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Home My WebLink AboutSS2 - Animal Shelter Report - SupplementalFeb -21 -99 04:09P MARIAN BERGESON 7146460675 P.02 MARIAN BERGESON February 21, 1999 u tZrl� ... il'`J N.j -r- ') nv r Ci ;�) � Mayor Dennis O'Neil Newport Beach City Nall, 3300 Newport Blvd. Newport Beach, CA. 92661 Dear N�4Y9d/� 1 understand there is a proposal for the Council to review that will provide for an animal shelter for cur city. I would like to voice my support for such a proposal. Shelters such as the one proposed have been very successful in other communities and can be done cost effectively with major support from the community with voluntem and services. Please share my support at the appropriate time with members of the Council. I am very proud to maintain "full time' status as a resident of this beautiful city and thankful for the fine leadership our Mayor and Council provide. I look forward to assist in any way I can to support your efforts. Sincerely Marian Bergeson 1721 Tradewinds Lane Newport Beach, 92660 Fax 949 646 -0675 e -mail mbergesonahome_com Aaron Clousing 1356 Galaxy Dr. Newport Beach, CA 92660 (949) 645 -1526 Dear Council Members, I as a resident of the city of Newport Beach I appreciate what a good job all of you are doing. More than aik,4hing right now.I would appreciate if you were to take a few minutes to read this letter concerning T.A.G.S.. I have a strong belief in animal treatment and as a pet owner, I can relate to a foundation such as T.A.G.S...As.to my knowledge there is no shelter of.any kind in the city of Newport Beach, as to be declared a `no kill animal shelter'. My hope as a member of this city, Newport Beach is that you will take the time as deserved to really think about what we are asking for. Thank you veiy much for taking the time to read this letter. Since yours, �r Aaron Clousing February 12, 1999 Dear Council Members, Please support the "No Kill" animal shelter. There is a great need for a shelter to house and care for abandoned animals. A shelter such as this could provide a wonderful place for teenagers to volunteer time. Future veterinarians could surface because of experience received here. Future medical doctors could receive experience. Young people work well with animals and often relate. to pets when teenage `problems' arise. A volunteer program would be a positive and educational experience. Animals need a safe refuge if lost. Please adopt this shelter in Newport Beach. We support T.A.G.S. Thank you for your time and consideration. A family with 3 cats and 2 large dogs, 1356 Galaxy Drive Newport Beach, CA 92660 (949) 631 -6081 F'Qb -22 -99 00:31A BEACH BROKERS BG 714 536 9866 P.01 NEWPORT BEACH CITY COUNCI_ FESSUARY 19. 1999 P.O. BOX 1768 NEWPORT BEAC-I. CA 92660 RE'. PROPOSED NO KILL ANWAL SHELTER FOR NEWPORT BEACH. DEAR COUNCIL MEMBERS: WE ARE V STRONG SUPPORT OF AN ANIMAL SHELT ER THIS !g LONE OVERDUE FOR OUR CITY, WTH THE HELP AND SUPPORT OF OUP CIT1' COUNCI! MEMBERS AND THE PEOPLE OF OUR C wo MMUNITY, WE UNDOUBTEDLY SHOULD BE ABLE TO AFFORD AND BUILD, OR AT THE VERY LEAST, RENOVATE AN EXISTING BUILDING FOR THIS FACILITY, IT HAS COME TO OUR ATTENTION THAT THROUGH THE CURRENT PLAN THE FEW ANIMALS WHO FIND HOMES IN OUR CITY COST THE ADOPTING FAMILY IN EXCESS OF 5250.00. THIS FEE IS TOTALLY OUT OF LINE WITH OTHER SUP.ROUNDING CITIES WHO CHARGE AN AVERAGE OF 660.00 TO $75:00. NOT ONLY CAN THIS CURRENT FEE BE PROHIBITIVE FOR THE AVERAGE FAMILY. BUT IT CAN ALSO FORCE OUR CITY TO NEEDLESSLY PUT TO SLEEP MANY (TOO MANY) ANIMALS THAT HOMES COULD BE FOUND FOR. WE BELIEVE OUR CITY HAS THE FINANCIAL STRENGTH AND INTUTIVENESS TO COME UP WITH A WORKABLE PLAN THAT WE CAN ALL BE PROUD OF LET'S MAKE A CONCERTED EFFORT TO SUPPORT THE T.A.G.S. VOLUNTEERS AND THE CARING PEOPLE OF OUR COMM'UMITY AND COME UP',NITH A VIAB`�E SOLUTION FOR THIS NOT ONLY GREAT, BUT REWARDING PROJECT! SINCERELY 1362 GALAXY DRIVE NEWPORT BEACH. CA n, t F9 ?I0. : 4 723 313'3 P. 0i `dr Prudential Pcbruury 20, 1999 Dear COL11161 Members: callfomia Reaar 2t10: lvUlma evulev9 C. N:v: pan Ec atn c A 92:4M Cow— Dn-8120 I ?a 019 723.8' 30 We do need an animal shelter located by itself in our city. Other cities in Orange County have these facilities — why not Newport Beach? I have adopted two dogs through the fine shelter in Irvine. I certainly would have preferred to be able to adopt closer to home. As a realtor, I know this program being presented would have a great deal of community support and be an asset to our city, Sincorcly, Connie Corr) fJ wM��9:6�.yAlalJNap +n. ��n•.In U'm. Aw4md �G(LY: /:ib +1a ir. 2/10/99 Council Member Newport Beach City Council P.O. Box 1768 Newport Beach, CA 92658-8915 Christi Coker 503 Marguerite Corona del Mar, CA 92625 Dear Council Member, I am writing in support of T.A.G.S., the "no kill" animal shelter proposed by Tina Seri and Ciuistienne Morgan. rl shelter of this kind could only benefit our t:orrimunity and out pets. Newport Beach has the money, the space and the concern of the people to make this happen. Our pets mean a great deal to us and providing a safe and comfortable, "no kill" facility for them. should they become lost, is a most logical and humane idea. The integrity of our city relys on your good, sound judgement for the appropriate spending of funds and I'm sure you've heard all the arguments for the need of such a facility so I will not make this a long and heart wrenching plea. So on behalf of the concerned pet owners of this city, I ask you to please make room in your hearts and in our community for T.A.G.S. Thank you so much for your time, Christi Coker ^= LD M —R AGENDA February 5, 1999 Mayor Dennis O'Neil City Hall 3300 Newport Blvd Newport City, Ca. 92663 Dear Mayor O'Neil, I am planning to attend the City Council study session on 2/25/99 and would like to share some thoughts for consideration in your deliberation regarding possible changes in how your City delivers animal control services and animal sheltering services. My interest in this matter is based on my genuine love for animals. Having served on the Mission Viejo City Council, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to guide the process in 1NLssion Viejo that resulted in our own pro -humane program and Shelter. At the invitation of Christienne Morgan of TAGS I have participated in discussions with members of your staff at City Hall and most recently at your Police Station. Captain Hennesey was most gracious in providing some vital information. Newport City staff has visited our Shelter and others to glean information for your study session. This process is similar to our own journey. Before we put our program together we spent many days and hours with the staff of the San Clemente Shelter and gathered information from shelters in several counties to begin comparing the many ways animal control and sheltering services are delivered in other locals. In my opinion, Newport's method for delivery of shelter services, for good or for bad, is definitely out of the mainstream of how most jurisdictions provide service. I would like to highlight those unique differences because it is important to take them into consideration when determining what it may cost your City to set up a new way to deliver service. It would be difficult to compare budgets of Mission Viejo, Irvine, or San Clemente to your service for the following reasons. All animal control and sheltering services require certain functions i.e. licensing, dispatching calls and field service. Personnel, irrespective of their title, are required to answer general inquiries that may or may not require officer assistance, i.e. wild life inquiries, information on pet care, referrals to private organizations for pet problems, barking dog complaints, general license information. y In your City those duties are performed by individuals in different departments and those salaries and benefits are absorbed into at least two departments budgets. Licensing is the part time function of an individual in the revenue department and those costs are absorbed by that department. Therefore it is impossible to compare your costs to any City's total cost for animal control and sheltering service because of your unique way of delivering and budgeting service. Your current budget numbers are really reflective only of the costs relating to the animal control officers. The cost for Mission Viejo and Laguna Niguel to provide animal control, licensing, canvassing, and sheltering service was $630,000 for fiscal year 1997 -95. Laguna Niguel's share was $245,502. Depreciation on the building, kennels, vehicles etc. accounted for 565,000. (This is not money spent but rather dollars set aside for eventual replacement of buildings, kennels, vehicles etc.) The budget includes the costs for a full service animal program including animal control, shelter services and licensing, i.e. staff salaries and benefits, insurance, cleaning service, landscape maintenance, medical care for animals, dog food etc. Our cities' service needs are vastly different. Our program serves 2 cities with a population of approximately 160,000 people and 20 square miles and requires 9 full time employees. We have one supervisor, one dispatch/receptionists, one admin/office manager, one license clerk, 2 kennel attendants and 3 animal control officers. (Our kennel attendants assist visitors at the counter and answer the phones when they have finished cleaning kennels.) We also have 2 canvass clerks part time and one part time kennel attendant who are hired through a temp agency and do not receive benefits. It is important to note that the Shelter has approximately 100 volunteers who come in shifts weekly and perform every job in the Shelter except those of the Field Officer. When comparing your service area and the approximate 600 animals impounded last year to our service area and the 2,000 animals we impounded last year, it would stand to reason that Newport's costs for service should be far less than half of our costs for both cities. When you compare our 3 Animal Control Officers with Newport's 4 Animal Control officers, it would appear you are overstaffed. It is important to note that with the exception of a Shelter Manager, the position of ACO is the highest paid position in our program. Should there be interest in reconfiguring staffing assignments, Newport is likely to already have adequate personnel to operate a shelter. Your animal control officers spend a great deal of time handling general inquiries that are currently handled in Mission Viejo by volunteers. With a well trained volunteer force in place, the public's general inquiries could be handled at that level making it possible to direct the energies of a highly skilled Animal Control Officer to supervise your Shelter. Their duties would need to include managing aggressive animals but nearly all other shelter duties could be performed by volunteers. Maximizing revenue is critical. Mission Viejo takes in $253,000 annually in licensing revenue with 16,0.00 dogs licensed. Our fees are only slightly higher than yours: Altered dogs are $12, Unaltered dogs are $24 and Senior's get a 50% discount on each dog. We have a number of ways of increasing licensing revenue which are very well received by the community and based in education rather than enforcement. It is interesting to note that Newport's animal control officers wrote 1,300 court citations last year compared to MV's 100. It might be more advantageous to work toward voluntary compliance with leash laws etc. and take a little more aggressive approach to licensing z which will result in increased revenue to the City. Licensing is a State mandate not a local ordinance. A majority of people want their animals to be identified so they can be returned to them if lost. It's all in the packaging but we have had tremendous success. Our canvass clerks do not currently go door to door looking for unlicensed dogs. They do follow up on every dog nuisance complaint received by the City to determine if an owner has licensed their dog, and routinely follow up on every rabies vaccine certificate. This effort has resulted in an additional $20,000 in licensing revenue in each of the past 3 years. Contracting out for sheltering services has drawbacks. Your current contract with a local vet for sheltering service has what I believe to be some inherent problems. Because impounded animals become the property of the vet after 5 days, there is no requirement that the vet maintain records of what happens to these animals after 5 days. It so happens that a paper trail exists and your staff is relatively certain they have a reasonable idea of the final disposition of the animals but frankly that is questionable because record keeping has been somewhat lax. Medical costs should be donated. The second unusual pa:, of this arrangement is that the vet can provide medical treatment for orphaned animals and then attempt to recover some if not all of those costs by changing the adoption fee to include medical care. The PALS program was set up by the vet for the purpose of recovering costs for treating animals while in his care. This is extremely dangerous and circumvents the fee structure set by Council. In one particular case, fees to adopt a puppy were over 5260 rather than the fee set by Newport Council of $53.00 No shelter I have ever visited or spoken with attempts to recover medical costs other than reimbursement for vaccines. Those costs are paid fo? by private donations or donated by vets. While it is understandable the vet would like to recover his costs, this practice creates a question of whether the vet is being reimbursed for his own out of pocket costs or is being paid for professional services rendered. Adoption fees could include some of the costs for spaying and neutering animals but fees should be in line with what other shelters charge. Of the 1,090 cats and dogs adopted from the Mission Viejo Shelter last year all were spayed and neutered prior to their adoption with the exception of 32 animals that had medical reason requiring surgery to be deferred. (In all of those cases the Dedicated Animal Welfare Group paid for those costs after the animal was adopted.) About 500 free surgeries were donated by 22 vets and because large K -9 surgeries are generally the most costly nearly all of those surgeries were for dogs. Some of the cats received donated surgeries and the balance were paid for by DAWG. This year however, the adoption fees have been increased to 570.00 for an altered dog, ($50.001$20 for rabies and DHLP2 for a total of $70.00) and $55.00 for a cat (545.001 S 10.00 for FVRCP for a total of $55) The increase in fees allows the Shelter to receive enough revenue to spay and neuter all animals after donated surgeries are depleted. These fees are in line with those of most shelters in our area. 3 When TAGS volunteer Tina adopted her cat from the Newport Shelter in November of 1993 she could see the cat was sick. Although the cat had been at the Newport Shelter for one and one half months the staff said they only treat medically when it is critical. They did urge her to use this vet to buy needed medical care and concurred medical care was necessary. Tina took the cat who was later determined to have pneumonia, to her own vet and paid for it's care. At the i TV Shelter donated money, for the most part, pays for these services but even when the City pays for care, this amount is never recovered from the person wishing to adopt the animal. When an animal is adopted from our Shelter a list of vets who donate services to the Shelter is provided along with a coupon for a free visit with any vet but a specific vet is never recommended. I would urge the Council Members to take the plunge and begin your own shelter services. Perhaps a building not in use at your maintenance yard could be improved for a modest sum of money. I recommend that you increase your licensing efforts. Veterinarians are required to give you a copy of every rabies vaccine certificate they issue so that you can send a friendly reminder to residents to purchase a license. You can create a public awareness program that can be fun and friendly and result in greatly increased revenues. Your City only has 3000 doss licensed currently. There is a great deal of room for improvement there. A reallocation of staff may be all that is necessary to staff shelter. Staffing your new shelter with community volunteers will create excitement in the community and result in a warm and friendly environment that is good for animals and people who visit the shelter. I highly recommend a matching fund program for your capital costs to build a new Shelter much like what you achieved already with community support for your new library. I believe community interest is strong. The volunteer base with TAGS is talented, resourceful, energetic and most capable of getting the job done. cc: Captain Paul Hennisey, for distribution to all Council Members (to be included with the staff report for study session 2/25/99). g�7- y34 �- 4- 0 o �>c�irtc'ir." The Mission Viejo Animal Services Center is a "state - of- the - heart" facility conve- niently located one block south of the intersection of Crown Valley and Marguerite pkwys., at 28095 Hilicrest. Situated on 3.66 park-like acres, the center is surrounded by landscaped slopes and open space. Specially designed by architect Richard Rauh, it includes both an Animal Shelter and an Animal Urgent Care Clinic. rt,pl wily . : y n Ar, ;r.,= _a1 Part OfMisslcn Vieic's .animal Serdcas Center is the Animal U;genl Cara Clinic of South Orange Ceunty. -. _ - : 'hisctir.icis ce.na : :•ic;.;_r• don :ve =_kardsardhciidaa toprovid =_ _ `� -g:cep u'.ccal +r- laanar :a-s,..• _e,cy Tara !or s:ck a. •.. ;crd =animals ^_ur,� ; the - cur- .vier, - •es : :•e;edrary of ices are dosed. .rte �C(i" ('`' ( %Ji' /'(i :" 'i :.�'i %.':'l.•,' i'!`i '((' /,i) :i CGyr ri =:'_re hi] -a =? S.,c_icr'or 1u5: _ ^.d hdm ?l =x c_. ."C:a i3 iJ nrJS'G'e li: - -= %ing %, __..mcnt iJ_ c_._Ta'ts tnei a_- ' j -.17P6 Jr ill, and .a '.0 :: •.. .'_0?rico cvr JIB:^ ani @•.^. i^. aic'.+' i. ^_OUL'2- c_...._z t02'i :.na ^.a -la IInl ?5 ?'.i 151n t1 i? u ? -, a_:,.. _So CC t. _? 3.:.:_a: Cr i5 :.___ _ar;;i CJ D. ^re C: _ '12a. -h and Sa:c P._: Oi JL. G1'a. lricn? =e:'3 G bn? 5l1 °alit ?' - ilie .re:' b C�a❑ l�� C.dl�a'.e� y P:u ic volunteers. Animal �en'c zs C.`. i:ers Linda 3: e a•: es and Marcus Nie:o respond to calls for help f r cm eecle•unc_:a r. _:.^.eca:cut s2:a'(slize°uslzr o: are slarlled to rind a snake or a the: 'n;ld ore :i_ :? in ,"e,r ya:t The, dut.es include c3 ;n:,ng jirtery Perres, rescuing tr;Cl:4 ?nEC ; : :q� :4d 3; ir.,al5 "+: king :'nlh school cllilVert dtoUt animal care. and helping r ?a: '::' d ani:^.a's acd fake befi?r care of ;heir pets. r. Volunteers donate time weekly to answer telephone inquiries, welcome visitors to the shelter, groom animal, walk and play with dogs. hold and stroke lap cats. :.: clean kennels and cages: reunite lost animals with their owners, and help people seeking pets get acquainted with animals looking for new homes. Si,;ce th. , shelter opera 19913, it has been inso -c more thctn /A/W Est their occners orfindr :n for those needing lzez i 1 J� c The volunteers at the Animal Shelcar a-e recruitad bv the City of Mission Viejo and by the Dr`cated A:,irnal Welt'are Group (DAWG), a nonprofit cer7ora"on. In addition. DAWG raises money to pay for medical care for abandon-?d ardmals after the first $100 and boarding cots for animai> t%ro remain at the shelter for more c:-� an 30 da': s. DAVvG also supports the shelter by j providing foster care for sick or young animals, :y promoting adoption of animals through a telet.i- s:on program called Animal House, shown regularly on Channel 31, and a weekly newspaper feature aotly entitied "P of the Wsek," conducting educationai tours of the shsiter, and ;a informing pet owners about the importance of >paying and neutering to pre•: ent pet over aopu' : -- i:0 ^. i The Animal Urgent Care Clinic was established in 1979 by a group of local veterinarians to pro%ide emergency oir -hour care for sick and injured animal=. Fully equipped with the latest surgical, anesthetic, laboratory, and monitoring equipment, the clinic is staffed by an experienced veterinarian who stands readv to assist animals and their owners in any emer- gency. :Xannel A "ardact Susan ?a'.I ha; `,er hands ;ull. Because the r,um'cercf cats and ki�sns a ^andaned daily basset =c'. aced croj =eticns, shefror ;alines are can,2ntly housed in a tHmperary b' sic : :g, and a new tatter/ is urgently needed. You can heloby Pralidicg aiostar ;c -a.`c r- _ :c'.tan, adccsing =- -cat, crma:<ing a<cn!ributicn DX," C-'5 capital fund. _ - - c .: a >�- -r are ic< -d in 32 ^uri. ct -by -- fight -.cc d�a'se:: - ._ -.,- - =o'er- �y Naar.ing. ey ,grvx )O 9.1lour S. &061 Garr '9? e; .- Join DAWG. Say d a check for S25, payatle tc DAY/G.:: - :,:'o, M1di =si, :n Vie;' ^,. CA 92 6?2. ,., Give Time. If you !eve animals and'nav-e soma hours y ^.0 :nu'.d io give than a s;cond thane=, calf ai :ter 470 -3051 or 470 -3045. Send Money. Fund-- are need-. tc cover the' :osts ci i ._.., - a..rz's, ^_ r:, r -_, a!' ^.. :., ^uvi,,g ca: .c.-., an,i 'buildi, ^,n- a Lauer/..Ari cn,y mcCis Lan be m_7- c- _. ,._,.:= c.- .�' :c; .:: _ .. e:ny$d Pei 0r ;c a c25a : : < =nne , or reo m. ror more . :'Jc'-a,._, Dona:icn, in This pnndng of :r.e She:ter Su•t was s0..:¢:'":::: c. - a :: a'e. r: as:�rn'n<]: +.fir ^.s :: ae, an: _': - ;!5, ;n� : : ; : :: �� ®�i L2Mf :.;._.. .!n =l Conc,oi ,....... " ^' CCIP„C HO:. Lei U, ........t : :_•c_w�ia -ti�.�; - cr., -iv.. ion Shea > :.......... -..... - Sa;, until ? a.:r. c::.. on. ..:a q: :�l ;raYi. hours This pnndng of :r.e She:ter Su•t was s0..:¢:'":::: c. - a :: a'e. r: as:�rn'n<]: +.fir ^.s :: ae, an: _': - ;!5, ;n� : : ; : :: �� ®�i L2Mf Karen & Peter Bennett 1508 Eton Place Newport Beach, CA 92660 Telephone 949 650 -6597 Mayor Dennis D. O'Neil 608 Seaward Road Corona del Mar, CA 92625 Re: No Kill Animal Shelter Dear Mr. Mayor: "RECEIVED AFTER AGENDA PRINTED:" 6 a2 2d-al We are strong and dedicated supporters of the concept of a No Kill Animal Shelter in our city. We have visited the small veterinary hospital, "Dover Shores Animal Hospital" and found that the personnel and the conditions do not encourage or appear to benefit animals or those who would want to help or adapt them. It is a shame that we are so lacking in a proper facility, falling way behind other cities like San Clemente, Irvine and Mission Viejo. We do not have proper boarding facilities, proper areas to walk the animals or to promote their adoption. We are animal lovers who are committed to speaking out for those that can not speak for themselves. We are also business people who realize the constraints on budgetary decisions. We do know that there are many, many animal advocates who would support a large volunteer force to provide staff at a facility that does not spell doom for every animal that is unfortunate enough to end up there. Please give us a chance to give something back to the animals that give us unconditional love. Sincerely, P eter and Kare n Bennett Homeowners, Business Owners and Tax Payers 'RECEIV D AFTER AGENDA z _qQ ;: YiTE : ' of -� DUFFIELD FAMILY FOUNDATION HIRES FIRST CEO DANVILLE, CA -August 24, 1998 --The Duffield Family Foundation has named Richard Avanzino CEO and leader of its mission to "revolutionize the status and well -being of companion animals." Avanzino is currently President of The San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Crueltyto Animals (SPCA). He will join the Duffield Family Foundation on January 1, 1999. "The Foundation intends to be an instrumental force in building a no- kill nation," Avanzino said. "We expect to spend more than 200 million dollars to build no -kill programs city by city, region by region. It may sound impossible but that's what naysayers said about our efforts in San FranLi:.:o four years ago. Now several communities are dedicating themselves to similar efforts, and it looks like many more are planning to join the cause." To achieve its mission, the Foundation will work with organizations it funds to develop successful life - saving strategies that guarantee every adoptable pet in the community a loving home. The Foundation intends to concentrate its Investments in no -kill operations or those that plan to become no -kill within a couple of years. (more)