Meeting Information

San Francisco Commission of Animal Control and Welfare
Meeting Minutes
February 10, 2005

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

Meeting was called to order at 5:40 pm, February 10, 2005

Present: Chair Kennedy, Commissioners Kipnis, Eckman, Weiss DVM, Herndon, Wheeler, and Franklin.

Absent with reason - Commissioners Guldbech and Chi

2. Public Comment

Richard Fong asked about role of UCSF oversight committee with regard to stem cell research.

3. Approval of Draft Minutes from the October 14, 2004 Meeting.

Commissioner Kipnis moved to approve the minutes.

Seconded by Commissioner Franklin

Passed Unanimously

4. Chairperson's report and opening remarks

a. Animal Cops San Francisco playing on Animal Planet

Chair Kennedy commended Commissioner Herndon on his work/performance in Animal Cops. Commissioner Hendon discussed the experience.

b. Upcoming Commission vacancy(s)

Chair Kennedy informed the Commission that Commissioner Chi has resigned. Chair Kennedy will contact the Rules Committee regarding this vacancy, which will need to be filled. In addition, the Commission will have 3 additional vacancies in April. Commissioners Wheeler, Franklin and Eckman terms will expire at that time.

Chair Kennedy will inform the Rules Committee of these vacancies. Vacancy notices will be posted on the Commission's website.

c. Expanding website to include more news and information.

Commission Kipnis suggested that the Commission's web site be expanded to include information presented at Commission meetings, as well as in between meetings, that would be of interest to the public. The Commission agreed that this was a good idea, with the understanding that the format of the web site will still need to be consistent with other city government web sites. Chair Kennedy asked the Commissioners to route all documents to her for posting.

d. Secretaries: Reclassification of roles and responsibilities

Chair Kennedy clarified the roles of the two Commission secretaries. Commissioner Kipnis will be responsible for taking minutes at all meetings and Commissioner Wheeler will be responsible for checking the Commission office for mail and voice mail messages. In the event that Commissioner Kipnis is absent, Commissioner Wheeler will take the minutes.

5. Status and tracking of letters of recommendation approved by the Commission, requesting action by the Board of Supervisors

a. Update on the current and future status of the elephants at the San Francisco Zoo

Commissioner Kipnis provided an update on Tinkerbelle and LuLu. Tinkerbelle is doing well, eating well, taking her medication and socializing with other elephants - she is very happy according to Pay Derby who runs PAWS. However, her feet still pose a problem. They are still in very bad shape. Pat Derby is working with the vet at the SF Zoo and the medical team on scheduling a time to take a culture of Tinkerbelle's feet to find out the cause of the problem. The procedure, which includes anesthetizing Tinkerbelle, was planned for February 18, but that was cancelled by the vet at SF Zoo. The procedure is still on hold at this time.

LuLu is scheduled to be transported to PAWS the first week in March.

No public comment.

b. Establishment of a "Responsible Dog Guardianship" legislation package to include:

i. Development of a SF ordinance, which would outline/define humane and responsible guidelines for the welfare, care, and maintenance of dogs who are housed primarily outdoors.

ii. Amendment of SF Health Code - Add Section 39: Requiring dog guardians, or those responsible for the supervision of a said dog, to exchange personal identification information and rabies shot verification when dog bites occur.

iii. Amendment of SF Health Code - Allow for the suspension of animal guardianship/ownership privileges for three years, when deemed appropriate be the Vicious & Dangerous Dog Hearing Officer.

Commissioner Franklin reported that the Board of Supervisors passed the legislation 9 to 2 and it has been signed by the Mayor. NY has asked for a copy of the legislation to look at how they can pass similar legislation.

Move to new business

8a. Endorsement potential legislation that would prohibit those convicted of animal abuse/neglect from having animals for up to a three-year period.

Franklin reported that at the Board of Supervisor's meeting, Supervisor Maxwell suggested that the three year ban also apply to abuse and neglect. The City Attorney said that since abuse and neglect is under a different code (Penal Code) than vicious dog, (Health Code) Maxwell's amendment could not be added to the legislation and that the Board would need to take separate action on this. Dufty supported the amendment and the Board plans to vote on this at a later meeting .

Commissioner Franklin suggested that the Commission send a letter to the Board of Supervisors supporting Maxwell's amendment to assure this issue is not forgotten.

Since the Board of Supervisors cannot amend the state penal code, the Commission agreed that the best way to proceed would be to take the state penal code, add it to city health code, and amend that city code to include abuse and neglect. This would need to be done with guidance from the City Attorney.

Commissioner Kennedy moved

1. Commissioner Franklin will first check with Supervisor Maxwell's office on the status of her amendment.

2. If Maxwell's office has not moved forward on this, Commissioners Kennedy, Franklin and Herndon will prepare a recommendation outlining the Commission's idea of incorporating the state code into the city health code and run it by the City Attorney. Once finalized, it will then be sent to the Board of Supervisors with a letter of endorsement. Proposed legislation will include suspension of guardianship of an animal for up to 5 years.

Seconded by Commissioner Franklin

Passed Unanimously

7. Old Business

a. Discussion on possible action to ban the sale of foie gras within San Francisco.

Commissioner Kipnis reported that Sonoma Saveurs, the Sonoma restaurant co-owned and operated by the owners of the Sonoma Foie Gras, was closing.

Weiss presented the research article she reviewed regarding the production of foie gras. The article discusses how harmful the process is. A link to the article will be added to the Commission web site.

Commissioner Wheeler reported that there is a lot of activity in France to get foie gras banned

Commissioner Kennedy stated, and the Commission agreed, that a ban on the serving of fois gras in San Francisco would not be passed by the Board of Supervisors at this time. The Commission agreed that it would need to do much more work on this issue before it brought this issue before the Board.

Commissioner Eckman moved to table item until a time when the Commission is able to do more work and prepare a strategy for successful action by the Board of Supervisors.

Seconded by Wheller

Passed Unanimously.

9. Public Comment- None

10. Calendar Items

Commissioners will e-mail calendar items for next Commission meeting to Chair Kennedy.

11. Closing Review of Task Allotment and Next Steps

Meeting adjourned at 6:50 pm, February 10, 2005