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Animal Shelter Advisory Committee Minutes - 12/10/2021 THE ANIMAL SHELTER ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ASAC) MINUTES December 10, 2021 Animal Services Center 1207 Hatton Road Wichita Falls,Texas COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: Angela Bakken Local Rabies Control Authority Marvin Peevey Animal Walfare Organization Bryan Wade, D.V.M Veterinarian COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENCE: Nicki Bacon Animal Shelter Administrator Leslie Harrelson Public Citizen Steve Jackson City Council Liaison OTHERS PRESENT: Lou Kreidler Director of Public Health Amy Fagan Assistant Director of Public Health Diann Bowman Animal Care and Adoption Supervisor I. CALL TO ORDER Angela Bakken, Local Rabies Control Authority,called the meeting to order. 11. REVIEW&APPROVAL OF FEBRUARY MINUTES The minutes from the ASAC Meeting from July 7,2021 were distributed and reviewed. Mr.Peevey made the motion to accept these minutes with a second by Dr.Wade.The motion was carried. Ill. OLD BUSINESS None IV. NEW BUSINESS Ms. Bakken updated the committee with the current shelter numbers as of December 7,2021.The live outcome rate for the shelter is sixty percent.The live outcome for dogs and cats is sixty-three percent. Adoptions had a two percent increase from 2020,which is fifteen percent.The shelter's euthanasia rate increased by four percent from 2020,increasing it to thirty-seven percent.Transfers to rescues had a seven percent decrease from 2020,bringing it to twenty-five percent.The shelter's return to owner rate had a one percent increase from 2020,bringing it to Twenty—three percent.The shelter's overall total is sixty-three percent which is a decrease of four percent.The number of animals that came into the shelter increased by seventeen percent from 2020.COVID affected the shelter's numbers positively last year due to a decrease in animals brought into the shelter.We have seen an increase in the shelter's intake since things are getting back to normal.Ms. Bakken stated that even though the shelter's intake increased by seventeen percent,the live outcome rate only changed by four percent. 1 THE ANIMAL SHELTER ADVISORY COMMITTEE(ASAC) MINUTES December 10, 2021 Mrs. Kreidler advised the committee that Ms. Bakken has worked with her Animal Care Officer to get the animals returned to their owners out in the field and that a one percent increase represents a whole lot of work by the officers out in the field of getting the animals back home before bringing them into the shelter. Mr. Peevey stated that the one percent also has to do with the groups on Facebook telling the citizens to bring the animals to the shelter to be checked for microchips.This way,the owner can look for them there. Mr. Peevey stated that he has seen citizens post thank you's to the officers for getting their animals back to them and not bringing them to the shelter. Ms. Bakken continued to the next agenda item, the city ordinances. Mrs. Kreidler informed the committee that they have been working on the city ordinances for a while. Mrs. Kreidler stated that it took so long because they had to stop working on them due to COVID. Ms. Kreidler informed the committee that the changes they were reviewing today are mostly administrative. Mrs. Kreidler stated that the first change was on page two,and that was the additional wording to enclosures to say secured on all sides to prevent escape. Mrs. Kreidler explained that the reason for that change was they had individuals say that I have an enclosure. I have a fence. It has four holes in it,but they have a fence.This change was really driven by animal control to have significant language in the ordinance to say that the enclosure had to be secured on all sides to prevent escape. Mrs. Kreidler continued to the next change on page eight. Ms. Kriedler informed the committee that they would see this in many places throughout the ordinance. We have had issues with individuals not wanting to give animal control or animal services a valid ID showing that they live inside the city limits.The other item added is that if someone owner surrenders an animal,the individual will not be allowed to adopt an animal from Animal Services for one year. Mrs. Kreidler went on to explain that there were exceptions.Those exceptions were if the animal was elderly, sick,or aggressive.The reason for those exceptions is that Animal Services use to provide a euthanasia service.This service was for citizens with dogs that were sick or elderly,and we would charge a fee to euthanize their animal. But we had individuals who would come in and euthanize healthy animals because they didn't want the animal but didn't want it at the shelter. So we decided to change that to everything being owner surrendered.Then we will decide whether to euthanize the animal from that point based on the interview whether the animal is elderly,sick,or aggressive. Mrs. Kreidler continued to the next change on page nine. Mrs. Kreidler stated they removed the word microchipped from the adoption policies for animals that currently reside in the home.Those animals being adopted from Animal Services still has to be microchipped.Animal Services has had a lot of potential adopters walk out because they didn't want to get their older pets at home microchipped. Mrs. Kreidler stated that even though we all know the importance of microchipping animals.The loss of getting animals out of the shelter due to microchipping was not worth that requirement in hopes of getting more animals adopted in the long run. Mrs. Kreidler continued to the next change on page eleven. Mrs. Kreidler informed the committee that they added language to the responsible pet owner section of the ordinance.The language was added that would require the individuals who received reduced or waived fees instead of failing to complete the responsible pet ownership class because sometimes the individuals do not show up for the 2 THE ANIMAL SHELTER ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ASAC) MINUTES December 10, 2021 class.Mrs. Kreidler explained to the committee that there are two ways that a citizen can be required to take a pet ownership class.The first is through the front desk,and the second is from the officers that mandated the class out in the field. So we always give them a chance. If they do not show up to the first class,we will call and reschedule them for a second class. With the changes, if they miss the second class,we will charge them the fees that were waived,and we will have the ability to write them citations. Mrs.Kreidler continued to the next change on page thirteen. Mrs. Kreidler stated.We just added language so that individuals who own dogs or cats are required to show proof of an animal's current license when requested by an Animal Care Officer.This was added to address the officers'issues out in the field,and the added language that the city license must be renewed concurrently with the rabies vaccination. Mrs.Kreidler explained to the committee is the animal has a one-year rabies vaccination, they can only get a one-year city license even though we offer a reduced fee for a three-year license. So if they have a three-year rabies vaccination,they are eligible for a three-year city license.Animal Services does have the ability if someone new comes in to get a city license to prorate the city license with the expiration of the rabies vaccination. Mrs.Kreidler continued to the next change on page twenty. Mrs. Kreidler stated.We removed the requirement for microchipping under the kennel permit. Mrs. Kreidler continued to the next change on page twenty-three. Mrs. Kreidler stated.This is another area under the private animal shelter permit where we added the language that a citizen has to provide a valid ID and maintain this information in their system. Mrs. Kreidler continued to the next change on page thirty-five. Mrs.Kreidler stated under the dangerous dog license. We had declared an animal dangerous,and we had someone trying to meet those requirements.What we found is that there used to be a national registry for dangerous dogs. We had a citizen look and couldn't find the registry,and when we looked,we couldn't find it either. So we are removing that requirement from the ordinance.We are also dropping the insurance requirement from$750,000 to$500,000,and that's because a citizen couldn't find any place that would offer those limits of liability insurance. Mrs. Kreidler continued to the next change on page thirty-eight. Mrs. Kreidler stated that we added the language birthdate and government ID under the records required so that the citizens would know what was required of them. Mrs. Kreidler continued to the next change on page thirty-nine. Mrs. Kreidler stated that we added the language of what's required of the citizens who have received the reduced or waived fees.The biggest addition to the ordinances and this section is that sterilization is not required if a veterinarian has signed a written opinion that sterilization would jeopardize the animal's health or animals registered with a national dog registry and have not been previously impounded with the city.The other change is if the dog has been impounded once and the owner has prepaid for the spay and neuter,and the animal comes in a second time,and the animal hasn't been altered.The owner will need to prepay for the spay or neuter again.However, we will hold the animal in the shelter until the appointment and take the 3 THE ANIMAL SHELTER ADVISORY COMMITTEE (ASAC)MINUTES December 10, 2021 animal to the veterinarian ourselves to ensure the animal gets altered.That has been an issue with Animal Services,and we are seeing it more and more and something we were not anticipating when we made the ordinances changes in 2019. Dr. Wade asked on item E,when the dog is registered with the national dog registry s,does that means being registered with the AKC and other registries. Mrs. Kreidler responded yes. Dr. Wade asked,so they are not required to be sterilized. Mrs. Kreidler asked Mrs. Bowman to speak on the change. Mrs. Bowman advised that it was just for the first impound. Dr. Wade replied okay. Mrs. Kreidler also informed the committee that they removed the ten-day requirement since most veterinarians cannot get the animal in within ten days. Mrs. Kreidler continued to the last change was on page forty-six.Mrs. Kreidler stated that after snowmageddon last year,we have had some conversations about shelter and shade for animals that were out in the cold. Mrs. Kreidler continued by saying that Ms. Bacon did some extensive research looking at different ordinances across the state and in the nation. Mrs. Bacon looked at states that get extremely cold and extremely hot.While doing that research, we found some language that we wanted to add to our ordinance to make the shelter portion of that ordinance better and make it easier for the officers to enforce.We have taken this language from another ordinance and added that it is free of surrounding debris or other materials that could endanger the dog. We also added that the structure should have a solid attached roof with no gaps and a solid floor attached to the structure. We also added that the four sides of the shelter entrance are strong enough to block wind,rain, hail,sleet,snow, subfreezing temperatures,and any other elements deemed detrimental to the animal's health and well- being. We also added language for the bedding. We added new language because when we went out on calls during snowmageddon last year,many of the shelters didn't have appropriate bedding. So we added the language that the bedding had to be clean and dry and could not retain moisture. Mrs. Kreidler stated that those were all of the changes to the ordinance. Our plan today is to get a recommendation to approve the changes in the ordinance so that we can present those to the Board of Health in January.Then they would bring them to City Council two weeks after that meeting. Mrs. Kreidler asked if there were any questions. Mr. Peevey replied that he thought adding the valid ID was a great ID. Otherwise,you have citizens driving from places where they either do not have an animal shelter or the shelters are full. Mrs. Kreidler stated that there would still be issues,and we will still have exceptions to the rules,and those would be handled on individual bases. Mr. Peevey made the motion for the ordinance changes to be brought forth to the city council. Dr. Wade seconded the motion.The motion carried all were in favor. Mrs. Kreidler informed the committee that the Animal Shelter Advisory Committee position is appointed and can serve three consecutive terms. She announced that Mr. Peevey had been on the committee longer than the three terms because of COVID. Mrs. Kreidler announced that this would be Mr. Peevey's last meeting and presented him with a plaque to thank him for serving on the committee. Mrs. Kreidler then announced that Ms.Amber Browing from Texas Pit Crew would be joining Animal Shelter Advisory Committee as the Animal Welfare Organization member. 4 THE ANIMAL SHELTER ADVISORY COMMITTEE(ASAC) MINUTES December 10, 2021 ADJOURN No date was set for the next meeting.Mr. Peevey made the motion to adjourn. Dr. Wade seconded the motion to adjourn.The motion carried all were in favor. aa'. art- [ — Q 11"a 3 Nicki Bacon Date ASAC Chairman Animal Services Ad iris ator C} 9-S'� 3 Steven Parady Date ASAC Recording Secretary Animal Services Sr.Admin Clerk 5