[Music]
You're live.
Good morning everyone.
Welcome to our quarterly board meeting
for the Animal Services Center of the
Msia Valley Board of Directors. It's
Thursday, July 24th, 2025 at 9:00 a.m.
So, I have called us to order. And if
you'll please join me for the pledge of
allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
Thank you. And I'll do determination of
corn, but what I now kind of think of as
introduction of the das. I wish we had
some pump music playing in the
background, but Exehicio member Bencomo
here. Good morning, exeicio member Ward,
present.
Thank you. Board member Campbell,
present.
Board member Gates,
here.
Vice Chair Shalo Hernandez,
present.
Board member Buing Gardner,
good morning, President.
And councelor Corin,
present. And I chair councelor Becky
Graham am obviously present and we have
our quorum at this time I'd entertain a
motion for acceptance of our agenda.
So move shelter Hernandez
you second Corin.
Thank you so much and I'll do a roll
call. Um board member Campbell
present. Board member Gates
here.
Well, we're technically voting, so yeah.
Uh,
yes.
I'm sorry.
A little bit confusing on the
terminology there. Vice Chair Chalo
Hernandez,
yes.
Board member Buing Gardner,
yes.
Uh, Councelor Corin,
yes.
And I, Chair Graham, vote yes.
And we also have our minutes for
approval from our last quarterly meeting
held on April 25th, 2025.
So move Shelder Hernandez.
Thank you. Second.
Oh, and our second by board member
Campbell. Thank you so much. So, uh, I
will now ask for your votes. I won't say
roll call. Board member Campbell,
yes. Board member Gates,
yes. Vice Chair Sheldo Hernandez,
yes.
Board member Buing Gardner,
yes.
Councelor Cororin,
yes.
And I, Chair Graham, vote yes.
What's up?
Just
Oh, okay. Got it.
Moving right along. Um, we'll get into
our reports and presentations. And first
this morning, we have Sarah Curts,
executive director of the Donana County
Humane Society.
Good morning.
Good morning everyone. Thank you for
having me here. Okay, bear with me.
Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for
having me here. For those of you who
don't know me, my name is Sarah Curts.
I'm the executive director of the Donana
County Humane Society.
So, a little history about the Donana
County Humane Society. We were founded
in 1955 as the shelter. In 2008, the
city and the county took over shelter
operations, establishing the animal
services center of the Messia Valley.
The board at that time did continue as a
50c13 uh 501c3 nonprofit and currently
we operate uh three community programs.
Our largest program is the animal relief
fund. We serve low-income Donana County
residents through a voucher program. Um
the to qualify for the program, you must
fill out our application. You must proof
um proof of residency that you do reside
in Donana County, proof of income, we
follow the HUD guidelines, provide a $50
co-pay for the voucher, and a photo of
your pet. Um we serve clients once a
year based on the last date of service.
That would be for the vaccination
vouchers as well as the medical care
vouchers. Twice a year they can qualify
for prescription medication vouchers. So
the veterinary care voucher, each
voucher has a $250 value towards vet
care. Uh the vaccination voucher is $50
towards vaccinate vaccination costs.
Does not have a co-pay because the value
is $50. And then the long-term
medication voucher is good for the six
months or up to $750 in medication.
Um, we just finished on June 30th our
fiscal year for 2425.
And these are the numbers that we did
for the animal relief fund. We issued
vouchers total. Um, that uh dollar
amount total to over $167,000
in assistance to Donana County
residents. to date, this was as of last
week, we had uh 50 vouchers issued as of
July 1st, totaling over $16,000.
Um currently we have issued over $23,000
after as of this morning. Um so it is
very busy for us um with the animal
relief fund.
Our second largest program which goes
handinhand with the animal services
center of the Messia Valley is the rough
to ready program. This program was
designed to help um dogs specifically
who are adopted or fostered from the
animal services center or action
programs for animals who are having
issues after being adopted adapting to
their new homes. Um what the board at
the time in 2008 was seeing was that a
lot of people would adopt a dog and a
couple weeks later surrender it back due
to numerous issues of behavior um
without giving it proper time to adjust
into the home. So, with the Rough to
Ready program, we offer two free
trainings when they are fostered or
adopted
uh by our certified dog trainer, Hope
Move Session, to help keep them in the
home, whether it's potty training or
leash pulling or maybe they're nipping
at children, um things that can't really
be identified until they're in the home
to help them to not be surrendered back.
Um in 2024, we were able to expand the
program into the shelter. So, not just
helping the adopted, but to help the
adoptables.
And
in the 2425
fiscal year, 12 individual inshelter
dogs received one-on-one training with
hope
and nine group classes were provided by
the rough to ready program um with the
volunteers as well as zoom meetings with
the fosters.
So, uh, this is the first year that we
were able to do the expansion and these
are some of your animals that we were
able to help. Billy, Jesse, and Cookie
went through the Rough Ready program in
2024. They were featured in our spring
newsletter as all four or three of them
were adopted. Most recently, our
long-term stays, Dora and Talia, were
also trained by Hope and have also been
adopted. Um currently this expansion is
funded through
donations. Um so as long as we are able
to maintain consistent donations, we are
happy to continue to be expanded into
the shelter as well as continuing um
with the normal rough to ready. So and
for example with these pets once they
are adopted they are eligible for
additional trainings again to the
adopter to help adapt and stay in the
home. Our pets for seniors program is
specifically to the animal services
center of the Messia Valley. We provide
a $25 discount for seniors 60 and over
who adopt from the shelter. This can be
cats, dogs, birds, whatever pet they
have decided to adopt from you all in
the fiscal year 2425.84
pets were adopted through the pets for
seniors programs receiving that
discount. Um, we currently just wrapped
up or I guess at the end of the month
your red, white, and cute adoption
event. We sponsored the first 80
adoptions for that. Um, I believe you're
close to 200 adoptions in this month
alone. So, I'm really curious next month
to get see how many went through the
pets for seniors program. Hopefully,
hopefully quite a bit.
Um, how are we funded? So, at the
moment, the animal relief fund is the
only program we have that is funded
through grants. The rest are funded
through planned gifts, bequests, um
individual donors, our fundraisers that
we have throughout the year. Um the
rough to ready program approximately the
normal rough to ready program once
they're adopted runs about $156 per pet.
The expansion into this shelter um
varies depending on the dog's needs and
the group work that Hope has been doing.
And then the pets for seniors is $25 per
adoption.
Any questions for me?
I I don't have any questions. I just
know that you I just really want to
appreciate you Sarah for for making this
a really impactful series of programs.
And I know um as I do every time, I want
to encourage my colleagues to think
about how we can support you in
meaningful ways. Um whatever those look
like. I know that you really do a lot to
help the shelter in a way number of ways
that as you mentioned we've identified
need help, right? And and um keeping
pets in homes is really important and I
I know um the record
hopefully like a huge number of animals
getting adopted this month. I know that
your promotional work even though that
you don't put a money value on that
means a lot to to the shelter. So thank
you so much sir. I really appreciate you
and and um I hope my colleagues can
appreciate you too by with cash is what
I always mean when I say that. So
yes, thank you so much.
Thank you.
It's our pleasure.
None of that inkind appreciation.
Other comments or questions from the
board?
Um yes, but I I also just want to thank
you personally. Um the adoptions, the
pets for seniors thing is absolutely
amazing. Um but also yeah so much of it
is keeping them in homes once they find
them whether that's through support for
medical care that if might otherwise
end in a surrender or
and I think that's the most important
thing especially with the animal relief
fund because people who have to
surrender a senior you know 12year-old
dog with an illness that's not an
adoptable dog. Um, so if we can keep
people and pets together, which is our
motto, you know, but at that point, you
know, their family, keeping the pet with
their family and help provide um the
assistance that we can is is most
important to us. And then also, of
course, with the pets for seniors,
something we've had to explain lately,
once they adopt, they are also eligible
for the rough to ready program. Um, and
then if they are seniors with an income,
they are pro or low income, they are
probably eligible for the animal relief
fund. They can utilize all of our
programs. So, as they do come into the
office, we do stress this to us to them
that if they adopt from the ASCMV and
they're a senior, they're automatically
eligible for the rough ready program and
then, you know, let's see how we can
help you financially as well. So,
amazing. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
All right. Have a great morning.
You too. Thank you so much.
Next up are city and county uh acco.
Good morning.
Good morning, chair and members.
There it is.
My name is Brian Holsey. I'm the case
worker for Donana County Animal Control
and I'm here to um present the April
through June um numbers for the county.
For our reported stray animals, we had
802 reported stray animals. Uh we were
able to pick up 630 stray animals. Out
of those animals, it was 153 stray cats
and 477 stray dogs. We picked up 32 sick
or injured animals which consisted of 20
cats and 12 dogs. And the big number for
this um report we had 94 owner
surrenders which is higher than what we
nor normally have which was one cat and
93 dogs.
Our reported stray animal call
comparison.
Um so for between this year and last
year was it's it's about the same. It's
been pretty consistent throughout the
years. Um, I'd like to see the numbers
go down, but that's what they are.
Uh, this is our four-year field return
um to owners. For April, we had 13. For
May, we had a really good month. We had
30 return to owners in the field. And
for June, we had 21.
For our additional animals picked up, we
had one owner surrender cat, 93 owner
surrender dogs, 32 sick and injured
animals. We had seven that were welfare
holds. U for those that are new on the
on the board, uh welfare holds or
anything like if Border Patrol, um
sheriff's unit, state police, whoever,
um they're um picking up someone and
they have animals with them, something
like that. Um they call us and we do the
welfare hold for them. We had uh one uh
neglect, abuse, cruelty case. We had 23
shelter quarantines, 22 home
quarantines.
Uh for court hold quarantine cases, we
had six. For our live evidence currently
held, uh we do have nine. Um currently
that number's gone up by four. Um it's
not um live evidence being held, but
with the floods in VTO and that area, uh
we are giving assistance and holding
animals for people. Um and with that if
anybody watching um if they are affected
by the floods we're affected by the
floods um they could um dial for the um
for the operations of emergency
management and they will give us a call
and we could go and assist.
Uh we had one rabies submission
submission which was negative. We had 67
diverted intakes, 960 education, and our
total calls for the three months was
274.
Uh so this is broken down through each
area. Uh for district 1, zero cats, 14
dogs. District 2, we had 34 cats and 37
dogs. District three, we had 22 cats and
132 dogs. District 4, we had 50 cats and
100 dogs. District 5, we had 20 cats and
61 dogs. District 6, two cats, 17 dogs.
And District 7 was 25 cats and 113 dogs.
Seems like
once or twice a year, um, district 3
seems to always have an uptick. I don't
know why, but it seems like once or
twice a year, we always see in our stats
that they get a big uptick. And that was
um throughout these three months.
So, our stray cats per district. Um,
that's the graph for you guys.
That's the one for the stray dogs.
And now the big one are reasons for
owner release. We had nine that were
vicious and or dangerous. We had one
that was aggressive. We had four that
they were just unable to keep on the
property. We had eight that they were
unable to afford. We had eight that were
sick and injured. We had five for
behavior issues. Um the big one of our
big ones was unable to care for was 24.
We had one that was uh reported loss I
believe they said 5 years ago and we
found the dog and they no longer wanted
it. Uh we had four that were moving.
We had uh four for they were um unable
to control due to high energy. Um, a lot
of those were like elderly couples that
just had a dog that was too much energy
for them. Um, we had uh three that were
u the owner was going into assisted
living and could no longer keep them.
Um, the other big one is uh 21 for
owners having too many animals. We had
several cases where we went to a place
that just had a lot of animals, so they
got rid of them. Uh, we had two that
were the either the pet was old or it
was a euthanasia request. And for that,
I'll stand for any questions.
Just before I forget, I'll turn it over
to my colleagues in a moment. Um, in
regard to anyone who is looking for a
pet family member from the flood
situation, would they then call 211?
Yes.
For Okay. And then get And I'm not sure
how long will 211 be an active number?
Is is there a timeline on that?
Um, I was not informed. Um they just
said um anyone that's affected and they
need our help for any assistance for
animals or anything period to call the
211 number um and then um emergency
management will get a hold of us and let
us know where we need to go and respond.
Okay. Fantastic.
And go from there. So
and I've already seen um social media
being used to put up pictures of some of
those pets. So heartbreaking and but
hopeful. Um colleagues questions
comments.
Okay. Thank you so much.
Moving on to city. Good morning.
Good morning madam chair members of the
board. My name is Gino Himenez. I will
be presenting you the April through July
or June second quarter report.
So for the benefit of the board, I have
kept it I've broken it down into monthly
stats. However, I will fast forward and
we will move on to slide number 13,
which gives us the entire quarter.
So here is our reported strays for the
the total for the second quarter. In
April, we responded to 494 calls for
strays. In May, 367
and in June, 472,
giving us a total of 200 2,615
for the year. As part of my presentation
that coincides with our peak performance
goals of 65% of reported animal stray
secured, we were able to secure 50% of
those animals.
our three-year field RTO comparison.
April we did 40. In May we did 31 and in
June 35. Our field RTO is uh animals
that were impounded by officers that had
some sort of identification
and we were able to return those to the
owner. So that eliminates those um
animals crossing the threshold to the
animal service center and hopefully
helps them out with other resources. So
that brings us to a total of 250 for the
year. Our peak performance goal is 25%
of all strays secured and returned to
their owner. These numbers put us up to
20%. So we're we're close to reaching
reaching our goal.
Here are the other two measures for peak
performance is a 10% reduction in stray
animal bites. Unfortunately, we we have
seen a huge increase. So as of date, as
of uh June 30th, we have seen a 62%
increase, I should say increase instead
of decrease in stray animals bites.
Uh number four is a 10% reduction in
owner victim bites. Again, a huge
increase um at 32% compared to last
year's numbers
at the same time frame.
Here is a graph for our community cat
program. In April, we responded to 63 68
uh cats and traps. In May, 73, and in
June, 58. The same number of community
cat released was nine in April, six in
May, and 16 in June. As you can see from
this graph, we are already exceeding
last year's total numbers in just half
the year. So the good part there is the
community cats that are being released.
That's what we're looking for. Those
cats have already been ear tipped,
spayed, neutered, microchipped,
vaccinated, so they go back under into
the community without being able to
reproduce. So that's what the whole uh
focus of the community cat program was.
So, the reasons that we were unable to
fill RTO, uh, 17 dogs, they had, uh, no
contact at home or no contact by phone
or at the residence. One had a Hawaii
address, one is a El Paso address, and
one was a Anthony, New Mexico address.
Four dogs, uh, chips were not updated.
Three dogs, the chips were not
registered. Three dogs, the owners were
at work and were unable to uh redeem
them from the officer. Two dogs, the
owners were out of town. One cat, no
contact by phone or at residence. And
one cat, no information from the chip
company. And one dog, no information
from the chip company.
And here is the big list. Owner, the
reasons for owner releasing animals. So,
we had 14 for aggression, 14 dogs for
aggression, 13 dogs where landlord did
not allow them on their property. Uh, 10
kittens the owner was unable to care
for. And this was an entire litter. This
was one litter. Um, five dogs they kept
escaping. Four dogs unable to care for.
Three dogs old age uh euthanasia request
for all three. Uh, three dogs for
lifestyle changes. Three dogs that were
sick and the owners could not afford the
vet care. Uh, three dogs, the owner
could not afford to maintain them
anymore. Two cats, the owners were not
unable to maintain them. Two dogs for
dog for bites. Two dogs for medical the
owner had medical issues. Uh, two dogs
the ex-boyfriend left behind and it
became too much of a burden for that uh,
girl ex-girlfriend.
two dogs. The owner admitted that their
dogs were potentially dangerous and no
longer wanted them. One dog, the owner
was allergic. One dog, the owner was
evicted, and the shelter that they were
trying to get into would not allow pets.
One dog for behavioral issues, one dog
for medical issues, a euthanasia
request. Uh, one cat the friend left
behind, they no longer could care for
it. Uh, one cat, the owner claimed that
it was too loud.
Um, one cat, the owner was moving into a
retirement home. Uh, one dog the owner
moving. One cat, the owner stated to the
officer that she liked dogs better. So,
she no longer wanted this cat. And
finally, I didn't know whether to add
this into this uh report, but we had
owner released of uh 10 chickens because
they were all ill.
kind of doesn't fall into this, but I
thought I'd just put it in there just
for
because my officers included it. I
included it. So, uh, the calls for
service for April were 1,114,
May were 1,252,
and June 1,238,
bringing us to a grand total for the
year at 7,033.
And with that, I'll stand for any
questions.
Thank you so much.
You're welcome.
Questions.
See, please.
I I
Oh, sorry about that.
No, no, that's okay. Thank you. This is
First of all, the chickens. The chickens
were sick. The owner was sick.
The chickens were sick. Yes, ma'am.
That seems bad. Um, just generally
speaking,
yes.
What happens when something like that
happens?
We turn them over to the animal service
center and then their disposition is up
to them. So I I as of right now I don't
know what happened with them once we
return uh impounded them.
Um but if well I guess if they were like
a the burgeoning steps of a pandemic
would we notice that or is that not
something that we would
Absolutely. Absolutely. There was
nothing to think of the bird flu or
anything like that to suspect that. So
yes we were good there.
Okay. Not I mean I don't think it was
good for the chickens but
No. Um,
that's super worrying. Thank you. Um,
you're welcome.
I also just wanted to sort of point out
I I feel like this is a very sad tour of
both people being irresponsible, which
is in and of itself our own issue that
we're constantly trying to educate
about. But I think also seeing the
systems that are affecting people in
this context and in Brian's as well. um
people being picked up by by board law
enforcement, people being evicted and
having to go to shelters where they
don't accept pets. I was just in a um
meeting with some folks who in Tucson
who are looking at um community
sheltering and addressing uh unhoused
folks in their community and one of the
biggest barriers that they find is
people have their pets and they don't
want to lose them. Um, and so I think
this board people being picked up by
border patrol again, um, I'm sure as
people as this happens more in our
community, we will see these effects in
every aspect of our of our existence.
And I just really feel it. I know a lot
of us are trying to fa face this in a
bunch of different places, but but
animal control is is at the very front
end of seeing the impacts of economic
recession.
uh deportations, people becoming
unhoused. And so I think irresponsible
people is one thing. I think it's also
something I just want to really elevate
and commit to seeing that there are
systems that are also contributing to
animals becoming um unhoused that that I
think that we also have to consider in
our in our big picture understanding of
what's happening at the shelter and and
in our communities. So, I I really
am saddened every time by the the list
of reasons that animals are being given
up, but I also just want to commit to
you and everyone that we're that these
are things that we're thinking about in
these contexts and it's not without
notice, I guess, that that those are
systemic effects that have trickle down
impacts on the shelter that we that
we're all here to to support. So I just
want to make a note of a depressing note
of that.
Thank you.
So
no, thank you. Truly, thank you. It is
depressing but necessary. And I just
want to say board member Gates, if I
overlook you, you're on
I will move.
No, no, no. You don't need to move.
You're just on the ark. So just give me
a holler if you're trying to and I'm not
seeing you. All right. Thank you so
much.
You're welcome. Thank you.
Okay. Next up, shelter statistics and
activities. Good morning.
Hello. Good morning.
So, um, Liz Cely here, uh, interim
executive director, and I'll be
reporting on the, uh, second quarter
statistics for the animal shelter.
So, our current animal count, and this
is as of uh yesterday, we have 218 dogs
and 36 cats uh for a total of 254.
Um so, we're well below where we were in
this time last year. So, that's a good
sign.
So for the second quarter uh between
April and June um our intake numbers we
had uh 1,617
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dogs, 1,19
cats and 38 other. So that's a total of
2,764
during the second quarter.
and the intake methods for how they came
in. 56 were owner surrendered as you
just saw from the other animal control
reports. Um it's interesting that they
go first and then we go second. So you
can kind of see where all these animals
end up. So um 20 animals were returned
during those three months. Um 139 were
seized or welfare hold.
703 were strays bought in by the public.
And then our highest number of course is
um strays by animal control. Uh 1,356
and we got 11 wildlife and 32 animals
born in care. So the born in care that
can seem like a lot um but it's typical
for this time of year. A lot of times
what happens is animals, there's a lot
of pregnant animals running around this
time of year and when they're brought
in, uh, just the stress of that being
brought into the shelter can trigger
them to go to welp, to go into labor,
and we usually get kittens and puppies
born within a few days of being brought
in. So, it does seem like a lot, but
most of these were animals that were
brought in pretty far along in the
pregnancy.
So our total year-to-ate intake, so this
is for the first and second quarter
combined was 4,915.
So it's about 300 up from last year, but
it is below the 2023 numbers.
Between April and June, we had uh 20
returns, so 19 dogs and one cat. Uh, one
dog for allergies and, uh, this is
allergies, human allergies. Um, so
somebody adopted a dog and maybe someone
in the home was allergic, they didn't
know. Five dogs for a behavior problem
that could be uh being destructive,
digging, barking. Um, as Sarah
mentioned, we do work with uh the Rough
Ready program provides free training for
all adopters. Um, not everybody wants to
take advantage of that. Some people just
don't have the time to do training. Um,
they want to just bring the animal back
and get another one, which we allow. So,
within the 3-week period, if you adopt
an animal, you can bring it back and get
another one. Uh, we don't hold it
against you. We want to just make sure
that we find a forever home for that
pet. So, um, a lot of people do take
advantage of the Rough Teretti program,
but, uh, some people don't. Um, we had
one dog return for uh can't afford basic
care. Two dogs landlord doesn't allow
two dogs for lifestyle changes. That
usually includes moving. Um, another
reason is also uh military people who
adopt. Sometimes they get deployed. Um,
that would be considered a lifestyle
change. Uh, six pets were incompatible.
So, when you're adopting a dog and you
have other dogs at home, we really
really stress that you bring them in for
a meet and greet with the new dog. Um,
just to see if they're compatible before
you go through the whole adoption
process. But some there's a lot of
reasons why someone wouldn't want to do
that. Um, some people have elderly dogs
that wouldn't do well. Um, a lot of
people are concerned if they bring their
personal pets that maybe they'll get
sick. And these are valid concerns. Um,
we just kind of counsel them and teach
them how to do the introduction at home.
Um, sometimes
people do bring their animals in to meet
and they get along great at the shelter
and then they get home and then it
doesn't work out. So, um, we had six
dogs returned for being incompatible.
Two were returned for not being a good
fit and one cat was returned for
landlord not allowing, which is
unfortunate.
So, our um outcomes for the second
quarter, our adoptions, we did 462.
Um our June numbers were really great.
Um but we didn't beat our June numbers
from last year. I believe last June we
did over 200 adoptions and uh this June
I think we did 186 around there. So
overall the adoptions were lower than
last year between uh April and June. our
reclaims uh 315
and our rescues were down as well. So we
did 476 compared to 603 last year and
even 681 the year before. Um we're not
doing as many transports um around this
time just due to lack of resources and
things like that. We haven't been able
to do as many transports as we want. our
community cats, uh, 249.
And so our youth in Asia, obviously, if
adoptions are lower, rescues are lower,
we're going to see our youth in Asia
higher. So there, um, 143, which was
37.7%.
Uh, which brings our live release rate
to 59% and that's just for this uh,
quarter. So just between April and June.
And so this is the year these are the
year-to- date numbers. So um again
there's some variation some numbers are
down some numbers are up but um
altogether our yeartoate live release is
66.4%
which is the exact same as uh this same
time last year
our June our second quarter transfers.
So these are all of our rescue partners.
Uh we did 473.
A lot of these are local rescues. Um
action programs for animals helped us
with nine dogs and 27 cats. Animal
Spaces Rescue, that's another local one.
Uh 18 dogs and two cats. And then Rebel
Angel Allreed Rescue, that's our biggest
uh local partner. They uh helped with 68
dogs and 14 cats. And most of those were
transferred out of state. Um, some of
the states we work with frequently are
Arizona and Colorado.
Uh, Cruise Crusaders is a rescue out of
Phoenix and um, they're one of our
biggest supporters as well. So, they
helped with 44 dogs and one cat. And
then some of our Colorado rescues, um,
Front Range Freedom Rescue helped with
33 cats. and another one out of
Colorado, uh, Nicotine Rescue. They took
in 32 dogs and 77 cats in a three-month
period. So, although our rescues are
down, we do still have partners that
want to help. Um, we're hoping to get
our transports back up, and we just want
to thank all of our rescues for
continuing to support the animals at our
shelter, continuing to help us save
lives, and um, we look forward to
increasing these numbers.
So the euthanasia reasons um between
April and June. Uh these are the various
reasons for euthanasia. If you look at
the green that's going to be the dogs.
The biggest reason for the dogs is um
behavior timid fear biter. Um fear biter
is an animal that comes in and when you
pick it up or approach it, it's not
aggressive. Um, it's not aggressive
normally, but if you try and pick it up
or do anything, it it bites out of fear,
which is a totally understandable
behavior. Um, it is hard to overcome
that behavior in the shelter. All of our
staff are trained on the uh fear-free
model of um feel fear-free sheltering.
So even our admin staff, our front
office staff all take that training and
that just helps us uh learn to provide
ways to reduce fear and anxiety and
stress for when they come into the
shelter. Um but sometimes the fear
biting is just really hard for some
animals to overcome in that environment.
The orange those are the cats. Uh the
top two are medical failure to thrive
and medical respiratory signs. So, the
failure to thrive uh means usually it's
kittens that are brought in, newborn
kittens that come in, they're just n
days old without a mother. A lot of them
have their umbilical cords attached
still and it's really hard to even with
bottle feeding to um be successful in in
helping those kittens. And the um
respiratory signs, the non-TX, that
means non-treatment. So, a lot of these
kittens that do come in at that age,
they have upper respiratory infections.
So, they have crusty eyes, crusty noses.
Some of them are just too young, not
able to be treated. Um, we do have a
pretty good success when kittens come in
that are able to be treated. If you look
at the next line over the medical
respiratory signs, TX, that means um
treatment. So, less than 20 dogs and
cats combined in those three months were
euthanized. um because the treatment
didn't work. So some animals after
treatment they just don't respond well.
Maybe they have underlying conditions
but for the most part once animals get
treated for upper respiratory signs then
they get better and then we put them up
for adoption.
our surgery uh surgeries for the second
quarter. Uh we did 2002
in April, if you all remember, that was
when our medical director had um some
medical issues of her own. So, she
stepped away for just a bit, but we were
still able to get coverage and we still
did uh 243 surgeries and then in May and
June, those were right back up. Uh so
our shelter and foster surgeries, these
are what we call our in-house surgeries,
we did 297.
Our adoptions, we did 533.
Our community cats, we did 837.
And the other at 335,
that will be anything that's not a span
neuter, but that also includes uh
lowcost public uh span neuters as well
as rescue span neuters. So, we do offer
um our local rescues the opportunity to
come in and take advantage of the
lowcost spayneuter even if the animals
are not from our shelter. Um we have a
limited amount of spots available, but
we did do uh 335 in the second quarter.
Our year-to-ate visitors for the first
two quarters, uh we had over 10,000
visitors in April. Um we saw a decrease
in visitors. Then it jumped back up in
May and a slight decrease in June. I
predict that in July and August um we're
going to see these numbers go back up.
Those are usually two of our biggest
adoption months. Um we have um like
Sarah mentioned they we did the Red,
White, and Cute adoption event in July,
so we've had a lot of success there. And
then in August, we have our Clear the
Shelters event coming up. So I would
predict that we'll be seeing a lot more
visitors in the coming months.
So, our vaccination clinic, this isn't a
quarterly stat, um, but we put that in
there just for, uh, to show our last
three vaccination clinics. We did one in
October 2024 and then two this year in
February and June. So, uh, for the
December par the December parville for
dogs, uh, we did 1,785
and for the feline distemper, we did
311.
Now, all of these vaccines were all free
to the public. So, these were all um
sponsored by Petco Collab. So, all of
these vaccines nobody paid for. They
were given out for free at these
clinics. The microchips, we do allow uh
community member uh local communities um
members and businesses to sponsor
microchips at $10 for these vaccination
clinics. So in October and February, um
we got a 100 microchips sponsored. In
June, we had 70. Um so we were with
those $2,700, we were able to give away
270 free or sponsored microchips and in
total we did 816.
Um these donations don't typically fall
into our microchip line. So, when we're
kind of looking at our finances, um
we'll see the microchip uh line dip a
little bit um because the sponsored
chips go into our general donations
fund. But this is kind of to show that
we are still doing microchips regularly
and we'll continue to do these
vaccination clinics as long as there's a
need in the community.
Our marketing report for this second
quarter, our Facebook ads. Um, I'm not
an expert at Facebook, but I hear these
are great. Um, if you look down to where
it says clicks to website. Um, we have
ads that run in both English and
Spanish. So, combined, we had over 5,000
clicks just from these Facebook ads
alone. So, um, that's a really good
number. It's driving people to our
website. The ads seem to be successful.
Um, we continue to do well on our, uh,
Facebook page and our Instagram and our
website. uh we had 97,000 views. Um each
time somebody comes to our website and
they look at a dog, that's one view. If
they go look at a cat, that's another
view. So, one person can be responsible
for several of these views. Um but
overall, we registered almost 18,000 new
users. So, um we are driving people to
our website. Um we have all of our
animals on there. If you're missing a
pet, um the photos are updated in real
time. If you want to adopt, you can view
all of our adoptable animals on there,
including all of our fosters. So, um,
yeah, our website is pretty good
resource if you guys want to adopt, um,
volunteer, foster, everything's on our
website.
And our volunteer program,
uh, they're they continue to amaze me,
the volunteers. They in miday, uh, we
got a new volunteer coordinator. Her
name is Christy and she was brand new.
Um, if you look at the new volunteers,
um, and you go down to June, that was
her first month on staff and she already
got 20 new volunteers to sign up. So,
she's doing incredible things with the
program. Again, if you look at the hours
and you go to June, um, over 848 hours
were put in of volunteer work. And
that's mostly work that's at done at the
shelter, but our volunteers help us in
numerous ways. Um, we have two rockstar
volunteers, uh, Charlie and Sherry
Payne. They have a a huge, um, social
media following. So, they've been
really, um, helpful in promoting and
networking our long-term dogs. Um, so
those hours are just things that they do
that are not included in these. So, and
that's just one person. There's several
people that help us with networking
animals. Um, so thank you to all of our
volunteers who continue to come in uh
run the puppy the dog play groups. I
know it's been hot and they are still
out there uh in the summertime making
sure all the dogs get out and get
exercise. So it's hard work um and we
thank them for coming in and doing that.
Our foster program um is also doing
well. In April, May and June, we had 99,
97, and 85 active fosters. Um, and on
average, we had about 180 animals in
foster. So, that's 180 animals that are
not at the shelter. Um, it's making
space for other animals. It's um
teaching caring for the pets, teaching
them how to be more adoptable. Uh, and
all this whole program is run by our one
foster coordinator, Vanessa, who does an
amazing job and she's also in charge of
our field trip program as well. So, she
does a lot of work. She puts in so much
effort for this program and it's a big
success. We can always we always have
room to grow though. So, if anyone wants
to foster um, contact Vanessa
our upcoming events, so as I mentioned,
August is our clear the shelters event.
This is a yearly event uh in partnership
with NBC and Telmundo.
This year, all of our adoptions are
going to be free for the entire month of
August. Um we will have some off-site
events as well during that month. Um
every other Saturday we'll be at Petco
and coming up in October, we'll be
partnering with Tespara Volkswagen for
their October Fest car show that they've
invited us to. Um we'll also be doing
our super Saturdays for PetSmart. So
once a month we'll have puppies for
adoption at PetSmart. Um and we'll be in
our new adoption trailer. So this
trailer has allowed us to bring puppies
out into the community without having to
worry about disease. So um all of these
events will be on our Facebook page
under our events tab.
And our uh dog of the week, Eley. Uh
she's still available for adoption. Um I
hear she has a lot of energy. She loves
toys. She's looks like she's got some
shepherd in her. So, if anyone's looking
for an active puppy, check out Eley.
With that, I'll answer any questions.
Thank you so much, Councelor Corin.
Um,
thank you, Liz. I I just want to just I
know that we talked about this in our
finance committee meeting, but I just
want to point out when you talked about
the transfers, which are an enormous
amount of effort and and um you talked
about resources being limited. I know
that that's you um making those
connections and making sure that animals
get transferred out and that in this
position you're not able to do that as
much as you normally do. So, I I also
just want to thank you for for your work
that's seen and un well unseen in this,
but I want it to be seen by my
colleagues. um as far as something that
takes a lot of work, saves lives, and we
don't necessarily always understand all
of the dynamics behind it. Um
Liz's time doing that is actually an
enormous resource that contributes to
those animals being saved. Um
so, thank you. I also just wanted to
echo your your gratitude to Vanessa who
I I started doing the doggy field trip
program this um just yesterday and it
was amazing. Uh, I ran into other people
who were doing the doggy field trip
thing at at Khichi, which made me feel
like, oh, maybe we should sponsor a
bunch of Khichi's gift certificates in
the backpacks. But Vanessa made it so
easy to take a dog out and and give
information and understand what what was
expected of me. And um, the other people
also clearly really enjoyed it. And uh,
we're following all the rules. So, we
didn't actually interact with each
other. We just said hi across the
Khichi's park parking lot. Um, but it's,
I think, a really powerful way to both
get animals out and connect people to
the shelter, I think, in in ways that
that are really positive. So, um,
special thanks to Vanessa. I'm doing it
again next week. I can't wait. Um,
are you taking out the same dog or
No, no, different dogs. No, I'm going to
try to mix it up, you know. Um, I'm
going to get my dog from yesterday,
Hulu, uh, adopted before I take maybe
before I take out another one next week.
Then you'll hear me pitch you on another
one. next week. Um, but I just wanted to
give enormous gratitude to the shelter
and the I think that you all from my
perspective, I've been visiting a lot
lately and I know that you all have so
many things going all the time that are
really making an impact in terms of how
the animals at the shelter are
experiencing life um, and how people are
interfacing with the shelter. And I
think it's it's um, really trending in a
very positive direction and I just want
to appreciate you all for that. So,
thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Councelor Corin. Board member
Gates.
Um, I was just curious. So, I remember
um I think the last meeting, but I know
this is something that has just
happened. So, Colorado was the only
state that had a change to their laws
regarding transport. Correct.
Yes. And they have not gone into effect
yet. I believe um they go into effect at
the end of July.
Okay. Are we expecting a huge impact
from that? Um, possibly. Um, you know,
it they changed the rules a little bit
now to where I believe they only apply
if you're a new rescue. So, it might not
affect us as much as we thought with
this new rule change. So, if you've been
operating for over two years, then you
are still able to transfer in um puppies
and kittens under 3 months. Um, I
believe now it only affects the newer
rescues. Um, all of our partners have
been in um the rescue business for
several years, so we're we're fine
there. Um, we may see some complications
though with um some other things that
might come up from this rule, but it
won't affect us as much as we originally
thought it would, which is great.
Cool. That is really good to hear. Thank
you, Colorado, for for advocating for
animals coming into your state. So, good
to know. Thank you.
Thank you, board member Gates. Anyone
else? Right.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Okay, moving into our committee reports.
First up is finance. Um, exeicio member
Bencomo as the committee chair.
Thank you, chair and board members. Um,
and thank you for those presentations.
We continue to meet monthly as a finance
committee and it gives us an opportunity
to look at the financials and to maybe
suggest um corrections or changes that
need to be made. And one of the things
is as uh Liz mentioned that we talked
about was the in the financials it
looked like the uh vaccinations and
microchips were down and we talked about
the impact of those that are donated and
then free to the public. And so I really
appreciate them including those stats in
the in their presentation so you can see
the good work that's that's being done
in the volume of the of the vaccinations
and microchips. So um at our uh
financial um finance committee meetings
we've talked about uh grants about
checking out those revenues. Like I
mentioned for the uh where we are right
now we have not completely closed our
fiscal year. Um, as Josh knows out
there, we do closes every week in July.
And so we have preliminary numbers for
you. And Amy has done a great job in
putting a a presentation together for
you so you can see where we are at this
point. And so I'd like to welcome her to
the podium so she can present that
overview of the of the financials. Thank
you, Amy.
Thank you so much. And good morning.
Good morning, Madam Chair, board
members.
My name is Amy Tron. I'm the management
analyst for the Animal Services Center,
Msia Valley, and I'll be giving you the
financials this morning.
Um, our total assets 1,551,24.
Total current liabilities $376,536.
Our total fund balance net position
1,174,668.
So, our total liabilities and fund
balance is 1,551,24.
Moving to revenues and expenditures.
For revenues, we have 4,973,275.
We're at 99.3%
of our projected goal for revenues for
the fiscal year 25. Expenditures
4,626,915
and that's at 24 I'm sorry 92.4%.
So we're bringing in a lot more revenues
than we are for expenditures. Our net
change in fund balance is $346,360.
Fund balance beginning of the year was
$551,736.
So our fund balance end of the current
period is $898,000
96.
Moving to the executive director. Total
expenditures for this fund were $291,130
at 91.4%.
So you can see it's well below the
budget parameter of 100
for our medical director.
Again did very well for this quarter.
Total expenditures 1,95,456
at 85.3%
again below the 100% parameter
for the kennel fund. Total expenditures
1,763,631
[Music]
at 97.2%.
And last administration administrative
operations total expenditures 1 million
476,698
at 94.5%.
For our grants, we had some unforeseen
delays with external dependencies
such as vehicle repairs and this
affected the completion of other
projects that these grants were
earmarked for, such as vehicle wrap
design and installation. And so moving
the completion of those projects over to
FY26
and a grant carryover request has been
added to today's resolution packet.
Any questions?
Thank you. Questions?
All right, seeing none. Thank you so
much.
Thank you very much.
On the executive committee and vice
chair Shel Hernandez, I'll ask you to
jump in at any point if you want. Um
actually our the primary topics that
we've been discussing are both uh
upcoming agenda items. So uh lots of
discussion about the executive director
search which in just a moment um we'll
be hearing from the president of the
company who is helping us out with that.
Uh we also spent some time um on an
action item you'll see coming up and
that is the adoption of policies of city
manager policies
for the ASCMV as we are under a JPA. Um
there's sometimes some overlap or
confusion about uh which policies the
ASCMV is uh running under. So we had
discussion about that. Um along with
that uh there are carryovers to things
like I believe the personnel manual was
one that we had discussed. um one of
those uh documents in need of update and
we'll be able to move ahead with that as
we um you know uh should uh res action
item 6.1 pass. That should open the door
to some other uh other up and including
things like our bylaws updates which uh
board member Gates may share with us
later. Am I forgetting anything? Vice
Chair
No, we were just talking about how
um under committee reports until we do
get the executive search d or the
executive director um hired that we
might want to add the executive or the
search committee report back on how the
search is going.
Yeah, definitely. Although with our next
board meeting coming up in what would it
be? October. Yeah,
hopefully it won't be
a big a big crossed fingers sign from
down there.
But yeah, ab absolutely I agree with
that if we are still pending um you know
and hopefully instead we'll have been
moving into some other sessions or
special sessions to but thank you for
that suggestion.
Good thought. Any questions from anyone
on things executive committee? Right.
Thank you. And facilities.
Um so facilities facilities only met in
June on June the 5th and so for some
unforeseen circumstances they did not
meet any other days for that. So at this
point there's nothing to report at this
time but at our next meeting we will be
reporting.
Okay. Great. Thank you so much.
So, at this time, um, Councelor Corin,
I'm going to have you stand in as tech
support.
You don't have to jog, but I I
appreciate the energy. Um, in a moment
we're going to welcome Scott Riley who
is president of Afion Public who will
provide introduction and an update on
our executive director search.
So Scott um councelor Corin is just
hopefully getting you
unmuted and able to be seen. Can you
hear us, Scott?
Can you hear us, Scott?
I can. Yes.
Okay, great. Uh, good. We're not seeing
you, so but that's also not a problem as
I think you said you didn't have any uh
presentation required visual. Oh, there
you are.
You can see me.
All right.
All right. Great.
How's everybody doing today?
Welcome. And I'll turn it over to you.
Well, super. Thank you all. Um, and yes,
hopefully by October, we won't have to
have an executive discussion about this.
We'll be talking about candidates. Uh,
so, uh, again, my name is Scott Riley.
Uh, Afon Public is the name of our firm.
Uh, we are a public sector executive
search firm. So, I appreciate the
opportunity to work with you all. Um,
you know, I've met with the executive
committee to kind of start formalizing
the process, but I wanted to take this
opportunity to talk with you all about
what that process is going to look like
and kind of next step. So, um, we have a
draft brochure created um, and thank you
for your edits back. We've corrected
those edits. So, I will get that over to
you, uh, by the end of this week so that
you can circulate that with the rest of
the board. If we can get approval on
that, that officially launches our
search. Um, so what that process will
look like is uh we will we will get the
search hopefully posted in the next week
out on all of the uh ancillary job
boards that we use for this. It'll be
out for 30 days. Um, and then 30 days
after the closing, so if we get this out
kind of by August 1st, you know,
sometime the end of September, we will
be back in front of you with a short
list of candidates uh for review. So, a
little bit about what will happen in
that interim um and a little bit about
our experience specifically in kind of
the animal care services industry. We uh
we're currently doing the animal uh care
services director for the city of Corpus
Christi. We recently completed the one
for the city of Sugarland, Texas and
also the city of San Antonio. So this is
a space we've been in um recently within
the last year and 20 years of doing uh
public sector recruitments. I never did
any animal care services director and
now we have three of them within the
last uh 18 months or so. So um certainly
a space that we're in frequently uh now.
Um, so next steps for us is get the job
posting, get it out there, start
sourcing our candidates that we want to
kind of go to and vet through those
candidates. Uh, each candidate will go
through three rounds of interviews with
my team, including myself. Um,
additionally, they'll be given a written
assignment to complete. Uh once we get
through that part of the process and we
feel good about them, then we'll do all
the criminal education, financial
checks, the social media checks, and the
reference checks. So all that
information will be completed before I'm
back in front of you again with kind of
your short list of candidates. Um then
our expectation was we'll provide that
list of candidates to you. I'll review
each of those individually, why they're
in the mix for us, and um then help help
you all structure an interview process
that hopefully will land us our uh next
executive director. So, that's the brief
overview of kind of the steps. I'm open
to questions that you may have or
anything that I didn't cover that you'd
like for me to cover.
Thank you so much. So, let me start with
uh board members questions.
Nothing. We have a ton of interested
parties here from all aspects. Um would
anyone care to Yeah, please come on up.
I'll just ask you to state your name, of
course, and
use the podium. Not Not a problem.
Good morning.
Hi, Becky. Jerry Willis, a quick
question on the for Scott on your
interviewing committees. Uh, do you have
members that are familiar with animal
welfare and shelter running and business
aspects and all of those kind of things
that go into the position?
So,
my team has had the experience in
obviously doing that. um our our job is
to kind of get the bigger bucket down to
a top eight or so and then bring that
forward to the board and then the board
will get to choose who they want to put
on the interview committee for uh for
that. But as far as our ability to
assess people's background, yes, we we
uh we don't have anybody that's an
animal care specialist, but like I said,
we've we've recently completed three of
these searches in the last year. Um, so
I'm very familiar with um, you know, a
lot of the metrics that are being
measured in in animal care services
right now.
Okay. And just an follow up on that, um,
are we still having members of the
public outside of the board on the uh,
short list committee?
And Scott, I can I can jump in on that.
Yes, we are. We're discussing a couple
of different methods for how we're best
going to incorporate
nonboard
experts in this. Um, you know, we, uh, I
think those of us who, uh, just went
through the hiring process for the
executive director of South Central
Solid Waste Authority, um, we
uh, had a really great method, I think,
for that where there were kind of
simultaneous interview groups going on.
So, it was, you know, timely and time
efficient, but we got a wide range of
input. So, we'll definitely be updating
on that and always reach out with your
suggestions, please.
I'm not shy, Becky. All right, that's
it. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Anyone else?
All right, great. Well, Scott, thank you
so much for zooming in um listening and
I know you've been I know your group has
been reviewing our board member
recordings, but or I'm sorry, board
meeting recordings, not board member
recordings. Sorry that sounded creepy.
Um, so happy that you had the chance to
get to hear us live and kind of get a
temperature of what's happening here.
So, thank you so much and I'm sure we'll
be talking soon.
Yes. Thanks, Becky. Appreciate it. And
we'll get you the uh updated brochure
again this week and we should be ready
to go.
All right. Thank you so much.
All right. Take care.
Thank you, Councelor Korin, for
providing excellence in tech support,
impromptu tech support.
Moving on to our action items. Our first
item up is 6.1, a resolution to adopt
city manager policies.
So moved, Shel Hernandez.
Thank you. Second. Thank you very much.
Oh. Oh.
No, I promise we won't start without
you. Councelor Corin,
what's your step count on this meeting?
It's good stuff.
Normally, I sit further down on the dis,
so it's even higher on other days. Um,
uh, I
I don't know if you want to have
discussion first or if I should add the
verbiage for amendment.
Uh, I completely forgot about that. Um,
why don't we go ahead and have
discussion first?
Hi, Liz Cely. Uh, so this resolution is
just to officially adopt um several of
the policies from the city manager um
for the record and for auditing
purposes.
And we have the uh we have the PDF for
the packet for anyone who would need to
read along or uh we're looking at things
like travel policies
at
lots and lots of travel policies.
I believe they're all combined into that
PDF. So all the financial policies, uh
travel, substance abuse, things like
that. Okay, fantastic. Um, questions for
Yes, please. Board member Gates.
So, I'm just curious like I I think the
travel policies is where I started
reading. I'm curious is if there is any
expected ways in which this will impact
because obviously transport exists and
that's a thing that we do. Um, so I'm
just curious if this is going to like
what sort of changes this would make to
the current process.
So the city's uh travel policy is
specifically for um
not for transport. So it's for um
conferences, trainings, things like
that. Uh we as the shelter have our own
transport policy for those types of
things. So this one would just be for
conferences and things like that.
Okay, cool. That helps clarify because I
was a little concerned with kind of the
more bureaucracy to get a transport out.
So yeah,
um good to know. any other changes that
would impact like maybe a current policy
that you could think of that would call
out, you know, something that would
change?
Not that um I saw everything is pretty
standard. We've been following them for
several years. Um the substance abuse
policy, while we have been following it,
we've never officially adopted it. So,
um our staff do follow that as well. Um
but this is just to kind of make it on
record.
Cool. Thank you.
Any other questions on discussion? Okay,
great. Thank you, Councelor Corin.
Um, and this is again I think Liz has
been analyzing working with with um
board member Ben Ko and analyzing what
what all happens that is gerine in the
hundreds of pages of city policies. Um,
and in that context, we missed one thing
that I would like to add now. So, I
propose an amendment to add a that
that's that says that the city's
procurement code as codified in chapter
24 of the Los Cusus Municipal Code is
hereby adopted by the ASCMV governing
board. And so, that didn't make it into
the the packet uh that we sent out, but
we realized that we needed to include
that. So, I would like to move that we
amend it for that.
I'll second the amendment
and I'll agree to that. I'll sell us a
second. Okay. Okay. Great. Um,
so I think we need to take a vote on the
amendment.
So I will and I I feel like board member
Campbell, you just showed that you
agreed, but I'll ask one more time.
Board member Campbell,
yes.
Board member Gates,
yes.
Vice Chair Shaw Hernandez,
yes.
Board member Buing Gardner,
yes.
Councelor Corin,
yes. And I, Chair Graham, vote yes. And
now on to a vote for the resolution
itself to adopt city manager policies.
Board member Campbell,
yes.
Board member Gates,
yes.
Vice Chair Shall Joand,
yes.
Board member Bing Gardner,
yes.
Yes.
Councelor Corin,
no problem.
Yes.
And I, Chair Graham, vote yes. So,
resolution adopted.
Next up, uh resolution 6.2, uh allowing
for carryover of remaining grant funds
from FY2025 in the amount of $27,44244
from various grants for revenues and
expenditures in funds 7440 to adjust the
adopted FY2026
budget.
Move to approve.
approve.
Thank you.
Um so we are requesting to move these
funds over uh carry them over from uh
two Petco love grants that um we're
trying to um close out um for the
purchase of the uh uh new adoption
trailer that I had mentioned as well as
some repairs on our vehicles and some
graphic wraps that were installed in
some of our vehicles.
Okay, great. Thank you.
questions.
Okay, seeing none, board member
Campbell,
yes.
Board member Gates,
yes.
Vice Chair Sha Joe Hernandez,
yes.
Board member Bing Gardner,
yes.
Councelor Corin,
yes.
And I, Chair Graham, vote yes.
Resolution passes. Thank you so much.
Moving on to public input.
Would any members of the public Yeah,
please come on down.
And this is my chance to operate the
clock for the first time, so I'm super
excited. So, um, I have three minutes up
there, and if you'll just state your
name.
Hi, I'm Dina Dargo. Good morning, board
members. Um, I'm not hearing anything
about the new revised animal control
ordinances. Um, I think the public is
generally unaware that those have
changed. And I think specifically where
spayneuter comes into play here, um that
it's the law, um unless you have a
permit and an exemption. So um I would
like to see that implemented and rolled
out in a way that there's some public
awareness and eventually some sort of
enforcement, even if that's just a
written notice that they're not in
compliance.
What I see is people working as hard as
they possibly can to improve adoption
rates, fosters, transports out of our
area of animals while the intakes remain
high. And I don't see that that
trajectory is ever going to change
unless we start with the spayneuter. Um
the places that we transport the animals
to, they've done that. They've reduced
that intake. They've mandated
spayneuter. they've managed to make
those numbers reasonable so that every
space in their shelter that's freed up
isn't immediately filled. Um they've
done it. It's doable. We can do it.
Let's do it. Let's get started on this.
I don't know if it would take um the
social media presence is obviously very
successful. Maybe that's a place to
start with community awareness and let
people sort of um see it being rolled
out in a positive way. Uh and then the
access and the funding for the
spayneuter. Um you know, if that needs
to be increased, we've got five new
veterinarians in the community. So, you
know, that's a real plus for this, too.
Timing is everything. I think it's time
to get it started, if you would. Thank
you.
Thank you so much.
I also I don't know if you recall, I
spoke on House Bill 113 that passed. Um,
that's a great source of funding that
would apply to the all of these
programs. If you'd like another copy, I
have one.
No, got it. And, uh, on the city side,
we have our grants department.
Absolutely. Fabulous. Thank you.
Thank you so much.
But now I don't know how to clear it.
Yes, please come on down.
Yeah, I don't know.
Good morning. Just please state your
name.
I'm Tina Dalor. I've been up here a
couple of times and I'm up here to beat
my drum once more.
Um, my numbers that I like to look at is
the diversion numbers. And the only
person that gave that was county acco.
So, I'm going to work with him to
increase that number. I need numbers
from the city and animal services since
they used to do it. They didn't have
that in their presentation anymore.
Which leads me then to my statement of
how wonderful animal services is.
There's a wrong long story of why I
ended up at the Dollar General when I
did. But when I walked in, I was greeted
by this huge 55pb
pitbull.
And I asked the staff, since I know them
very well, "What is this dog doing in
the store?"
And they told me, "He's been here all
day." And I asked him, "Well, why didn't
you call animal control?"
"Well, we were afraid he would be
euthanized."
And I said, 'Excuse me, let me check
what time animal services closes so I
can run the dog down there since I had
given away my scanner to somebody
because I was going to quit the
business.
Well, it was a kind of a tussle trying
to get a 55lb pitbull to cooperate with
me when all he wanted to do was kiss me
all over.
But I we finally coraled him, got him
into my vehicle, ran down to animal
services quick to see if he had a
microchip.
Lo and behold, the dog had a microchip.
Unfortunately, when animal services
called the numbers, there was no answer.
So then I'm sitting here with a dilemma.
What do we do with this dog? Because I
can't take it home. You all know my
story of why I can't take it to my
house.
So, we decided to surrender the dog to
animal services and they would try to
keep contacting the owner.
Well, I went back to dollar store to
tell them that the animal was safe but
at animal services.
And they were a little disappointed
because they were trying to adopt the
dog as their mascot
because a lot of customers bought a
whole bunch of treats for this dog. And
I have to go back to see if they still
have the treats so I can donate it to
the owner. But the next day we did I did
see the post that the owner had claimed
the dog.
So it does work a microchip and that
will decrease the intake numbers because
if they had called animal services
or not animal services acco which would
have been Gino back here, he could have
scanned the dog, called the owner at
that time
and we could have made a choice. But my
time is up. So I am on the bandwagon
once again. Funding for microchips,
please.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Others.
Okay.
Seeing none,
uh board member comments.
All right. Also none. Then at this time
I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn.
Uh madame chair I I move to adjourn.
Thank you vice chair Sha Joe Hernandez.
Second.
Thank you so much. And we are adjourned
at 10:21 a.m. Thank you all so much.