Council. Mrs. Kreidler asked the committee if there were any questions. Mrs. Harrelson asked: how can we help you with the information on the microchips? Mrs Pfeffer replied just insuring that the person relinquishing the animal and the new owner of the animal both contact the microchip company to ensure that their information has been updated. Mrs. Harrelson asked: so are you working on new fees? Mrs. Kreidler replied that they had started them, but they have not been finalized. Mrs. Harrelson asked: how dogs are deemed dangerous? Mrs Pfeffer replied that the citizen submits an affidavit. Then an investigation is done. If there is enough evidence to support the vicious claim, the recommendation is made. Then the animal could be declared vicious. Mrs. Harrelson asked: if the police would be able to ticket a person with an animal in the back of a vehicle? Mrs. Krediler replied, yes, they could issue ticket for animals in the back of vehicles. Mr. Peevey replied I am glad that the bed of a motor vehicle ordinance is being considered, so that way the animal can be protected. Mrs. Kreidler stated that the changes are not a complete spay & neuter but it's a compromise. Mrs. Kreidler advised that the next ASAC meeting is set for August 29, 2019, at 12:00 p.m. Mrs. Harrelson made the motion to adjourn. Mr. Peevey seconded the motion to adjourn. The motion carried all were in favor. J Nicki Bacon ASAC Chairman Animal Services Administrator -5-oqC 19 Date 7 THE ANIMAL SHELTER ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ASAC) MINUTES July 26, 2019 Steven Parady ASAC Recording Secretary Animal Services Sr. Admin Clerk to