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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Animal Care Advisory Committee - 10/09/2003 cow- - - C&-Of n�-�S City of orpus Christi MINUTES CITY ANIMAL CONTROL ADVISORY COMMITTEE Corpus Christi-Nueces County Public Health District Administration Conference Room, 1702 Horne Road October 9, 2003 Members Present: Chris Cooper, Sherry Dunlap, Cheryl Martinez, Sharon Massad, Kendal Keyes, Susan Thiem and Dr. Alan Garret Members Absent: None Staff Present: Mr. Jorge Cruz-Aedo, Cherrie Stunz, Elizabeth Hundley, and Annette Rodriguez Gu Mr. Sam Cowling Call to Order: Chris Cooper, Chairperson, 12:35pm 1. Approval of September_11,_2003 The Minutes of September 111' was approved with amendment. Amendment The name Ms. Martinez in the last 3 paragraphs, under Public Comments should be replaced with Ms. Sherry Dunlap. With the inclusion of the amendment, Ms. Martinez made a motion to approve the minutes. With 2 votes in favor and none opposed. The minutes were approved. 2. Board Business Passage of Ordinance Ms. Keyes wanted clarification concerning the ordinance and it's urgency for completion. Ms. Rodriguez answered her concern by stating that Dr. Silvers would like the ordinance expedited with the committee doing its required part quickly, as there were other things to be included down the road; e.g. Town Hall meetings. Mr. Jorge Cruz-Aedo intervened, stating that there was no time requirement. A thorough and comprehensive review was to be done. The ordinances need updating, but more important is getting it done correctly, thoroughly, and satisfactorily with everyone than the need for an artificial date. Everyone agreed with this. Animal ConirolAdvisory Committee Meeting of Nov 13,2003 1 Taas Ms. Hundley visited some items tabled at the last meeting which needed addressing. 1. "Breeder"needs a Definition. 2. The Dual Tag System needs clarification 3. Micro chipping &Tattooing Ms. Stunz addressed the issue of micro chipping and read the following excerpt from another City's ordinance: "Any person owning a dog or cat may in addition to the animal's registration obtain a microchip implant for the dog or cat. In no case shall the microchip implant replace the requirement for the animal registration of the dog or cat, with the department of Animal Care Services". Ms. Hundley, Legal Counsel, explained that the City law as is, is still discretionary - adding microchip, but not negating the affirmative duty to wear a collar with the tag is still the same as allowing a pet owner to do it on their own. The law as written now, requires the wearing of the tag and a collar. Under the law, everybody has the option to have micro chipping. Writing the option into the law is no different than what is currently accepted. The inclusion of micro chipping would be for clarification only. A motion to retain the wordings as is, without'microchip'was put forward by Ms. Martinez, this was voted 5 to 1 in favor. Breeder Permits Ms. Massad said that the City has not sold any breeders permits within a 5 year period. Ms. Stunz acknowledged this to be true. Ms. Hundley reminded the Committee that they had considered changing 'the breeder', to include a hobby breeder or create a separate definition for hobby breeders. It was noted that Ms. Stunz had done extensive research on Breeder Permits. Her findings indicated that most cities with breeder permits were unsuccessful in its enforcement. Ms. Hundley said the reason a clarification for'Breeder'was necessary, was because it existed in the ordinance. The committee could take it out by voting on it, if it had no means to define it. The question arose whether it was commercial breeding permits such as for Pet Stores, or just any breeder, considering the cost at $200; it seemed to be addressing commercial breeders. Ms. Hundley pointed that it was considered commercial if conducted for profit. Whether an individual was selling from a car lot, a building, a property, an establishment, a kennel, etc was considered a breeder if you are involved in the activity. Ms. Stunz gave further details, concerning the permits and its enforcement. The question of the purpose and frequency of the permit needs to be addressed. It has been documented that such a permit process is extremely hard to enforce. If a breeder's permit is to be enforced, what is its true purpose and intent and what are the available resources for its monitoring. Will this be for unsanitary conditions or because of irresponsible breeders? Animal Control Advisory Committee Meeting of Nov 13.2003 2 Ms. Martinez stated that it was not just poor sanitary conditions that made breeders a problem, but constantly breeding the same animal, over and over, for the primary purpose of selling litters. Ms. Stunz asked, if such activities couldn't be considered under a kennel permit since the owner would have more than six animals? Ms. Hundley stated that kennel permits were not limited to the number of animals, but such permits can only be in specifically zoned areas. Ms. Dunlap said the committee was not trying to take out the breeder permit from the ordinance, but that the committee wanted to be careful, and take out only inappropriate wording. Ms. Hundley agreed that the breeder's permit could not be used if it was not defined, and that is why a definition was being proposed. Ms. Martinez asked if according to one of the attachments, people were breeding and had more than six animals, would they have to have a kennel permit if they have less than an acre for minimum required space. Mr. Jorge Cruz-Redo pointed out that before voting, the committee should consider those issues that pertain to animal interests and not the number of animals, zoning laws, economic issues or growth patterns. Ms. Martinez made a motion that this be looked into more thoroughly. The motion was 2"d by Ms. Dunlap. The vote was taken and the motion. Dual Tags At the last minute, a vote was taken to eliminate the introduction of a Dual Tag system, while retaining the current registration system in place. The microchip and tattooing were also voted down. Free Roaming cats Ms. Martinez made a motion that all free roaming cats, male and female, be spayed and neutered, and also that all free roaming cats be required to wear identification, and considered that the ordinance have a 'spayed and neutered'date of Jan 1, 2005. All voted in favor. Allocation of Funds Mr. Jorge Cruz-Aedo addressed the committee's proposal regarding the allocation of funds. The committee had proposed at the last meeting that 80% of the funds collected from Animal Care should remain in Animal Care. Mr. Cruz-Aedo stated that the law is very specific regarding the city's budget; which includes what the revenues are, and how the revenue is disbursed. Such a proposal would be in violation of this law. The money that comes from the General Fund runs Safety, Animal Control, Health, the Libraries and many other departments. Some departments do keep their income. For example, in Environmental, grants for a particular area do allow a portion of program income to be put back into the program. Mr. Cruz-Aedo suggested that the committee understand the Animal Control Advisory Committee Meeting of Nov 13,2003 3 facilities budget; and what it takes to operate. If at a later date, the committee feels that the budget does not meet the needs of Animal Control, those needs and expectations can be discussed for further consideration and action. New Business It was discussed that we have a new Environmental Court. Judge Rank will preside over all dockets relating to Animal Care and Solid Waste. ManaQeE:1 Re Year-to-date kennel report. Ms. Stunz addressed on going issues with Chameleon. Sweeps. Ms Stunz addressed the cross-training of kennel staff to the field. The kennel staff were doing an exceptional job and part of the new'look'of Animal Care is a staff that can easily move from one area to the other i.e. Kennel to field and vice versa. Staff had informed customers that they may experience some slight delays. Ms. Stunz also addressed the sweep program. Animal Care Services has 3 sweeps per week. This program has been very successful in removing some of the stray animal population. Owners who found their dogs missing have been frequenting the facility to retrieve such animals. October -"Ada t a Shelter Dog Month Ms. Stunz stated that October is a Nationwide`Adopt a Shelter Dog' Month. Mr. Cruz-Aedo suggested that a proclamation from the Mayor would be appropriate for such an endeavor. Pre sterilization program. Ms. Stunz is working with Ms. Hundley to re-visit many of the out dated forms regarding sterilization and in-house procedures. Public Comment Mr. Cowley asked if the committee would revisit the State's stance on Home Quarantine under certain conditions. The committee agreed to entertain this request. Mr. Crowley also asked about the placement of small dead animals into a waste receptacle, stating that the current City ordinance made it illegal for a citizen to place a dead animal in the trash. In order not to be fined, he said he had to call, and then wait presumably for days, for the animal to be picked up. The risk of such bags being tom and messed up before Animal Care Services got to it, worried Mr. Cowley and he requested the committee to Iook into this as well. Adjournment A motion was made to adjourn. 1:45pm. 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