2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 San Francisco Commission of Animal Control and Welfare
Meeting Minutes
March 10, 2005
1. Call to Order and Roll Call
Meeting called to order at 5:35 pm, March 10, 2005.
Present: Commissioners Kennedy, Franklin, Kipnis, Herndon, Wheeler
Absent with excuse: Commissioners Eckman, Guldbech
Absent with no excuse: Commissioner Weiss
2. Public Comment
Toni Sestak - asked if anything more can be done about cat declawing; also, is there anything that can be done to license dog breeders in order to stop pit bull breeding.
JR Yager - agreed that we needed to do something about cat declawing; also need to address the problem of homeless people who have too many animals.
Commissioner Weiss arrived.
3. Approval of Draft Minutes from February 10, 2005
Commissioner Franklin moved to accept the February 10, 2005 minutes
Seconded by Commissioner Kipnis
Approved unanimously
4. Chairperson's report and opening remarks
a. Upcoming Commission vacancies - Commission Eckman, who served on the Commission for 8 years, will not be seeking reappointment. Commission currently has 4 vacancies. Dan McKenna is leaving Rec and Park Department.
Need to update Commissioner Orientation Manual. Commissioner Kipnis will follow-up.
SPCA is presenting a 2-day workshop on dog issues. Will take place the first weekend in May. This workshop was motivated by the new dog legislation.
5. Committee Reports/Commissioner's Reports
a. Update on the current and future status of the elephants at the San Francisco Zoo.
Commissioner Kipnis reported that Lulu was transferred to PAWS this morning. Tinkerbelle is still having serious problems with her feet. Activist held a memorial for Calle, who died one year ago, at the SF Zoo.
Public Comment
Richard Fong - commented that it will be a long time before elephants ever come back to the SF Zoo.
JR Yager: Suggested that the 10 acres appropriated by the Zoo for the future elephant exhibit should be petitioned for some other use so that elephants cannot come return to the Zoo.
6. Old Business and New Business
a. Endorsement of legislation that would prohibit those convicted of animal abuse/neglect from having animals for up to three-years.
Commissioner Franklin reported that Supervisor Maxwell has not made any progress on drafting legislation, but still wants to go forward. Franklin suggested that she prepare a draft of the legislation, work with city attorney on the wording and provide Maxwell with the draft for consideration.
Commissioner Herndon spoke with Commissioner Guldbech about shortening the time period between taking a dog into custody and conducting the hearing.
Public Comment
Richard Fong - asked about the time frame to evaluate abused dogs
Ron Cole - suggested that instead of changing the time span between custody of a dog and the hearing, we should change to the date of notification of the hearing.
Commission Discussion
Commission agreed that it needed to strengthen the legislation and change "up to 5 years" instead of 3 years.
b. Discuss legislation that would impose mandated counseling for those convicted of animal abuse/neglect.
State of Iowa mandates that felony animal abusers attend counseling.
Need to clarify what type of counseling are we talking about.
Commissioner Franklin spoke about a nonprofit organization that addresses the issue of animal abusers and counseling. Will send web site link to Commission Kipnis to post on Commission web site.
Public Comment
Ron Cole - Supports looking into the relationship between domestic and animal abuse. abuse is passed on - the cycle must be broken.
7. Public Comment
Gloria Rogan suggested that rather than having an arbitrary time period for the offender not to have a pet, the city should require that the offender be required to go through some type of application process to determine if he/she should be able to have a pet again.
Judy Miller - suggested that Animal Care and Control change their policy so that no animal can be reclaimed unless the animal is spayed or neutered.
Lee Piva - asked about the status of UCSF animal testing.
8. Calendar Items for next meeting
Licensing breeders
Cat declawing
9. Closing Review of Task Allotment and Next Steps
1. Commissioner Kipnis will update orientation manual for new Commissioners
2. Commissioners Kennedy and Herndon will find out what animals are currently included in the dog legislation.
3. Commissioner Wheeler will research what treatments are used with domestic violence offenders and what programs are associated with their treatment.
12. Adjournment
Commission adjourned at 6:45 p.m.