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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2020-03-17 minutesMinutes Animal Shelter Advisory Committee Meeting Tuesday, March 17, 2020 Members Present: Dr. Greg Boyer, Chair Lt. Chad Stieferman Dr. Melissa Bolden, Vice Chair Lori Blatter, Shelter Manager Dr. Crago- Committee Member Dr. Jessica Thiele, Shelter Veterinarian The Animal Shelter Committee met for a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday March 17, 2020 in the Conference Room, Jefferson City Animal Shelter, 2308 Hyde Park Road, Jefferson City Missouri. The meeting was called to order by Dr. Boyer, Chair. Approval of Minutes Dr. Crago moved to approve the minutes from the previous meeting and Dr. Bolden seconded. Staff Reports Shelter manager Lori Blatter submitted some statistics for the committee to review. The report compared last year’s numbers from January 1, to date against this year’s numbers. The average length of stay before adoption in the shelter increased from 15.32 to 16.1 days. The higher adoption fees may be the cause of this slight increase. The statistics also show owner releases are up. The owner releases in the same time frame last year were 88 as compared to 114 this year. Returned adoption count for this period in 2020 was 14, down from 23 in 2019. The shelter is accepting owner releases at this time. There is no waitlist. Owners who call wishing to release a pet are asked for basic information which is relayed to the intake coordinator. The intake coordinator calls, attempts to find other resolutions before relinquishment, determines whether it is an animal we can accept, and if it is, schedules the intake. Written Correspondence There was recently some written correspondence regarding cats on Michigan Avenue being a nuisance. Jefferson City Animal Control and Wild Things have attempted multiple remedies to provide support that might give the property owner relief but the owner is tired of the cats doing damage to her car by scratching it and urinating on and around it doing damage. There is a registered cat colony on Michigan Avenue which has worked with the organization Wild Things in Jefferson City to Trap, Neuter and Release these colony cats. Lt. Stieferman explained that himself, Lori Blatter (Shelter Manager) and Dr. Jessica Thiele(Shelter Veterinarian) have a meeting scheduled with the representatives of Wild Things, to try and find a way to relocate the cats. There is a barn program in Columbia Missouri that has a waiting list. There are also other options available such as slowly moving the colony away from the residents home. At this point the only other option the city has, is to revoke the colony caretaker permit , under the premise that the caretaker is not keeping the cats from being a nuisance. The caretaker would have a time frame to relocate the colony before the city would be obligated to assist the homeowner with trapping the cats. The city does not currently have any options for feral cats other than euthanasia and wants to try and exhaust all possibilities before utilizing that option. The advisory committee had no comment regarding this correspondence and stated that they felt the city had this situation under control. Old Business Lt. Stieferman reported that the City Council has approved grant from the “Friends of the Jefferson City Animal Shelter” , in the amount of $28,486.60. The friends approved the conversion to stainless steel cat kennels in two Phases. Phase One will include half of cat intake, half of kitten intake and isolation in the vet room. It was explained that since the grant is over $25,000.00 and is occurring in a city owned property, it would need to be managed by the city. The city will enter into a contract with the installer and manage the purchase of the kennels. Shor- Line , as bid, will be coming to measure the kennel air circulation holes in the back of the kennels. Lt. Stieferman reported that the City Council approved using the funds from the shelter donation account. Lt. Stieferman also reported the mold remediation will continue once the exterior kennel flaps have been installed. It is important to wait so the system can be properly balanced. Dr. Boyer asked if the Kennel airflow vents will be taken into consideration and Lt. Stieferman confirmed that they were. New Business Lt. Stieferman announced that the city had received a request to sit on the advisory committee. The applicant is Dr. Beddoe, who practices in Jefferson City at Southwest Veterinary Clinic. There was discussion of which advisory committee member might want to consider volunteering to step down. Dr. Crago offered to step down. Lt. Stieferman stated that the city would move forward but that he was welcome to attend the meetings at any time. Lt. Stieferman asked the advisory committee whether they would deem it appropriate for the animal shelter to use public funds to euthanize and transport wildlife to the State Vet Lab for testing for a Wildlife Control Business. There was consensus that this business should not be using the shelter for these services. Lt. Stieferman discussed how COVID-19 might affect the shelter. He explained that the Cole County Emergency Operations Center has been stood up and is meeting twice daily. Lt. Stieferman explained that the City had placed resources for pet owners on the shelter webpage. If the situation changes, the following criteria may be implemented in Phase 2. - Stop taking owner releases and put them on a waitlist and offer alternatives - Discontinue picking up strays that were not a public safety threat (or injured) -Adoption sale to lower shelter population -Citizens may old strays temporarily. Shelter may help provide food. - Utilize current foster homes then emergency foster homes- city staff-shelter staff - If no other resources- give to known rescues at no charge If the worst case scenario occurred, and there was no staff available to care for remaining animals and the staff was unable to find alternative placement, only then would euthanasia of the remaining animals become an option. Discussion continued regarding social distancing. It was decided that the shelter should immediately stop open public access and admit citizens into the shelter for adoption, redemption, owner releases by appointment only. Shelter staff will come up with an appointment system and utilize starting the next business day. Dr. Boyer brought up the subject of the crematorium and how it would run during the following weeks and months. At this time there is no change. Dr. Boyer stated that if needed he would be willing to transport his to the Jefferson City Animal Shelter. Meeting Adjourned at 1:35 pm Next meeting June 16 , 2020 12:30 PM Conference Room, Jefferson City Animal Shelter Respectfully submitted Lori A Blatter -