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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Animal Care Advisory Committee - 03/19/2015 MINUTES OF THE CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI ANIMAL CARE ADVISORY MEETING Nueces County Public Health District Conference Room,2626 Holly The Minutes for March 19,2015 Members Present: Dr. Barbara Whitlock, Cheryl Martinez,Mark Phillips, Samantha Person,Laina Schonefeld,Megan Winn,Harold Bennett Members Absent: No absences City Staff: Jaydra Villagran,Joseph Brice, Steven Bly, Commander John Houston, Captain Christopher White Guests: Robert Jasso,Adriana Salas,Patti Elkins,Heidi Powers, Michael Willisams,Hollie Mitchell,Joey Garcia,Jamie McWilliams,Jarvis Amar,Jody Campbell,Don Stone, Kelley Levrier,Linda Giberit,Kelly McKeen,Beth Hughes,Barbara Brinkman, Angela Powell,Veronica Powell,Mischelle Borregeas,Natalie Allen,Veronical Lankford,Kat Stotler,Karen James, Charlie Januh, Susan Janecek,Nicola Schultz 1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Dr. Barbara Whitlock at 12:32 P.M. 2. Discussion and Approval of Minutes from March 19,2015 ACAC Meeting held on February 19,2015- Cheryl Martinez moves to table February 19,2015 meeting minutes till next month Mark Phillips seconds, all approve,none oppose and none abstain. 3. Discussion and Approval of Absences from March 19,2014 Laina Schonefeld was absent due to Family,Harold Bennett was absent due to Family and Megan Winn was absent due to Work related issues. Cheryl Martinez moves to approve the absences,Harold Bennett seconds, all approve,none oppose and none abstain. 4. Discussion of Current Texas Department of State Health Services Region 11 Zoonosis Report Dr. Barbara Whitlock informed the committee the Zoonosis Report was attached for viewing.A general discussion was held on the Zoonosis report.No further questions or discussion. 5. Discussion of Texas Parks and Wildlife Report Dr. Barbara Whitlock states 70 opossums were captured, 1 skunk,3 raccoons and no bats.No further question or discussion. 6. Discussion of Current Shelter Report Cheryl Martinez would like to state for the record"Long stay of animals, an example is A253824. Intake was 2/16 of this cat and was adopted last Thursday. They called the person yesterday. It was FIV positive and euthanized. Animals should not be here that long, especially when you have rescue groups wanting to take them."No further questions or discussions. 7. Discussion of the Current and Previous Clinic Report No clinic report. 8. Discussion of the Status of Rachael Ray Grant Funds Steven Bly states currently 325 surgeries completed. $4500 left in the grant and was extended through the end of April. 9. Discussion of items voted previously,i.e. Tethering Ordinance There was a general discussion on Tethering Ordinance 10. Discussion of Target TNR Cheryl Martinez showed a presentation about Community Cats and Trap/Neuter/Return and also showed a video based out of San Antonio,TX. There was a general discussion on Targeted TNR. 11. Discussion and recommendation of Impounding Ordinance Table till further notice 12. Discussion of Heartbeats Rescue Letter There was a general discussion regarding Heartbeats Rescue Letter 13. Public Comments Mishelle Williams "I wanted to ask how much the system,the trolley system cost?" Cheryl Martinez"$20" Mishelle Williams "If we could get a group together that will go out on the weekends and set these up for people, do y'all think we can get the city approval funding for that?Also with the trap and neuter I know people that are willing to help,with this kind of stuff I would personally go out,catch cats and bring them to you,but for the most part they need to drive down the street and see these animals knowing they are freezing. I can't go to bed at night and enjoy time with my family because this passion will not get out of me. So we can have bake sales,we could talk to the schools and get these little kids hearts into saving these animals. We can do this. There's groups,there's people on facebook cause we do talk and brainstorming different ideas. We are here to help. We care about every individual animal and I know I called just this past week about neglect case and not a damn thing has been done and so day in and day out we see these animals just tied to a cold porch with no food or water. But whatever it takes there's people out there that y'all can use up and my heart is in this and I will if you tell me "Mischelle go to home depot and buy these trolley systems."Y'all show me how to do them and I'll personally go out there and set these up for people that don't care. They bought a pet for their kids and threw it in the backyard and it's been there for 2 years chained to a dog house. I know we're not going to be able to stop that" Dr. Barbara Whitlock "With the TNR,I think there are two stages to this. I think the first stage is trying to get the city ordinance to change and then after that the practical funding from charities. That's the second stage. I think right now I like to get over the first stage which is changing some city ordinances." Mischelle Williams "I brought this up before and I was told that if we were to find people for animal cruelty that didn't follow,if you sent them a letter to correct the situation and they didn't do it, ok fine them$500 if we pop these people in their pocket they might stop getting animals at a certain point. Why can't we incorporate that?Like we do a speeding ticket?" Dr. Barbara Whitlock "That's not on the agenda,by open meeting law we cannot answer that." Veronica Lankford "I called on January 29`h about a dog that was chained to the owner's fence for about 6 years and I called to the call center and of course I called because the animal was still there. The call center told me that the officer did not ask for up to date vaccinations,is that protocol? Dr. Barbara Whitlock "We cannot answer that" Karen Janceck "I just started volunteering here so I'm not real familiar with everything,but my question is when an animal is brought in and they are full of ticks and where you open their ear and can't even see inside the ear do y'all remove them?Or just leave them there?" Joseph Brice "Let me address that public comment is only to bring up concerns that you may have but it's not really a Q&A discussion that can be answered" Joan Campbell "Has to do with the facebook page with the events that animal control has,is there any way for you guys to put the events in your page sooner?Like the micro chipping at Cactus and Vine. Last time it happen it only popped up at two in the afternoon that day and it started at 5pm." Commander John Houston "I would love to but we don't own managerial to our facebook page for some reason. We are trying to get managerial rights that some person took with them. So we are seeking to remove that person. We are seeking a website of Animal Care independent and separate from the city." Brenda King ""The last meeting I came too,the reason I came was to volunteer here and when I got here I was told that it was going to take 3 months to get the whole process going to be able to come in and volunteer.Personally I thought that was way too long and that's just ludicrous. My husband is a federal agent and it didn't take him 3 months to be able to do his job. When I asked why that was and they said it was because of the police department. I just want to put it out there. I've been military before,retired military I have a big connection on the base and a lot of these women out there have express wanting to volunteer here, and only have 6 months to be here. What good is it having to wait 3 months and be leaving soon.I mean we want to volunteer." Commander John Houston "As a matter of policy which I can't answer,there was an issue with the volunteer program. There were rules changed. But right now if you go through the police department and speak with Tom Brown you can get into this facility with 1/2 weeks from the beginning to the end. It did take a long,long time.Now it will take about 3 weeks." Barbara Brinkman "I started volunteering here last summer and it did take quite a long time, about 2'/z months from filling out the information and my badge coming in. However the application was quite lengthily but now its 2 pages and taking new volunteers maybe few weeks. So it has greatly improved." Hollie Mitchell "One thing I see that's kind of missing in our community is the education portion. I volunteer at Gulf Coast Humane Society and in our education program and it's a big,big part of our community that is missing in saving these animals lives.And I would love to see it grow and get larger. I've seen how important it is in different communities and succeeding into a no kill. That's what I would like to see change." Esther Martinez "I would like to have some grants for TNR,I'm paying out of my pocket for right now and I would like to see some grants for TNR because I'm waiting on some money and I take a cat and wait again. Is there any funding?I know you can't answer that question." Heidi Powers "It only took a week to get approved for volunteering so don't let that discourage you" Joan Campbell "Just today I had a lady who contacted me about volunteering. Her background check went through. It was approved and a staffer here apparently discouraged her from coming to the meeting today." Beth Hughes "I was told that I really shouldn't come here. That volunteers aren't supposed to line up and do that. It was like you enter a contest and you won't win. That's wrong... it was the most bizarre conversation I have ever had. To go home with this said to me was hurtful. That'd the main staffer would say that to me." Barbara Brinkman "I just have a request for the time of meeting is not very attend friendly,most of us work regular 8-5 hours and are unable to attend. I would like to request if y'all can reconsider the meeting times towards the end of the day to 5 o'clock?" Esther Martinez "I would like to see some owner surrendered dogs get a little bit more time instead of immediate euthanasia. I feel like they don't have much time,but I would really like to see that time get extended." Heidi Powers "I do photography for the Focus on Forever group with the owner surrender if there would be a way to keep us informed when they come in we can get a photographer in here immediately and get these pictures out there on the internet?" Natalie Allen "Is there a certain age limit to volunteer,I have a 14 year old son,would he be able to sign up and volunteer?" 14. Identify items to be placed on next agenda Discussion on animals adopted out June/July of 2014 that were not sterilized upon leaving ACS,Discussion on Backup Vet.For the City, and Discussion on report from staff on A252224 15. Adjournment Cheryl Martinez moves to adjourn at 1:52 pm. Harold Bennett seconds, all approve,none oppose and non- abstain.