SAN FRANCISCO COMMISSION OF

ANIMAL CONTROL & WELFARE

Meeting Minutes April 18, 2019

 

 

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

Present: Annemarie Fortier; Nina Irani; Rachel Reis; Bunny Rosenberg; Russell Tenofsky; Jane Tobin; Brian Van Horn, DVM

Absent: Shari O’Neill, DVM; Lisa Wayne; Officer Ryan Crockett

 

2. General Public Comment

None

 

3. Approval of Draft Minutes from the March 2019 Meeting

Meeting minutes approved

 

4. Chairperson’s and Commissioners’ Reports
   1. Commissioner Fortier reports on local consignment shop selling fur item on sale as a result of clearances of fur inventory from city department stores that are complying with fur ban.
   2. Commissioner Tobin reports that Golden Gate Dog Park Run design process is complete.  Total project cost is $2.4M.  Schedule requires bidding process to be completed by September 2019, and entire process completed by March 2020.  Final design has separate areas for large and small dogs.
   3. Commissioner Tobin reports that follow-up on Golden Gate National Recreation Area’s pet management policy indicates that relationship has improved since November federal government shutdown, as SF Dog paid for three months of park staff salaries, and sent volunteers to help with management of Fort Funston area. 

 

5. New Business
   1. Review of City Charter Establishing Commission on Animal Control and Welfare
      • According to the City Charter, the Commission was established by Health Code section 41.1 in 1973.  It was last revised in 1999.  The Commission was never assigned an Administrator.  This has created problems with the management and administration of the Commission.  Commissioners will discuss and propose remedies.
      • Commissioner Fortier recommends that the Commission requests a revision to the City Charter by the Board of Supervisors, with an administrator assigned to the Commission, and decide who to request as the administrator. 
        • The logical choice for administrator could have been Animal Care and Control, but it may be best to have distance with the ACC since the Commission also provides oversight for the ACC. 
        • Organizational Chart for Board of Supervisors includes administrators who are assigned various duties.
        • Commissioner Reis suggests connecting with Victor Young, as he is on the Sunshine Task Force. 
        • Commissioner Tobin suggests connecting with the Rules Committee’s Legislative Deputy Director, Alisa Somera.  
      • Commissioner Fortier recommends that the next step is finding an ally on the Board of Supervisors. 
        • Commissioner Reis suggests talking to Board of Supervisors on the Rules Committee (Supervisors Ronen, Walton, and Mar).
        • Commissioner Fortier reports that the Commission webpage needs a lot of updating, and Commission needs support on this and other issues, for example, lack of a budget, from the Board of Supervisors.
        • Commissioner Rosenberg asks who would be the knowledge holder on these issues, for example, the city attorney whom the Commission has access to. 
        • Commissioner Reis suggests writing a list of outstanding issues (including needing an organization/administrator to take ownership of the Commission, and needing a small budget) and presenting list to every Supervisor.  
      • Commissioner Fortier reports that another issue is that Commission has two official names that leads to additional confusion. 
      • Commissioners will take the following initial steps in resolving this issue:
        • Commissioners Fortier, Tobin, and Reis will draft pending questions for city attorney:
          • 1) Who at the city is responsible for the Commission?
          • 2) How is the Commission notified of relevant changes? 
          • 3) How can City Charter be revised to reflect the new sponsor?
          • 4) Is there a budget for administrative costs?
          • 5) How do similarly situated Commissions operate?
          • 6) Should Commissioners be compensated for time spent on obligatory training?
          • 7) What steps are necessary to amend the Charter Amendment creating the Commission?
          • 8) Does Commission have access to other experts in addition to city attorney?
        • Commissioner Van Horn will reach out to Supervisor Mar, Commissioner Reis will reach out to Supervisor Ronen, and Commissioner Rosenberg will reach out to Commissioner Walton. 
        • All Commissioners are responsible for researching information on this issue to discuss at next meeting. 

 

6. Old Business
   1. Revision to San Francisco’s Pet Tethering Ordinance
      • A discussion of the local tethering ordinance and potential recommended modifications. 
      • Commissioner Irani reports on research done on other California local tethering ordinances: at least 27 California cities have limitations on tethering similar to San Francisco’s; at least 11 have time limitations and most of these follow the state limitation of 3 hours; it seems that no other California cities have total bans, although other cities in the country do. The closest to a ban in California is Oakland, which limits tethering in public places to 15 minutes. 
      • Commissioner Irani will reach out to enforcement in Oakland and in Austin to find out effects of enforcing additional limitations and a total ban.
      • Commissioner Irani reports on suggested ordinance language that could address concerns about homeless population and responsible owners, such as requiring tethered animals to be in the presence of their owners, and an exception to allow responsible owners to tether animals for a limited time. 
      • Commissioner Irani is working with Commissioner O’Neill to gather data from Animal Care and Control to see if tethering is an issue and if so, the scope.
      • Commissioner Van Horn reports on his discussion with Palm Beach enforcement regarding their tethering ban:
        • Overall the ban has been positive but with some initial challenges, such as distinguishing between abusive situations and responsible owners. 
        • The most extreme situation that resulted in litigation was a tethered dog seizure after its owner overdosed in a grocery store bathroom.   
        • The ban also required a significant increase in officer hours to address the calls.  Initially, two volunteers were brought on board to educate the public on the ban, and these two positions became full time. 
      • Commissioner Tobin suggests connecting with Denise BonGiovanni at Oakland Animal Care and Control.

 

7. General Public Comment

None

 

8. Items to be put on Calendar for Future Commission Meetings
   1. Review of City Charter Establishing Commission on Animal Control and Welfare
   2. Revision to San Francisco’s Pet Tethering Ordinance
   3. Animal Care and Control Live Release Numbers

 

9. Adjournment (approx. 6:29 p.m.)