SAN FRANCISCO COMMISSION OF

ANIMAL CONTROL & WELFARE

Meeting Minutes July 18, 2019

 

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

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

Absent: Lisa Wayne; Officer Ryan Crockett

 

2. General Public Comment
   • Member of the public called ACC about injured baby animal and was instructed to release it; would like to see more education at ACC regarding treatment of birds. 
   • Member of public searched the Commission’s website for meeting minutes and audio, and is concerned that they are not posted online. 

 

3. Approval of Draft Minutes from the June 2019 Meeting

Meeting minutes approved with one change to comments from UC Davis Outreach Veterinarian.

 

4. Chairperson’s and Commissioners’ Reports
   1. Commissioner Fortier reported that some commissioner terms have expired; she reached out to the Rules Committee about this issue and was informed that Board of Supervisors is busy with Fall ballot initiatives, so Commission assignments have been postponed until November. 
   2. Commissioner Fortier reported on news article regarding pending statewide fur ban. 
   3. Commissioner Reis reported on ongoing issue of lack of contact point at City Administrator‘s office, and read letter drafted to City Administrator addressing this issue.  Commissioners Reis and Irani are to revise and distribute letter. 

 

5. New Business
   1. San Francisco Dog Licensing
      1. The Commission will discuss the regulation requiring dog guardians to register their pets.
      2. Commissioner Irani reported on discussions with Supervisor Sandra Lee Fewer and her staff regarding streamlining and enforcing dog licensing to increase compliance with the law, and requested the Commission’s input on this issue.
      3. Commissioner Fortier is to reach out to the Tax Assessor’s office to gather information on license issuance and collection of funds.
      4. Members of the public shared concerns regarding more strictly enforced licensing and the lack of public education about licensing requirements and renewals, and suggested possibility of requiring veterinarians to license unlicensed dogs.

 

6. Old Business
   1. SF ACC / SPCA Feral Cat Program Changes
      1. Recently, SF SPCA and SF ACC, in partnership, modified a long-standing feral cat program.  Whereas in the past, mother cats and kittens less than two months old were captured from the wild, brought to shelter, then returned to the wild (mother cats) or adopted (kittens). The new policy is to allow mothers and kittens to stay in the wild, until the kittens are weaned.  Speakers: Maria Conlon of Give Me Shelter and John Rockwell, former ACC volunteer.
      2. Commissioner Tobin led the discussion on this issue.  She reported on the decision from the last meeting to send a letter to ACC and SPCA, and the responses received.  She read the letter from ACC, and the letter from the SPCA was summarized.
      3. John Rockwell (volunteer trapper and foster) reported on concerns about the new policy committing feral kittens to an extremely painful and inhumane death, the decision-makers’ ignorance about the feral cat community, and the lack of reasons given for the policy change.
      4. Maria Conlon (rescue volunteer and co-director at Give Me Shelter) responded to the ACC’s letter, asking for the mortality rate to be broken into the DOA (dead on arrival), DIK (died in kennel) and EUTH (euthanized) numbers. She presented additional information on the capacity of the rescue volunteers, the possibility of socialization for feral kittens, and the problems with Capacity for Care and Length of Stay programs, including that they lead to empty kennels at ACC, limiting the number of black kittens being put out on the floor for adoption, an overburdening of rescue organizations, and less socialization time for feral kittens.  She reported on a UC Davis study of the survival rate for kittens left outdoors, that showed 75% of feral kittens died or disappeared before six months of age.  She requested that ACC and SPCA inform volunteer trappers regarding calls about feral cats from members of the public.
      5. Commissioners discussed the information presented by the rescue volunteers and the letters from ACC and SPCA, including: ACC’s meeting for cat volunteers on July 30; the rescue groups’ adoption numbers; the inadequacy of the shelter mortality rate data; the increase in kittens coming into ACC over the previous year; the “untenable” standard set by ACC for calling upon trappers; and problems with data collection and reporting.
      6. Members of the public commented on concerns regarding: the policy change; ACC’s record keeping and management model; ACC’s limiting of cats put out on the floor for adoption; the role of the Commission in taking action and the need to address the issue with the Board of Supervisors; the lack of respect for volunteers’ experience and input including regarding the new ACC shelter; the inadequacy of the study and the subjectivity upon which the policy change is based; and that ACC and SPCA were not answering the questions asked of them, and the efforts made to stop helping volunteers help the animals in need.  Members of the public also reported on the differing lifespans of feral cats, managed community cats, and homed cats, and the mortality rate for mother cats (0%) and kittens (2%) leaving the former SPCA feral cat nursery, and requested that the public write letters to their Supervisors requesting that the previous policy remain and that the city have facilities to support the feral cat community. 
      7. Commissioners Reis and Irani are to draft a follow-up letter to ACC regarding the policy change and a letter to the Board of Supervisors regarding general issues with data in the context of the feral cat policy change and as a follow-up to a previous grand jury report.

 

2. Revision to San Francisco’s Pet Tethering Ordinance
   1. A discussion of the local tethering ordinance and potential recommended modifications. 
   2. Commissioner Irani reported that Commission is waiting for data regarding geographic locations of tethering calls, suggested requesting input from an enforcement officer regarding changing the local ordinance, and shared articles regarding dog thefts. 
   3. Commissioner Fortier will contact SFPD to request information regarding stolen dogs.
   4. Commissioners discussed raising public awareness regarding dog theft in collaboration with SFPD and ACC, including posting signs outside of businesses cautioning against unattended tethering.
   5. Members of the public commented that signage would be helpful, and another possible solution would be to encourage more dogs to be brought into businesses instead of being tied outside. 

 

3. Commission Technology Update
   1. An update on Commissioners’ efforts to update the webpage.
   2. Commissioner Fortier reported difficulty with logging in to update Commission’s website. 
   3. Commissioner Reis reported on training on the website’s software platform.
   4. Pending letter to City Administrator will note this issue.

 

7. General Public Comment
   • Member of public raised concern regarding “Pet Club” advertisement in ACC adoption packet. 

 

8. Items to be put on Calendar for Future Commission Meetings
   1. Revision to San Francisco’s Pet Tethering Ordinance
   2. Technology Update
   3. San Francisco Dog Licensing
   4. ACC and SPCA Feral Cat Policy

 

9. Adjournment (approx. 9:15 p.m.)