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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Animal Care Advisory Committee - 02/16/2006 e 0�3� W.19 Cara S°� City of Corpus AMC Chnsti �+••�►� city or V rpos Christi MINUTES OF THE CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI ANIMAL CONTROL ADVISORY COMMITTEE Nueces County Public Health District P0, �a Education Room 2626 Holly Rd March 16" 2006 Members Present: Susan Thiem,Dr John Buckley,Sharon Massad,Pam Rhyner and Kendall Keyes Members Absent: Dr.William Watson and Paul Reynolds Staff Present: Angel Hernandez,Jaime Luna and Mercy Jaji Staff Absent: Annette Rodriguez,Cherrie Stunz Guests: None 1. Call to Order: Susan Theim,Chairperson, 12:33pm 2. Approval of Februa 16th 2006 Ms.Rhyner made a motion to approve the minutes,Dr.Buckley 2"d the motion and all were in favor, motion passed. Approval of Absences Dr.Buckley made a motion to approve the absences,Ms.Rhyner 2"a the motion and all were in favor, motion passed. 3. Zoonosis Report The Zoonosis report was attached fcr viewing. 4. Staff Report Facility Report Officer Luna informed the committee that he and Officer Hernandez had met with a member of Petsmart Foundation—Mr. Sean Hawkins who complimented us on the amount of adoptions we had. He was looking at the different facilities with Spay/Neuter programs and he was pleased with conditions at ACS. Mr. Hernandez wondered if the City would be open to a"fix it ticket"program,having met with Ms. Rose the ACM for the City in regards to the program. Mr. Hernandez thinks that the citation fee incurred for$250.00 would be greatly reduced if the citizen complies to have their animal spayed or neutered. This program should go well to work with the public and not having to issue the citations. Ms. Keyes noted that the prior year of 2004 had only 600 adoptions. Mr. Hernandez said it was due to a conscientious staff encouraging adoptions and the facility being at a new and central location. Animal Control Advlsotyy Comma lee Meeting®f rebruary 16'6,1006 l o E R Mr. Luna reported to the committee that ACS had received a$244,000.00 grant from the Liechtenstein Foundation to begin a Spay/Neuter program. Funds were approved on the 14th of February by City Council with a unanimous vote. Ms.Thiem initiated and wrote the grant coming from the Lichtenstein Foundation. ACS has met with staff from the foundation and agreed to work closely with them. The grant money will pay for the equipment, 1st year staff salaries for 1 Veterinarian and 2 technicians. The location will be at the Vector Control Labs. Mr. Luna pointed out that we are one of the few City organizations granted the privilege to receive a grant,generally, it is usually done with the private sector. City Council wants Mr.Skip Noe to start looking towards the coming year's funding of the project in 2007 to the tune of about$200K. Ms.Thiem said no animal will go out without being spayed or neutered,once the program begins. Ms. Rhyner added that a Veterinarian in Seattle is willing to offer assistance by e-mail and phone. Dr.Watson and local veterinarians showed no apprehension or reservations about implementing the Spay/Neuter Program for the City. The program is not targeting the people who use the Vets,but people who refuse to comply with City Ordinances. Mr. Hernandez added that he will be contacting the committee from Petsmart for the assistance that they want to provide. Mr. Luna said he had gone over numbers with Ms. Mercy Jail over the rate of compliance at the beginning of our budget year and found that it was only a 50%successful compliance. Correspondence and phone calls are made as follow up to verify that the animals adopted out were being spayed or neutered. Dr. Buckley wanted to know if ACS had a Vet in mind for this clinic. Mr. Hernandez reply was negative. Ms. Thiem said the Mayor had approached me before the meeting. He wanted the committee to be aware of what a wonderful job they were doing. Ms. Thiem reminds the committee of a client of Dr.Watson's'informed him that ACS was one of the cleanest facilities they had been to. Ms.Thiem also adds that it is City Ordinance that a veterinarian is on the committee. 5. Old Business Ms. Thiem revisited the subject of Sub-Committee. Ms. Hundley had advised that such subjects like the forming of sub- committees and the issuing of ID cards be placed on the agenda. Ms. Hundley further said only committee members were allowed on the sub committees. Since the committee was a liaison between the public and ACS information can be sought from any private citizen. Dr. Buckley said the Herpetological Society would like to see the Prohibited Animal ordinance revised. Such societies could help with information but may not be on the board. Ms.Thiem pointed out that only a committee member can be on a sub-committee. Ms. Keyes pointed out that the sub committee cannot have more than 3 members and the can be held here at the facility or anywhere. On the subject of ID cards, Ms.Thiem enacted a very negative experience with a dispatcher on the phone. She had called to complain about the sale of animals on the side of the road. The dispatcher would not send anyone out because"the police were too busy preventing people getting shot at",said the dispatcher. The non-emergency number given for the situation of animal sales was not helping. Ms. Keyes added that she felt the City should not recommend that citizens handle the law by themselves and she as a committee member will lay a complaint to CCPD in regards to the bad attitude of the dispatcher. Dr. Buckley advised Ms.Thiem to contact a Capt. Mike McKinney,further adding that the committee was aware of the problem of people selling animals but the public was not aware that such laws existed. Dr.Buckley advised that Capt. McKinney be invited to the next meeting to advise us on how to deal with the police department in these matters. A flyer that addresses the law on selling animals will be going out soon and will have the police non-emergency number on it. Ms.Thiem said the committee will not be obtaining ID Cards. Ms.Keyes said she was not aware of the ID cards issue. Mr. Reynolds had questioned the matter in reference to a situation he had with approaching someone selling dogs on the side of the road. Ms. Rhyner added that in her opinion it would be best to call to CCPD and not approach the sellers saying that people come in from out of County to the Callalen area to sell puppies. This brought about the issue of dealing with non-city residents doing this on City property will mean they have to move. Dr. Buckley said it was up to the owners of private properties to enforce the law when violated on their property. A sign put up to say something like"illegally parked cars are not allowed on this property"is a deterrent and so will be signs placed somewhere saying"It is against the law to sell on the side of the road". Dr. Buckley said flyers can go out to property owners and owners of Animal Control Advisory Committee Meeting of February le.2006 2 individual stores who can call the policy when such laws are being violated. These deterrents can be advertised on TV, and word can go outside of the immediate to County. Ms.Jaji asked the committee if the committee had voted on the matter of the ID cards,or tabled it adequately for the minute's taker to determine the outcome. Dr. Buckley said it needed to be placed on the agenda as an official issue because of the advantages that could come out of it. One of such advantages could be presented to City Council for example,thinking about the grant just acquired for ACS,if a member didn't have any personal knowledge of anyone in the Lichtenstein Foundation but wanted to approach the board members,the ID card was useful at such times. ID cards protect members and gives legitimacy, for example,said Dr. Buckley,when out of town and visiting other Humane Societies a member could say,they were a member of the Corpus Christi ACAC and prove it. Ms. Keyes said if the City had concerns,it could be printed on the ID's that the holder had limited authority or none. Ms. Rhyner said the City could miniaturize the certificates of the members too,to establish the legitimacy of the members as the certificate was an official document the ID cants could be used in the same way. Dr. Buckley made a motion to have the ID Cards issue be readdressed to the City to demonstrate its advantages to the Committee,the City or City Staff. Ms.Keyes 2nd the motion,all voted in favor and motion passed. Them motion was later amended to read that the ID card consist of the certificate as wallet size to appoint members of the committee.Ms. Keyes adds that is this something we need to ask the City to door just ask them if we can do it with their permission. Ms. Rhyner 2^d the motion all were in favor and motion passed. Ms.Thiem promised to look into the issue by the next meeting since the committee was doing such a great job it should be able to identify itself. Anyone else as a volunteer so to speak,would not have the card because cards would only be issued to current committee members. 6. New Business Ms. Keyes announced that Earth day will be on April 22nd. ACS had attended in the past and brought some animals with them. Ms. Keyes asked committee members about volunteering for Earth Day. Ms. Rhyner announced that she had attended the Corpus Christi Kennel Club meeting and a discussion was held on when the next Micro Chipping clinic would,as well as the date of the next Rabies Clinic—suggesting it be held on Earth Day. Ms. Keyes said with Easter coming the Committee could announce a 30 day ban on selling chicks before Easter. Ms.Rhyner agreed. Ms. Keyes said she was unable to find in the ordinance any reference to the tying up of dogs. Ms.Thiem replied that the original set of ordinance had it,and specified the length of the rope and fixture that can or cannot be used,and also the time frame. She referred further questions to Mr.Hernandez who would know all the specifics for the tethering of animals and time frame while tied up. Ms. Keyes wanted to know the hours of the Animal Care Services dispatch as 24 hrs or just 8-5. After 5 p.m.you need to call the non-emergency police number. 7. Public Comments No public attended. 8. Adjournment Ms. Rhyner made a motion to adjourn, Dr. Buckley 2nd the motion. All were in favor, motion passed. 1:40pm Animal Control Advisory Committee Meeting of Febnavy 16",2006 1 .. . , Moni que Lerma R e M n tes for March Id . mr i , age .R „m From: Elizabeth Hundley gyp ....... '....... To. Annette Rodriguez; Julie Taube Date: 3/1312006 6:04:00 PIM Subject: Re: Minutes for March meeting Thanks for forwarding the attachments. However, there are problems with the minutes. (1) The date at the top of the page is March 16,2006. This meeting hasn't happened yet, so there cannot be any minutes for it. The date at the top should be February 16th. (2) Approval of the past meeting's minutes could not have included February, since the committee hasn't met since the last meeting in February. The committee, during the February meeting, approved the January minutes. When the committee meets, a motion should be made to correct the date at the top of the page to the date of the last meeting(Feb. 16)and the date of the minutes that the committee approved,which would have been January 19th. If you have any questions, please contact me. Elizabeth "CONFIDENTIAL ATTORNEY/CLIENT PRIVILEGED INFORMATION" This transmission and any attachment(s)contain confidential information from this office. This information is intended solely for use by the individual named as the recipient above. This transmission may be: (1) subject to the Attorney-Client Privilege, (2)attorney work product, or(3)strictly confidential. If you are not the intended recipient,be aware that any disclosure, copying, printing, distribution, or use of the contents of this transmission is prohibited. Unauthorized interception of this transmission is a violation of federal law. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify us by telephone at(361)880-3360 (collect if long distance) immediately upon receipt. Thank you. >>>Julie Taube 03/11/06 4:21 PM >>> Here are the minutes and agenda for the 16th of March. CD,:, Monique Lerma