MINUTES
San Francisco Commission of Animal Control & Welfare
Thursday, November 20, 2014
1. Call to Order and Roll Call
Annemarie Fortier, Shari O’Neill, DVM, Nanci Haines,Sally Stephens, Russell Tenofsky, Julene Johnson,
Mirian Saez, Davi Lang
2. General Public Comment
Members of the public may address the Commission with comments or recommendations on items within the
Commission’s jurisdiction other than the items on the agenda at the beginning or end of the meeting, but not
both.
No public comment, closed.
3. Approval of Draft Minutes from the October 16, 2014 Meeting
None corrections. No public comment. Minutes approved.
4. Chairperson’s report and opening remarks
No comments. Public comment closed.
5. Commissioners’ Report
Commissioner Tenofsky Whale
and Dolphin Safe Passage proposal was passed unanimously by the
Board of Supervisors. They changed the language a little bit, but mostly the same. Thank you for your
support, to Supervisor Wiener, for letters of support and students who came to the meeting.
Commissioner O’Neill Announcement
of speaker Dr. Vint Virga, The Inner Lives of Animals.
Wednesday, January 21 at the JCC of San Francisco. A discussion about the welfare of animals in
captivity.
6. New Business
A) The Death of a Baby Gorilla at the SF Zoo. Discussion of what happened when a baby gorilla at the SF
Zoo was killed by a closing door, and what is being done to prevent anything similar from happening again. A
baby gorilla darted back inside while the door was closing and was caught by the door and died. There has
been a lot of discus ion in the media about what went wrong. The door did not have an automatic stop button
on it, as garage doors in homes do. What can the zoo do to make sure it doesn't happen again. The zoo has
requested an outside investigation. Reports in the media suggest that the expert has found flaws in the
facilities and has recommended was to correct them. The media also indicates that it was difficult for the
controller of the door to see the door. We had hoped to have someone from the zoo here, and they said they
would send somebody, but today they said they would not. I hope that in the January meeting we can have a
presentation about what they found out and what they plan to do. Maybe a stop switch, or two people
operating the door.
Commissioner Fortier Just
to clarify, the zoo had intended to someone tonight to the meeting as an
observer only, not as a participant. So the zoo never intended to have comments to add tonight. So, to clarify, we
did not expect any kind of comment tonight from the zoo. As Sally said, there is an ongoing investigation and we
respect that. We will welcome them once they have some clarifications and proposals.
Commissioner Tenofsky That
is too bad that the zoo would not come tonight. From what I have heard,
Sally, there is a little bit more to it. Even the people who work there have said in the past that the system is old
and outdated. There needs to be more than one person operating the door and this is at least the third time a
gorilla has been caught in the door in the past few years. That has been clearly stated by the zoo. There are signs
stating clearly that the operator must keep his hand on the switch at all times and so clearly there was some sort
of negligence by the person working the door. Judging by what Dr. Terry Maple, formerly director of licensing for
zoos, even said it is a completely outdated facility. The director of the zoo has written that the zoo is woefully
underfunded and some of the exhibits date back to the Depression. I would hope that people who have more
power than I would work to make sure these wonderful beings are sent to some sort of sanctuary and get away
from this abhorrent place that even people in the industry say is outdated. The irony of being killed by a door,
which leads to freedom is not escaping me. The zoo continues to talk about how the family of gorillas is mourning.
I cannot imagine seeing my child or grandchild killed by a door that I must pass through every day, that keeps me
from freedom. I know that there are sanctuaries out there. If the zoo truly has the best interest of the animals in
mind, they will treat them as the sentient beings that they are.
Commissioner Johnson I
agree with Russell. Is there still a joint zoo committee that meets?
Commissioner Stephens Yes,
the fourth Thursday of the month at City Hall at 2pm, however, the next two
Thursdays are Christmas and Thanksgiving, so they were looking for another date. Of interest at the zoo, they
have hired a director of wellness, whose role it is to look beyond the physical wellbeing
of the animals. Dealing
with enrichment, ensure that the animals have behaviors that they would exhibit in the wild, such as hiding their
food, rather than just handing it to them. One of the things that changed at the gorilla area is that you used to be
able to go up stairs and look down at the gorillas, which is not natural for them. They have done some things to
limit the noise for the gorillas. I hope that whatever happened, they correct what they can. This should have never
happened in the first place and should never happen again.
Public comment Dr.
Elliott Katz, Veterinarian and founder of In Defense of Animals. I am sure that most of you
are aware that the San Francisco Zoo has an outrageous history of preventable death of elephants, the
preventable death of a young man and a tiger that killed him and the preventable death of a gorilla. I say
preventable to all because the veterinarian and director at the time knew that they slowly being killed by the
concrete floor and inadequate space. The director had been made aware that the height of the tiger exhibit was
not safe and we are currently being made aware that of some of the mistakes and warnings that could have
prevented the death of the baby gorilla. These terrible tragedies are happening in the city that is named after St.
Francis. All of you have volunteered your time and expertise to serve on this commission. It is time for the zoo to
make a dramatic turnaround from its tragic history of abuse to one of kindness, caring respect and responsibility.
The management of the zoo must regularly meet the workers of the zoo.
Commissioner Stephens Time
is up, everyone has three minutes.
Dr. Katz You
really need to take responsibility more than you have for the zoo. I don’t think you have lived up to
your responsibility as well as you could have.
No further public comment.
Commissioner Fortier Sally,
can you clarify our relationship with the zoo and what oversight committees work
with the zoo.
Commissioner Stephens The
Joint Zoo Oversite Committee has oversight over the zoo. It is composed of three
Park and Rec appointees, three people from the zoological board. The facility is owned by the zoo, but run by the
zoological society, so it is a hybrid of public/private organization. After the tiger incident referred to earlier, the
committee added two people to the committee animal welfare, so someone from our commission and second is a
veterinarian with experience with large animals, although we do not vote. However, we are free to ask questions
and comment. A lot of what they do is approve animal transfers, or transfer of ownership of animals who have
been transferred but never formalized. Some of the larger animals that have come in recently are more rescue
situations. The grizzly bears, for example, were pups of a mother that was killed. The rhino was at a zoo that
could no longer care for it, so the rhino came to San Francisco. The administration during the tiger incident and
the elephant issues are no longer at the zoo. It is all new people since then. They often have presentations on
various topics, such as the wellness program. There is often a presentation by veterinarians and what kind of
work they do. At every meeting, there is a summary of any animal that has died, and the cause of death. The
population of the zoo is quite old, so often the animals die of cancer or other illnesses, similar to humans.
Commissioner Fortier So,
to clarify, this commission does not have authority over the zoo. We do not have
authority over anything. So, to the speakers point, we can express our concerns or interest to the zoo, but we do
not have any authority over it.
Commissioner Stephens Correct.
We do not have authority, we are an advisory committee. This was a
discussion only item, so we cannot take any action at any event.
7. Old Business
A) Update on Hearing Officer for the Vicious and Dangerous Dog Unit.
The position of hearing officer has been offered to someone, they are in the process of finalizing the
contract. When the person is officially hired, I will let the commission know.
No comments. Public comment closed.
B) The Search for a New Director of Animal Care and Control. Discussion and possible action to
send a letter to the City Administrator Naomi Kelly outlining important qualities and qualifications that
should be considered in the search for an effective new Director of SF Animal Care and Control.
Commissioner Stephens A
sample letter was sent to the commissioners. The question is: 1) Do we want
to send a letter to the City Administrator and 2) what should we say? If we want to do something, we should do it
now, as they are planning to post the position soon.
Commissioner Johnson I
have a copy of my suggestions to the commissioners. Essentially, rather than
focus on the experience with shelters, I think we should list the qualities required to run a shelter. 1. I think we
should say passionate and compassionate. A strong advocate for animal issues. 2. A visionary thinking with
strategic planning. 3. Strong relationship building skills. 4. A commitment to saving lives. 5. Understand the
importance of public relations and marketing. 6. Excellent management and teamleading
skills.
Commissioner Stephens Are
these requirements or recommendations.
Commissioner Johnson I
do not believe that experience in a shelter is required, but someone who has
proven passion about the welfare of animals. There are examples of people from other industries who have taken
over shelters very successfully. In Nevada and Sacramento shelters the managers do not have shelter
backgrounds.
Commissioner Fortier Operational
skills should be high on the list. We have heard from volunteers that
ACC has run out of supplies in the past and the operations are not smooth. I would put this skill pretty high on the
list. Also, people management skills, in addition to interest in welfare for animals. Also, I don’t think we should get
too bogged down in experience in shelters management, but someone who has demonstrated interest in the
welfare of animals, which might not be a paid position. But maybe someone who has never owned a pet would be
a bit strange.
Commissioner Stephens What
if someone has experience at a highkill
shelter?
Commissioner Fortier Well,
if the person is at a highkill
shelter but is very unhappy with that, then
maybe. It is hard to say. We would hate to exclude someone who has always wanted to work at a shelter but
never has.
Commissioner Lang This
person will be in charge of a big department, a major budget, picking up
pieces after someone left very quickly. So we want someone with management experience.
Commissioner Johnson Management
skills is listed. We could add operational skills here. A proven
track record of innovation.
Commissioner O’Neill For
innovation, I suggest “willingness to explore alternative options to the current
standards.” For the compassion element, I agree that it is difficult to put into words what we are looking for. Is it
pet relationship? In my experience, when treating an animal, there is always a person across the exam table that
is just as important in treating the animal. No one is going to come to this job who doesn’t love animals.
Commissioner Haines There
are a number of roles that could demonstrate passion and compassion for
animals. There are many ways we can see that this characteristic in a person’s experience, professional and
personal. I desire shelter experience, not require, and we seem to disagree on this. But we can all agree that they
can show they have worked at or volunteered at a shelter, or worked with a welfare organization.
Commissioner Fortier I
believe that commitment to saving lives should be second data point, ahead of
managerial skills.
Commissioner Stephens Number
One is “Passion and Compassion, experience with animal
organizations.”
Commissioner Johnson I
like experience in shelters to be “desirable” but not required. And “experience
with animals desirable but not required”.
Commissioner Stephens Number
two “Commitment to saving lives”, Three “Experience with Strategic
Planning” , Four “Strong Relationship Building Skills”, Five “Marketing and Community Relations”, Six
“Operational and TeamBuilding
Skills”. Do we have a motion to send this letter?
Public Comment Elliott
Katz Will
this committee be doing the interviewing? And remember to use the word “pet guardian”
not “pet owner”.
Maria, volunteer at ACC and Give Me Shelter cat rescue. Please look at candidates who have been at
highkill
shelters carefully. Here are photos of animals who have been slated for killing at shelters, who have
hyperthyroid issues, or other specific condition. A lot of animals don’t pass behavior evaluations can go to homes
and be totally fine. The animals are tested upon arrival at the shelter when it is very stressful. As far as rebranding
goes, think about rebranding
as a lifesaving
facility so that if someone must surrender his pet for some
reason, they can’t keep the pet, you know that your animal will be taken care of. I helped a cat named Sprot, who
had constipation issues, and the guardian couldn’t keep him. But we helped him find a new home. There are cats
who stay there for a long time. I know of a cat, have a photo here, who was killed because she had a urinary tract
infection, something that is easily treatable, but was not taken care of at the shelter. I would like to see animals as
more than statistics, they are living and breathing creatures.
Public comment closed.
Commissioner Johnson In
response to Dr. Katz suggestion that someone from the committee be
involved in the interviewing of the new ACC Director, I did recommend a community buyin
panel comprised of
people from the volunteer community. I could add, per Dr. Katz’s recommendation, that the panel include
someone from this commission to meet the potential candidates and recommend a choice.
Commissioner Stephens Should
we add this to our letter?
Commissioner Lang I
like that idea, but how would we decide who from our commission would do that?
And would this person speak for the commission as a whole?
Commissioner Haines Perhaps
that person could represent our letter? Even if we don’t all agree with
everything in the letter.
Commissioner Fortier I
do not support the idea of someone from our Commission being on the hiring
committee because when the representative from the City Administrator’s office was here, we brought that issue
up to him and he pointed out that it would be very difficult as the applicants are people who already have jobs and
the application is confidential. Based on the City Administrator’s remarks, I don’t even think it would be feasible,
therefore I think we should leave that out of the letter.
Commissioner Johnson I
think we should add it, but I am completely flexible on this issue.
Commissioner Haines Could
there be a suggestion that a group of various volunteers, excluding a
Commission member.
Commissioner Stephens We
could recommend that the panel that interviews include people from the
animal volunteer community.
Commissioner Lang I
would like to point out that as Commissioner Tenofsky noted last meeting, we
represent the public and our letter includes input from the public, including animal welfare volunteers, who have
spoken to us in this forum. I believe that those comments are sufficient, as written in the letter as wrote.
Commissioner Fortier “
The Commission is at your service during the search process”. I move to approve
the amended letter to the City Administrator regarding the hiring of the ACC Director.
Motion approved without opposition.
Commissioner Tenofsky Do
we know when the position will be posted?
Interim Director Saez I
am happy to update the commission. A couple of things I would like to update
you on. The City Administrator office is meeting with groups to get input, so I can’t give a date when it will be
posted, but I can say it is moving forward. A few exciting things at ACC. I am very impressed with the rescue
partners that we have at ACC. We had this past week Pet Mayor of the Day. A very tongueincheek
event, but it
gave a lot of media attention to the work we do, with Freda the Dog, who became Mayor for the Day. A thank you
to Mayor Lee who was a great sport, and gave up his seat for a day and Supervisors Wiener and Tang who made
a proclamation. The work at ACC, the commitment to the animals continues. We have about 250 animals who
spend the night there and 100,000 a year that we care for, including injured, lost, abandoned. The day highlighted
the participation of our partners, including For the Love of Dog, Give me Shelter, Grateful Dog and Tony’s Kittens,
all who work on a daily basis to find homes for these pets and animals. I want to stress the commitment of those
groups and our staff. I am also very excited about our new hires. We have permanently place two shelter workers,
the people you first see when you walk in. We have interviewed for two veterinarians for the staff. A new
permanent care attendant, and we have five animal care officers that we are interviewing on December 9. We
have two new health technicians who are permanent additions to the staff and we are interviewing for the
behaviorist, which was previously funded through different means, but now will be come inhouse.
This was a
priority for the City Administrator.
Commissioner Stephens Thank
you.
No public comment, public comment closed.
C) Commission Presence on Social Media. An update on whether and how the Commission can have a
presence on social media.
Commissioner Haines I
have explored more about Facebook and how other commissions are using it. If
we are an advisory committee, then public input should be important. FAcebook may be a way to connect to the
public. It could be educational to the public and to our advising. I made a Facebook page that no one can see, it is
still private. I looked closely at the Entertainment Commission page. One of the important questions that was
raised is if we will appear to be biased with our postings. I think the Entertainment Commission is a very different
one, and they show that they do not showing an opinion on things. It is often information about a new club
opening and such. I think it could be good for our Commission. I am interested in hearing others’ opinions. And I
was hoping to clarify some of the concerns.
Commissioner Fortier One
of the main concerns is who would be the moderator, who would oversee it.
Are you willing to do that?
Commissioner Haines Yes,
I am willing to do that. How do we agree what goes on the site? One issue
was what the public would post. But, another issue is the question if we all must agree on what is posted before it
is posted. I would be happy to make the page and monitor it, but is everyone okay with that?
Commissioner Lang Two
options: One is that there is one person only who can post, the other option is
to allow us all to post.
Commissioner Haines I
like that we could all contribute as we want and when we want.
Commissioner Stephens I
like the idea of just a few people being administrator, to keep it consistent.
Two or three is not a quorum, so we could do that.
Commissioner Tenofsky Yes,
but even without a quorum, it is almost certain that someone will be
posted that I and others do not agree with. And it seems the page would speak for the group and for the
individuals and I am not comfortable with that. I have seen postings on the Entertainment Commission that I know
others don’t agree with, postings about individuals, for example. Really the only thing that I feel comfortable with
would be the agenda items, the minutes and items we have all voted on and agree on, otherwise it might be
construed as representing our own opinions and we have been told that we are not allowed to do that while
representing the Commission.
Commissioner Fortier I
agree with Russell. If we were to proceed, I would only be comfortable with a
very static page which would post agendas, approved minutes and items such as the letter we just authored and
approved. But I would not be comfortable posting things that have not been approved by the entire Commission.
Commissioner Haines I
think that would be a fine start. I assume that means no public comment on the
page.
Commissioner Tenofsky What
is the concern about public comment? I think it is a great way to get the
public involved. It’s another way for the public to get involved. We would not be able to respond, and the
administrator might make a note that we can’t respond.
Commissioner Fortier What
if someone posted something extremely offensive and we wanted to censor
it?
Commissioner Haines We
have the option to approve or not approve every comment. But how would we
do that? I think if we make it really clear that the public comments are not the opinion of the Commission.
Commissioner Fortier That’s
fine, but what if, for example, someone posts something very offensive
about ACC? And what if we all agreed that was not okay and took it down. Then what if something offends
another commissioner? Once we get into censoring, it becomes complicated. And I am uncomfortable with that.
But it is possible that this doesn’t come up and people are very nice.
Commissioner Stephens I
do like the idea that the public could offer topics to consider in future
meetings. We can’t keep up with everything with animal issues.
Commissioner Haines I
think it is hard to keep up with animal issues and I like the idea of our page
generating ideas.
Commissioner Johnson Any
way to get the public involved, I would love. So maybe we can try a quick
entry that presents just the approved documents and go from there, and if issues come up, then revisit it.
Commissioner Haines I
am a proponent of the page, but if we only meet once a month, if there is public
comment and we don’t meet for a month, there is a risk. But, I agree with others that there are risks. For example,
I have one thousand Facebook friends. I could invite all of them to like our page, and all of a sudden the page has
1,000 followers.
Commissioner Lang I
suggest we not allow public comment on the page and encourage people to come
here to voice their ideas. People become very brave behind a computer and can say all sorts of things.
Commissioner Tenofsky I
agree with Davi Lang. I think if we post the agendas and remind people that if
they have something to contribute they should attend the meeting.
Commissioner Lang And
give them the option to submit written comments if they cannot attend.
Commissioner Tenofsky It
is true that comments can get very nasty very quickly about people in the
animal welfare community.
Commissioner Stephens This
was a discussion only item, so we cannot go forward with it, but we
cannot vote on it. We can consider it for the January meeting.
Public Comment Dr.
Katz Why
not start a the page with the four people and get going. You need to ask yourselves why
this room is empty. You can reach out and say “are there things you want to see that can be discussed and
brought before the Board of Supervisors.” It seems you are being very cautious about this.
Maria I
think social media is a great tool. I have lived here for many years and never came to a
commission meeting. You can have editors with limited control, you can ban users, you can have administrators,
but I think it is a great way to information out there and maybe get to a younger audience. I would follow your
page and be more prepared about what to expect at the meeting, like writing the letter tonight.
Commissioner Tang Maybe
we can ask people to email ideas for future meetings instead of posting on
Facebook.
Commissioner Stephens We
don’t have an email address. But we could ask about one, it is worth
pursuing.
8. General Public Comment
Members of the public may address the Commission with comments or recommendations on items within the
Commission’s jurisdiction other than the items on the agenda at the beginning or end of the meeting, but not
both.
Saya Harris I
am the founder of Save the Elephants here in San Francisco. I wanted to say from the first
meeting how impressed I am with people’s concern and the quality of the work. Among commissioners and the
audience. I want to talk about the elephant in the room. It is time that we think about the elephant and San
Francisco’s ivory sales which contributes to the international problems and the deaths of the elephants that the
selling of ivory involves. July 28 article in The Chronicle says that over 2,500 ivory sales transacted in San
Francisco and that’s a lot of elephants and there is that same number in Los Angeles. Those two quantities
together make California the second most complicit state in the union. The other states are New York and Hawaii,
but both of those states have or are working on legislation banning the sale of ivory. What about California. The
March for Elephants is a very active elephant organization. In May, they put out the beginning of a petition effort,
and already have 10,000 people or so.
Commissioner Stephens Is
there a website for March for Elephants?
Harris I
do not have it on me, but I can leave papers for you.
Michelle Crane Founding
member of Saving Elephants. The killing of elephants is not limited to the lone
African who kills an elephant to support his family. The bulk of the trade is masterminded by criminal gangs and
terrorists who use AK47s
and poison watering holes. A recent USA Today article listed several terrorist
organizations that are implicit in the trade, including The Lords Resistance Army of Uganda. Others include Boka
Haram in Nigeria. There is a black market supplied by criminal groups who move the ivory through Thailand and
Asia where the ivory fetches ever increasing ivory prices which fuels the market further. It is from Asia that illegal
ivory is then smuggled into the United States. The global elephant movement is thankfully growing. In October the
2nd annual March for Elephants took place. Last year there were 400 marchers in San Francisco, this year over
1,000. Last year 43 cities globally marched, including Europe, Africa and Asia and the Americas. However, the
greed of the criminals who always need more guns and ammunition fuels this market. Ivory is a status symbol and
the cultural symbolism in Asia is great and unfortunately this fuels the trade. And unfortunately with China, whose
one percent who are the only can afford the ivory are driving the animal to extinction. I want the city that I have
lived in for over 20 years to be out of the ivory trade. We can hardly expect ivory sales to decline in Asia without
starting in our own backyard. Thank you for listening.
Kat ? Founding
member, Save Endangered Elephants. I was among the marchers on October 4 who
marched through Chinatown. The mood was upbeat and positive. Chants included things like “What do we want?
Justice for Elephants! When do we want it? Now” These chants were preplanned
and organized. During our walk
through Chinatown many stores that are sellers of ivory were boarded up. People joined our march and asked
questions. They were grateful to learn more and support. When things started to become unruly, march
organizers quickly addressed what our cause was and got us back on focus. Once the march led to civic center, I
heard Supervisor Scott Wiener call for more support for elephant preservation. I also met other members of the
group who were gathering signatures and selling bumper stickers. We have a plan to translate these bumper
stickers into Chinese and send them to groups in China where the vast majority of ivory is consumer, not by
average people but by the one percent. I want the city that I have lived in for over a dozen years to be out of the
ivory trade. We cannot expect the sale of ivory to decline in Asia without starting in our own back yard.
Dr. Katz I
would like to propose that you put the question about whether the city of San Francisco should
ban the sale of ivory. I hope this commission has the wherewithal to move forward with this.
Public comment closed.
9. Items to be put on the Calendar for Future Commission Meetings
Commissioner Stephens We
will put Facebook on the agenda.
Commissioner Tenofsky I
would like to put the issue of ivory on the agenda. It seems like something that
the city should be behind. I was flabbergasted to learn that we San Francisco is so involved in this.
Any further comment?
10. Closing Review of Task Allotments and Next Steps
11. Adjournment