MINUTES
San Francisco Commission of Animal Control & Welfare
October 16, 2014
1. Call to Order and Roll Call 5:39pm
Commissioners Present: Annemarie Fortier; Nanci Haines; Davi Lang; Julene Johnson;
Shari O’Neill, DVM; Sally Stephens; Russell Tenofsky; Sergeant Sherry Hicks; Mirian Saez,
Director ACC
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.
None. Public comment closed.
3. Approval of Draft Minutes from the September 18, 2014 Meeting
Correction to spelling of Mirian Saez.
No public comment.
Minutes approved.
4. Chairperson’s report and opening remarks
A) Update on Commission Vacancy and Appointment to the Commission
Julene Johnson has been named new Commissioner.
5. Commissioners’ Reports
Commissioner O’Neill Bark
in the Park, the Fleet Week event, took place. It was a
convenient location, but not great turnout. A number of demonstrations. The Beagle Brigade was
there, the dogs at the airport that sniff luggage looking for food items. The fire department dogs,
going up and down the ladders.
Commissioner Fortier Dogs
that work with people with disabilities, including those
with hearing loss, where there. There were Marine bombsniffing
dogs. Very impressive. It was a
great event. Moved along quickly. Very informational. With a little more publicity, the turnout
would be better next time. My kids loved it.
Commissioner O’Neill The
event came together very last minute, but it will continue to
improve.
Commissioner Johnson When
is the ACC Pride event?
ACC Director Saez I
have been at ACC for a few weeks, now, I am focused on getting
to know the organization, the employees, have been meeting with some of the rescue partners. I
appreciate everyone taking the time to meet with me and providing me with guidance. Pet Fair in
Marin County was last week. Next week, there will be a celebration for staff and volunteers,
celebrating 25 years. Sunday, October 26 is Pet Pride. Staff is working on those details. Briefly, I
would like to talk about the progress we have made with new hires. We have several hires that
will be completed within the next 3060
days. This past week, we made offers to new shelter
service reps, completed the review process for a new veterinarian, new animal care attendant
starts next week. Animal care officer first phase of interviews begins next week. It speaks to the
commitment of the City Administrator’s office to gear up and provide resources to the agency.
The hearing officer for Vicious and Dangerous dog interviews will be completed next week. I am
really happy with the progress that has been made on hiring.
Commissioner Stephens I
would add that Pet Pride day is a blast. Great day. Lots of fun.
No public comment.
6. Old Business
A) Vision/Goals for SF Animal Care and Control. The Commission will continue its
discussion of potential goals/visions for the SF Animal Care and Control. What are the most
important priorities for the agency? Where should the agency be in five years? Ten years? How
can it get there? What programs are needed?
Commissioner Stephens This
is an ongoing discussion. Please continue to discuss, to
talk to us about it. Some questions to consider is “what kind of programs do we want?” For
example, maybe they could do more with feral cats. How to keep feral cats out of the shelter?
More adoption events. Training and behavior issues, dogs and cats, and maybe rabbits.
Managing the volunteers is very important, that is the lifeblood. Marketing is something that
could use focus, not just caring for the animals. Is there a way to distringuish the ACC from
SPCA, which many people get confused about. Personally, I would like ACC to be a part of
discussion at other agencies, where it impacts animals. For example, if Park and Rec were
implimenting new policies, it would be nice if ACC were represented. Last month, Director Saez
mentioned that there is talk about a strategic plan for ACC, for the first time.
Commissioner Johnson ACC
has two performance goals. One is saving more lives of
animals. I would love there to be increased focus on that. I would like to see a goal of 9095%
animals at ACC being saved, including healthy and treatable animals. Including the small
animals. Much of the focus is on dogs and cats, but rabbits, birds and rats, the companion
animals, could be saved, too. I would like to know why there has been an increase in the dog
intake at ACC and come up with targeted solutions for these atrisk
dogs. And resources to
possibly keep these dogs from being surrendered. Could it be something as simple as providing
food for an animal for a few months while the person gets back on their feet rather than
surrender the animal. Also, I would suggest expanding the adoption program. Looking at the
1994 adoption agreement between ACC and SPCA. Looking at the financial disparity between
the various rescue groups who work on small budgets and other stakeholders who have much
larger budgets including ACC and the SPCA. I would like to see more community involvement.
We are a city of animal lovers and would like to see more. Also, more transparency.
Commissioner O’Neill I
would like to see the DART program reinstated. It’s another
way to get people to volunteer. Helps people be selfsufficient
in emergencies. It is supposed to
be a neighborhood outreach, so a DART trained person would be with every NERT group
(Neighborhood Emergency Relief Training).
Public comment Lisa
Quatrini Give
me Shelter Cat Rescue I
am really encouraged about the changes
that will occur. We are hopeful that we will do some life saving measures. I’d love to sign up
for DART. I am excited to create more programs and save lives in our community.
Commissioner O’Neill ACC
is the primary emergency responder, so they would need to
be involved in the NERT program.
Maria Conlon ACC
Cat behavior group volunteer, Tony’s Kitty Rescue, Give Me
Shelter cat rescue. I would like to see revisited what is considered an adoptable animal. If the
SPCA doesn’t take them, they will be killed. We recently saw a cat that could have been
adopted. We should move animals quickly through the shelter and at the same time provide
assistance for those who are not doing well at the shelter. Many do not respond well to the
shelter environment. It can be loud and stressful in there. And, having people at the shelter who
are focused on lifesaving
prevention. And helping with people struggling to care for their pets.
I was there one day and I saw a woman surrendering her dog, and I don’t know why she
surrendered her dog, but I saw her in her car after and she was crying. Clearly, she did not want
to surrender her dog. Maybe we could have asked what we could do to help her. The poor dog
had to be muzzled right away, so probably wasn’t going to do well at the shelter. When the
shelter is known for not killing animals, more people in the community want to help, as seen in
Alameda. They save 96% of their animals. Petaluma emptied out their dogs completely! They
were taking dogs from other areas. Both are open admission shelters. I think all options should
be explored before an animal is killed and only an animal that is suffering should be killed.
Branding and marketing, social media could be improved.
Henny Martin Congratulations
Julene Johnson. Community Cats volunteer. I frequently
call ACC from Bayview where I see dogs running loose. The response from ACC is “we only
have one officer on duty” or, “the officer is across town”. So, that means that dog running loose
might be hit by a car. They should increase the number of officers.
Kelly Campbell Animal
Welfare Professional, most recently with PetSmart in their
strategic planning. The value of taking the bigger view, what do we want the organization to
achieve? Especially when implementing interventions. ACC is an embedded agency within the
animal care landscape, and the government, lots of other players, including private shelters. I
would love to see ACC leverage those relationships. I would encourage thinking of animal
sheltering as a system with problems: too many animals coming in and not going out. So, two
points to look at: animals coming in and animals going out. What can be done to reduce intake
and increase outcomes (adoption or return to the wild for feral cats).
Lana Basil Give
Me Shelter. The complection of this city has changed. We used to be a
leader in animal saving. We have moved away from that and it pains me. Our status has
deteriorated over the years. We need to come to the table and achieve lifesaving
measures. We
have been left in the dust. We have always been known for this. We must get back to it to make
a better community for the animals. We need compassionate leadership for the city of San
Francisco.
Nadine May cat
rescue in San Francisco. First off, no kill is where we need to go. We
need to consider the lives of wild animals in SF. We should care for orphaned and injured
animals and should have someone on staff full time to do so. San Francisco ROMP takes over
200 wild animals a year with no reimbursement. ACC should have someone in charge of
reaching out to other organizations. San Franciscans need to understand that we are not a nokill
city. And people get ACC confused with SPCA. They should do marketing and outreach to
inform the public. People drop off animals with a clear conscience because they do not realize
it is not a nokill
city. I will send my comments directly to Ms. Saez.
Public comment closed.
Commissioner Stephens There
will be more officers hired, five more, so for the
volunteer who is concerned about that, it is in the works.
Commissioner Fortier Are
there vehicles for additional staff?
Director Saez I
do not know, but I will find out.
Commissioner Johnson Is
there an update on a permanent director:
Director Saez The
city is still taking feedback from the public. They are drafting a job
brochure, then proceed with the path for hiring. But for now, the City Administrator is
still soliciting feedback.
Commissioner Stephens Input
can be addressed to cityadministrator@sfgov.gov
7. General Public Comment
None. Public comment closed.
8. Items to be put on the Calendar for Future Commission Meetings
Commissioner Johnson I
suggest we continue the discussion about ACC.
9. Adjournment 6:13pm