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Animal Shelter Advisory Committee Minutes - 04/22/2024 The Animal Services Advisory Committee(ASAC)Minutes Date: Apr 22,2024 COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT: NTicki Bacon City Official LRCA Michelle Pohlman Animal Welfare Samuel Jones Animal Services Operator Amber Browning At Large COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT: Dr.Byran Wade Veterinarian OTHERS PRESENT: Tom Taylor District 4 City Councillor Amy Fagan Director of Public Health Katherine Moore Senior Admin Clerk Kari Collins Communication and Outreach I. CALL TO ORDER Nicki Bacon,Chair,Called the meeting to order. II. STATEMENT OF MEMBERS AND GUESTS PRESENT All members were present except for the following; Dr Bryan Wade. All guest's names were stated, and none were missed. III. REVIEW&APPROVAL OF NOVEMBERS MINUTES The minutes from the ASAC Meeting from November 2023,were distributed and reviewed.A motion was made to accept these minutes by Samuel Jones , with a second following by Michell Pohlman. The motion was carried. IV. OLD BUSINESS There was no Old Business to discuss V. NEW BUSINESS A. Shelter Update Mrs. Bacon continued with the shelter's updates and numbers. She states included in these numbers are Feral Euthansia and Owner Request Euthanisia,in the past these were not included in our numbers. The Animal Services Advisory Committee(ASAC)Minutes Date: Apr 22,2024 In 2023 the shelter brought in 3,025 animals and that number is up from the previous year(2022) which was 2,334. Of the total amount we've had 446 Owner Surrendered animals,the front desk has intaken 1,410, Animal Control have brought in 1,134,and we've had 35 returned adoptions. The shelters outcomes for 2023; we've had 373 animals that were adopted, 1,083 animals were euthanized, 526 animals were transferred out to rescue, 610 animals were reclaimed by their owners, 172 animals were Feral Euthanisia,244 animals were Owner Request Euthanisia. Our live outcome rate for 2023 not including Feral and Owner requests was 58%. Ms Bacon asked if there were any questions. Ms. Browning asked what the live outcome rate was for 2022. Mrs Bacon stated she believes the live outcome rate for 2022 was 67%.So unfortunately that number has dropped since then. She continues by stating there are many reasons as to why we can assume why this has happened,one being people going back to work, we had seen an influx of adoptions during the pandemic and after it had dwindled down and people began to head back into work we then saw an increase in owner surrenders and adoptions decrease dramatically. Ms. Bacon also states that if anyone would like to see the numbers from 2018 until now they are available on the city's website page. Councilor Taylor asks how the increase of intakes affect staff/staffing. Ms.Bacon states that we do struggle,for example our front desk is taking in around the same as our ACO's in the field,When we have 5 ACO's in the field and only 2 people at the front desk and sometimes that can be only I person. Additionally we have our Animal Care Staff whose job is to work with our volunteers and work with the animals to ensure adoptions but,their time gets taken by having to sit at the front desk and help due to being so overwhelmed. Councilor Taylor then asked if it is expected for the increase of intakes to continue. Ms.Bacon does mention that she believes it will but it's a possibility that it may not,we really we will not know until the end of this year,just due to the fact that 2023 was the first year since the pandemic that things have slowly gone back to normal. She believes that 2024 is going to be the year that we begin to see the median and from there we may be able to start to see more accurate numbers. Mrs.Fagan states that a part of this too is responsibility,what we have seen many times is the staff is dealing with more in the field and staff is dealing with more in the front.For example we had a gentleman The Animal Services Advisory Committee(ASAC)Minutes Date: Apr 22,2024 come in this past saturday and get very upset over not being able to get in the front door,police had to be called. We had more and more people threaten our officers which is why we now have the bullet proof vests. Over all we are seeing a change in responsibility perceptions,over the last 10 years the number of incidents have escalated and that has become very concerning.That responsibility is tied in with the number of people who do not think their animals are their responsibility.Whether it's having them spayed or neutered,whether it's adopting an animal and actually taking care of it and not returning it,or lying to the staff at the front desk by saying they"found"these animals when in reality it is their own. Mrs Fagan continues by stating she believes this situation will continue to increase because that is just where society and the economy is at this time.When we built this facility in 2011,when in 2009-2010 the economy was so bad,ACOs would pick up a large amount of animals in the field due to people just letting them loose,which also included livestock.We are seeing some of the economy really take hold over people because they are making choices such as buying food for their families or buying food for their animals.Mrs Fagan states that if the economy does not improve this will continue. Ms.Pohlman adds that housing is also a factor.Most places won't accept large dogs or certain breeds.She states that she sees these situations posted all the time on different social media sites. Mrs.Fagan states that the cost of housing can be yet another factor,as the amount of money you have in your pocket has changed over time so,people are making housing choices based on dollars and not can I take this animal with me. Mrs Fagan mentions that in the fiscal year 2025 budget,we did ask for an additional staff member.We are hoping that with these numbers and what staff are dealing with that this can be in the budget. Ms. Bacon continues;Last year in 2023 we sold 1,932 City Licenses and issued 1 Dangerous Dog License.We do have 1 Dangerous Dog that lives within the city limits,they get an annual and a 6 month inspection to ensure that they are in compliance.We investigated 5,544 complaints,610 animals were returned to their owners,and we microchipped 371 total animals. Ms. Bacon moves onto 2024 as of now. So far in 2024 we have had 143 owner surrenders,389 animals have come to the front doors,Animal Control has brought in 400 animals,and we have also had 22 returned adoptions.Comparing our returned adoptions for 2023 we had the only 35 for the whole year whereas just starting this year we already have 22. The total number of outcomes so far in 2024.79 have been adopted,we've euthanized 246,transferred out 220 to rescue, owners have reclaimed 191 of those animals, 79 feral euthanasias have been performed, and 78 owner requested euthanasia. Our live outcome for 2024 so far is 68%and that does not include our Feral or Owner Request Euthanasia Ms. Browning states that for the first quarter the number is looking better. The Animal Services Advisory Committee(ASAC)Minutes Date: Apr 22,2024 Ms.Bacon states that the numbers during this time will always look better but,during the summer this is where the numbers can get worse.She predicts that we will have the same numbers here in the month of July,our euthanasia will be more than 200 in July. Ms.Browning asks with the percent of adopted being 9%what was the percent of those being returned. Ms.Bacon respondes;the return adoption percent is at 2%so far.In addition the total number of animals brought in so far in 2024 is 878 animals. Ms. Bacon continues with the numbers: So far in 2024 we've issued 239 licenses,we've investigated 1,198 complaints,we've had 191 animals returned to their owners,we have already microchipped 149, and 51 of those were done at our free microchipping event.70 animals were microchipped through the front and 79 through adoptions. Ms. Browning asks if the goal for the microchipping event was 100. Ms.Bacon responded yes. Ms.Bacon asked if there were any questions. Ms.Pohlman asked what the normal fee is when microchipping your animal. Ms.Bacon responded with$10. Ms.Browning asked if our microchips are the"Forever"microchips meaning there is no additional fee to be paid for registration. Mrs.Bowman responds yes,when we microchip our animals they are automatically registered with 24 Pet Watch. Ms. Pohlman stated that it does make it hard to change ownership as she had to do that with one of her own. Ms Browning stated that one thing she has noticed is that many of her older dogs'microchips have expired and those microchip companies will reach out to pay to keep it registered.With that being said, having a microchip that has no additional fees is like a bonus and she states that that is not being promoted and it should be."$10 dollar microchip and its for the rest of the dogs life" Ms.Bacon states that this past year we did our ordinance campaign and with that we did talk about microchipping.We tried in the past to get it to where every animal that comes into the shelter would leave with a microchip but,citizens unfortunately did not agree so that was unable to be done. We are glad to see that people are starting to microchip and that they took advantage of the free microchipping we had. The Animal Services Advisory Committee(ASAC)Minutes Date: Apr 22,2024 Ms Browning believes that the main issue with lack of microchipping is due to lack of knowledge,as many believe that the microchip is like a tracker.The information is not just out there,as the only legal way in Texas to show proof of ownership of your animal is to have it microchipped. Ms. Pohlman states that if an animal gets out or also bites someone people do not want that being tracked to them and receive fines. Ms. Bacon mentioned that when she was doing the news for the Health Fair she stated that the microchips do not track the animals but simply hold the owners information so that we are able to contact them. She continues by saying that there is a lot of misinformation out there about microchips. Ms Browning agrees that there is much misinformation out there and as a part of TPC they do not let an animal leave without it being microchipped.They even got a call last month from Florida about a dog with a microchip that leads back to them,is in Florida. Ms Bacon agrees that microchips are extremely helpful and asks if there are any further questions on the topic. B. Discussion of Outcome Numbers Ms. Bacon starts by saying we have been posting our intake numbers,every friday we have posted our intake numbers to let people know that we are not just saying we bring in so many animals but that we in fact actually taking in that many animals week to week. We've seen people comment"What about the outcomes", so we have begun to speak about posting those outcomes. It will cause an issue with people seeing the amount of animals that we euthanize but, our hope is that they see it is not just a shelter issue but a community issue. We are not the ones who put the animals out there,we are the ones who are trying to save them and trying to get them off the streets. She stated that she has already seen a google comment today that stated"Well they just kill everything they bring into the shelter anyways"or on our facebook post about ACO Appreciation week someone commented"Why are we appreciating them they are just killing the animals". Ms Bacon continues;These are not facts, yes we do euthanize and it is a humane death but,we have to. Ms Browning mentions that with everybody its lack of intelligence on the process and understanding. She states she personally fights for Animal Services all the time and for Texas Pit Crew. She states she actually pushes people when they want to give up an animal to TPC she tells them they must go through Animal Services first.That can push more on Animal Services but,its helps the rescues. The Animal Services Advisory Committee(ASAC)Minutes Date: Apr 22,2024 Ms Browning goes on further explaining that she believes if more celebrating or positive posts were posted then Animal Services could possibly be looked at more like a rescue than just a shelter, which in turn would create more positive feedback. Ms. Bacon states she appreciates the idea but,unfortunately it gets difficult when we start to appear as a rescue and not as a Municipal Shelter.This is due to the fact that we have enforcement powers that we have and when we begin to appear as a rescue that can make this more difficult. She continues by saying that we still do not want to keep the stigma of a"Kill Shelter"as so many call it because we are not.What she would like the stigma to change to is that, although we are going to have to euthanize and continue to euthanize, we do save the animals. Ms Browning adds that she does not think the public knows what goes on behind the scenes, such as the work she sees from the staff and the work she sees from the rescues. She states she spends a lot of time up here and also helps by promoting Animal Services dogs on TPC social media. Ms. Bacon agrees by stating that rescues are the reason why the live outcome rate is higher than it used to be. She also adds that Return to Owner and Adoptions have also helped that number. Ms Pohlman states that she has noticed because she shares the Animal Services numbers,that when the numbers go up when she states that this is a community issue her friends are constantly shocked.They have no idea it was that high of a number,most people do not realize. She adds that she loves having the numbers to share so people can realize what is happening. Ms Bacon continues by stating that many people do not realize that we only have 36 kennels for dogs and only 18 more in the adoption wing. So, when we are posting that we brought in 80 dogs this week, we do not have 80 kennels to house all those animals. Did hard decisions have to be made?Yes absolutely. Did we want to make those decisions?Absolutely not. Sometimes we are even putting these additional dogs in dog crates in the back where the public is unaware. Due to them being stray animals we can not just put them in the front.They do not see those times where crates are having to be stacked in the back in addition to having every kennel be full. Ms Bacon states that we do work with community partners and do a citizens police academy. She states that everytime the class comes to the shelter she loves it. When they tour the shelter that is when she is able to tell them the ins and outs of working at the shelter, and we do not hold back or sugar coat it. People have come from veterinarians to rescues to come work with us and they did not realize the impact of what we do here,they are left surprised and shocked. The Animal Services Advisory Committee(ASAC)Minutes Date: Apr 22,2024 Even our own volunteers are the same way, Ms Bacon states she heard a volunteer say that they are unable to continue. Everyday we have to ask the staff to care and create relationships with these animals to then turn around and unfortunately euthanize those same animals. Ms Browning adds by saying that then the public perception is that"Oh they enjoy it".That is the part that breaks her heart because, if they only knew. Ms Moore adds that tears are shed when favorite animals are euthanized,and adds that she even holds on to some collars of those animals. Ms Bacon states that people should know that"No Kill"is not a thing. Ms Browning agrees and states that that means you accept no dogs. She continues by saying she herself got burned out and had to step away for a while but, she then scrolls on Facebook and sees for example a dog that was bound by duct tape but when animal services took in 35 animals with one seizure there was barely anything shown. She personally saw what went on at animal services when those animals arrived,then how it also affected her rescues as they took 14 of those animals. Ms Bacon agrees and states that that is not the first time or the last time this will happen. She continues by circling back to the outcome numbers. To begin,Mrs Fagan quickly mentions, we spoke about posting the intake numbers and how those animals came to use which was phase one. Now there is a board up front that Katherine, Diann,and Nicki figured out what we could do so that when people walk in this facility they can see it's not just a pretty facility. We wanted to reach a saturation point where people were no longer shocked by these numbers, for the first week till the first month people were shocked. Now we do not get the comments unless its people who are familiar with the shelter, familiar with what we do, or genuinely care. Mrs Fagan continues that now we have hit that saturation point we don't want to shock people but want the shock factor to have people understand what the staff is dealing with on a day to day basis.With that it goes into our campaign we will be doing.The reason why we waited for the next step was one; because of the shock factor but two;people need something to do. If people just said"Why are your outcome numbers this"we can always say this is the reason,this is what they are, no we don't want to do this but this is what we have to do. We want to give people something to do with an answer and that answer is have your pet spayed or neutered! The Animal Services Advisory Committee(ASAC)Minutes Date: Apr 22,2024 This then led to a conversation with Mrs Bowman as to creating a spay and neuter campaign that will release at the same time we release our outcome numbers. So,when people are targeting us and saying"How Dare You"we can let them know what they can do. It will be a co launch and that information will be on the board as well. This will be discussed more when we move forward. There was a very phased approach as to where we are, so that people can be surprised by it again. Ms Bacon asked if there were any questions or suggestions. Ms Browning said the only thing she would like to see on these numbers that are being reported out is more defining towards rescues. Texas Pit Crew has stepped up recently,The numbers now state"transferred out"we personally know what that is but do others. She believes that the numbers need to show what rescue took how many,in order for the rescues to then receive the support they need in order to continue taking animals from Animal Services. Mrs Fagan states that that is a great idea and herself and Mrs Bowman did speak about that during the initial discussion because we want to recognize the rescue groups and the partners that get animals out of this facility. Now this challenge for doing the weekly part is right now we are doing that with just the staff we already have and so,one of the things herself and Mrs Bowman spoke about was maybe use better language then"Transferred out".In addition maybe posting once a month posting those different groups recognizing and naming them.Then saying these are the groups who have done this work and showing the importance and we would like to have that post independent of the numbers because,people do not always see the positive side of things once they are upset, and these euthanasia numbers are going to make people upset. Ms Browning agreed and stated she likes to call them her celebrations, she continues by saying she has her"tear jerking,help me"posts but also posts about why we do the job we do. Mrs Fagan added by saying we need to celebrate our wins. As herself and Mrs Bowman pulled all the rescue groups in this room and we spoke about how this was all going to work and those numbers have changed significantly since that meeting due to rescues stepping up. Ms Browning explained that there was a time when Texas Pit Crew was dying,then she came back and joined the board,and her sole purpose was to change what Texas Pit Crew does when it comes to the animals.TPC is not here to rescue people from their dogs but here to rescue the dogs that need saving. The Animal Services Advisory Conunittee(ASAC)Minutes Date: Apr 22,2024 At this time TPC does not have the numbers but it will be worked on for the next meeting but, the majority of their dogs come from animal services. Mrs Fagan states she is so thankful for the rescue's help and states that is what makes a difference.The staff then get to celebrate too, there are so many times where staff can be heard stating"This animal is great but no one is adopting",then Mrs Bowman or Paige will contact the rescue partners and then the animal is able to leave the facility. Mrs Fagan asks Mrs Bowman what she thinks about doing the monthly rescue post. Mrs Bowman agrees Mrs Browning adds that posting this will also help the rescues get fosters which in turn helps more animals get out of the shelter. She also adds she would like to recognize the Animal Care Staff.When someone finds a dog and they bring it into the shelter and state they do not want the dog to be put down. The animal care team then advises them that they are able to foster the animal through a rescue if they are able to until they are adopted. For example the adopted dog Milly who was adopted by Judge Gossett,that situation was a finder who dropped the animal off at the shelter, animal services held the animal for its stray hold,the same finder then fostered the dog till it was adopted. Councilor Taylor asked how much we utilize Chris Horgen with the PIO Office, he states as he is sitting here listening he realizes he knows from experience that the community receives so much misinformation about what we do. Many have opinions but not actual information.Councilor Taylor adds that with the adoption celebrations maybe once a month Chris could do a POI about an animal being adopted out and he does not mind being involved. Mrs Fagan agrees and states maybe we are able to do that on the city's social media and not just the shelters. One thing she will applaud the city on; on the city's website there are only 4 clickable links at the bottom and we occupy two of those links (one is the mosquito map and one is the animal adoptions). The PIO Office does do pet of the week for us to help try and get animals adopted. Mrs Fagan asks if we still do that with the Fire or Police Dept. Mrs Bowman stated that we do not,but were talking about it recently and maybe could start that back up and confirmed that Chris Horgen does come every week for Pet of the Week. The Animal Services Advisory Committee(ASAC)Minutes Date: Apr 22,2024 Mrs Fagan states that maybe this idea can be done on the city's website with Chris's help as they have different reach than we do or maybe even just to share some of our posts. She continues by stating she will visit with him to see what we can do. Councilor Taylor adds that he was possibly thinking about having one of the local TV stations do this. Mrs Bowman answered by saying that we are on Channel 6 every Friday. Councilor Taylor stated that he does not believe he has ever seen it. Mrs Bowman replied that it is because it is on at noon every Friday. Mrs Browning states that she has asked the news stations before about changing the time on when the animals are shown. Ms Pohlman asked if the Channel 6 News clip is recorded if that is the case,we have talked before about possibly having Animal Service create their own Youtube page. With that clip it could be posted on the youtube page which then could be shared to other social media pages. Each week it would get more than just the television views. Mrs Bowman answers by stating we normally share it on our Facebook Page and Instagram when it is posted. Mrs Fagan introduces guest Kari Collins, Communication and Outreach Specialist. Mrs Fagan states that Mrs Collins is here today to help talk about the campaign but she also works very closely with Chris.The city does have a Youtube channel, we just don't use it. Mrs Collins continues by stating that as far as the Health District she knows that all of the Animal Ordinance videos that were done over the past year have been posted there. Mrs Fagan adds;that will be one of the items we will discuss when we have a meeting with all of the community partners.They can be asked if they possibly have people on youtube rather than social media. We will speak to Chris about how we can capitalize on our Youtube,and ask those groups if they use youtube and maybe we will have more engagement. Mrs Pohlman states that everyday people can also share to different social media platforms. The Animal Services Advisory Committee(ASAC)Minutes Date: Apr 22,2024 Mrs Fagan explains,that is the frustration for her.We did 12 videos because people do not know our ordinances and they do not know what we do. So, Kari,Nicki, Diann,and Chris have worked together to make these amazing videos. We had even featured two different councilors, the videos are short, very informative, and easy to understand but, people just don't see them. The videos were then put on the website,creating a QR code that will take people directly to them;however,they just do not get viewed like they should.We are looking at ways that people will cross share that,that way we can push that education more out there. Mrs Collins agrees and states that she believes that will be the only way to share those because they are too long for PSA's for the news stations as some of them are up to three minutes long. Councilor Taylor mentions that a committee has just been named to review the city ordinances, and if there are anything changes or updates that need to be made for animal ordinances to let the committee know C. Spay and Neuter Campaign Ms Bacon begins by stating there will be bar cards made up for this campaign and the slogan for the campaign will be"Its Hip to Snip". The purpose of this campaign is to help prevent unwanted litters and pregnancies within animals. Mrs Fagan states Diann and herself were visiting during one of their normal meetings and the question was why don't we do this kind of education. Everyone remembers Bob Barker going "Hey remember to have your pets spayed or neutered". After discussion a plan was made and ideas were formed with Kari. When using"Its Hip to Snip", it's catchy,it will catch people's attention, and it will be fun to focus on. Our goal is to use that and also have the Spay and Neuter your pets for those who are older and remember Bob Barkers saying so,it meets both messages in turn.The idea again, is to make sure we are giving people something to do and talking about the benefits. Mrs Fagan adds that one of the things that she has heard from Diann is that there is still this misconception about why you shouldn't have your pets spayed or neutered. Like it will cause issues within the animal and more. So,we will fight that knowledge piece by using true and actual information.There are some people who truly just do not know about animal behavior. For example, Mrs Fagan adopted an animal herself from here and Diann had told her that after she got the animal spayed she may calm down some, and that's a huge benefit. Even if this is not the law and it's not something that's required to do there are benefits. The Animal Services Advisory Committee(ASAC)Minutes Date: Apr 22,2024 The idea was,Mrs Fagan continues,to push out those positive points. If we are controlling the messaging even if we have those 10%or 20%that are just saying"You are just killing animals", let's control the messaging for the 80% and push out this positive message.So,this universal campaign came to mind where it's all media.We will also see if people will donate some billboard space. Kari also reached out to KFDX and KAUZ and they've agreed to provide us with some PSA spaces.In addition to the bar cards that will be made to hand out to people and have it on the website so that it is a consistently clear and saturated message. Mrs Fagan proceeds by saying a lot of people just do not like animal services and they do not know about us. So,how do we work with our rescues and our community because there are some very passionate people out there and get everyone on the same message. At that point we would get the cross sharing and saying the same thing over all that way the message stays universal and saturated. Some of these groups/people have better reach than we do like the Humane Society who has three times the amount of followers. Mrs Fagan asks if Mrs Bowman has anything additional. Mrs Bowman agrees with everything and just states that everyone will come this afternoon to have the discussion to begin this. Mrs Fagan states that Diann has called all the partners.The thought was that if we do the Animal Services logo and the Wichita Falls logo with all of our partners, who are willing to do this with us,that maybe if you just don't like us you see the PETS logo and like them.They could also see with everyone's logo that it's a community message and that it's important to all of us. People who are also on the fence of if they should have their pets spayed or neutered may be just a good reminder as to why people make a different choice. Mrs Fagan asks if Mrs Collins has anything additional. Mrs Collins agrees with everything said and just reiterates that she believes that the message coming from everyone who deals with the animals,this campaign will become a big deal. Nobody will be negative to each other,just one big community agreeing this is what can be done to help. Ms Pohlman asks if we could possibly add all the vet clinics to the campaign as well.As people could also recognize their own vet clinic. Mrs Browning agrees. The Animal Services Advisory Committee(ASAC)Minutes Date: Apr 22,2024 Mrs Fagan states, that idea is great. What she hopes is whatever messaging we come up with that those vet offices will have our bar cards out, or they'll have something playing on a loop. We have clinics over at the main campus that the videos can be shown in there as well. Video for the campaign is played. Mrs Browning states that the video is great except for the word"Fixed".These dogs are not broken. Mrs Bowman stated that the wording had been replaced already. Mrs Fagan responds saying that the video can be redone before this campaign goes out. Mrs Browning continues by saying that is one of the stigmas she fights, these animals are not broken and we do not need to fix them.We just need to spay,alter, neuter, whatever anyone wants to call it but,they are not broken. Mrs Fagan states she believes this video is the draft video because Chris is supposed to be doing the voice over. Mrs Collins states that she believes we are going to have staff from Animal Services do the voice over, a male and a female. Mrs Fagan adds that she thinks Chris should be the one to do the male voice,as everyone knows his voice. Everyone agreed Mr Jones nominated Mrs Bacon to do the female voice. Everyone agreed Mrs Fagan asks if there is any feedback on anything. Mrs Browning states she really likes the idea of getting the vet offices involved. She is able to help and go around to the vets she has relationships with or even the ones she doesn't. Mrs Pohlman agrees. The Animal Services Advisory Committee(ASAC)Minutes Date: Apr 22,2024 Mrs Browning adds that this can be taken a step further and also involve places such as Petsmart and Petco. In addition Berend Bro and Tractor Supply. Mrs Bowman stated that we can have posters made. Mrs Pohlman states to add the QR codes on the posters Mrs Fagan agrees. Mrs Bowman continues by saying that herself and Kari spoke about adding where all of the rescues have their animals posted as well. Mrs Bowman asks Mrs Browning where they post their adoptable animal. Mrs Browning answers and states they post their animals on their own website,or 24 pet connect, Adopt a Pet,and more. Mrs Bowman then asks what QR code would be the ones we choose to put on there. Mrs Fagan answers that the QR code would lead to the cities website,then we could add all the links to the adoptable animals on our website. On the front page we could do the campaign as it will be our most current item in addition to our videos to boost that education as well and as we get these partners on board we could add their links to their websites as well. Mrs Fagan states that when this facility was made she feels like in some ways we are isolated with our information and we are regulatory and that provides its own challenges but this is a great way for us to not just box ourselves in. In addition to being very transparent,open and honest and also reminding people we need these other partners. Mrs Browning states that Patsy House does a visual with spinwheels,when you drive by that speaks volumes.Animal Services has property outside of the shelter so,when you see what 5 thousand looks like it's different then just hearing 5 thousand. So something could be done. Ms Bacon says that is why we have started to do the weekly numbers, she's noticed that there is more of a shock value than just stating the amount of animals we have brought in.When you see weekly what the numbers are that speaks volumes. You can have big numbers all day. Mrs Browning responds by saying if we want to get that shock factor,to show visually this community what really is going on because of poor pet ownership. The Animal Services Advisory Committee(ASAC)Minutes Date: Apr 22,2024 Mrs Bacon states she is interested to see how our community will respond to our outcome numbers and if they are negative we will respond and ask if they have any ideas or solutions.We have heard many times "I'm tired of hearing the excuse of no space",okay what is the other option?We can expand all day but we are still going to house these numbers. Mr Jones asked with these euthanasia numbers are we going to go into detail on what animals were euthanized like,unowned or owned animals. Ms Bacon responds that we will have a separation between euthanasia and owner request euthanasia but, separating into those categories may be too much. Mrs Bowman states that stating which animals are owned and have been euthanized due to not reclaiming will speak volumes at the amount of animals not being reclaimed. Ms Pohlman agrees and says that number people will see and it will show them the gravity of the situation of unclaimed animals. Mr Jones adds that three of his own animals he adopted due to them being about to be euthanized or"on the table". Ms Bacon does agree that this could be a good idea but, it gets into some of these owned animals they were not just left but some their owners could not afford to get them out. Yes we do have programs to help with those situations but sometimes it's still too much. The question is,is that going to bring a stigma to the people who wanted to get their animals out but couldn't. Ms Moore states that we could rephrase the wording to"Appeared to be ownedfunowned animals"due to the possibility of for example; if an animal came in with a collar on but its been running at large for a year and half with no home. Mrs Fagan continues by saying we never want to be judgemental to the point where people don't feel that they can do what they need to do otherwise they will just go dump the animals. We should not be specific enough that those people will feel judged. Mrs Browning mentions that sometimes when you start pointing fingers it can become an issue. Mrs Fagan agrees and states we have to be very careful because we are a governmental entity and we have to lead with authority but also responsibility that we have been entrusted with.When she has told people that we get more animals through the front then through the back,that's what has surprised people. In addition, what always surprises people is the number of people who don't The Animal Services Advisory Committee(ASAC)Minutes Date: Apr 22,2024 reclaim their animals.If we add to that in regards to adding education of"come find your animal here"maybe we can tackle the reclaiming that way.There are always going to be those people who can't pay but it's also still their responsibility. Ms Moore states the majority of people that have left their animal at the shelter is because they either don't want to spay/neuter their animal as they will even say they wanted to breed their animal,they don't agree with the city licenses,or they don't agree with getting a rabies vaccine even after it has been explained it is a state law.We have those select few that can't afford it and they've had to do the reduced fees but,the vast majority is people who don't want to do what they have to do. Ms Bacon asks if there is anything additional. ADJOURN No date was set for the next meeting at this time. Michelle Pohlman motion to adjourn the meeting. Amber Browning seconded. The motions carried, all in favor. A.)Liqii4 ECLC-e%- 9-17- 0a4 Nicki Bacon Date ASAC Chairman Animal Services Administrator