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September 25, 2018 ASAC MinutesMINUTES ANIMAL CARE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING SEPTEMBER 25, 2018 The Animal Care Advisory Committee of the City of Schertz, Texas held a Regular Meeting on September 25, 2018, at 2:00 p.m. in the Hal Baldwin Municipal Complex Council Chambers Conference Room, 1400 Schertz Parkway, Building #4, Schertz, Texas. The following members were present: Dr. Angelina Kiser, City Council Liaison Marc Bane, Assistant Police Chief, Acting Chair Brooke Knowlton, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Lisa Connolly, Schertz Human Society Jackie Gaines, Executive Assistant Members not present: Michele Helgren, Under Savanna's Wings Dudley Wait, Executive Director Gerryleah Zavala, Animal Services Manager Staff Present: Brian James, Acting City Manager Michael Hansen, Police Chief Call to Order Assistant Chief Bane called the meeting to order at 2:03 pm. Heariniz of Residents Jennifer Whittier- interested in becoming an Animal Care Advisory Committee member. MaryAnn Thomas -saw the agenda and wanted to learn about the items for discussion. Discussion and /or Action Items 1. Minutes — Consideration and /or action regarding the approval of the minutes of the regular meeting of May 29, 2018. Dr. Knowlton made a motion to approve the Minutes, seconded by Ms. Connolly. Motion passed unanimously. 2. Consideration and /or action adjusting the meeting time of the Animal Care Advisory Committee to 6:00 PM. Ms. Connolly said that she could make mid -week evening meetings. Dr. Knowlton stated that she would not have an issue getting to the 6:00 PM meeting after closing her clinic at 5:30. Dr. Kiser stated that even though she will not be on the committee much longer, she agreed that changing the meetings to 6:00 pm will work best. The committee unanimously agreed to meet the first Wednesday of each quarter at 6:00 PM. The 2019 meeting dates are February 6, May 1, August 7, and November 6. The November 7, 2018 meeting will be held at 6:00 pm as well. 3. Discussion on the City Ordinance Regarding Animal Control. Assistant Chief Bane said that the Police Department is new to the Animal Services and are still getting a feel of the operations. The ordinance is under review and we ask to table this item. We need to see where our staff is on daily operations and how we have been working with the ordinance. We have site visits scheduled with neighboring communities to see what they are doing and how their shelter operates. We will see what works, what does not work, and what is best. We will bring the item back to the committee for your feedback with ideas and suggestions. Reports/Updates/Discussion and /or Action Items 4. Discussion and update regarding the Schertz Animal Adoption Center and Services Operations. Assistant Chief Bane gave a PowerPoint presentation demonstrating what the Police Department has accomplished in the first 30 days of the Animal Adoption Center being under the Police Department how the change evolved. The Animal Adoption Center was previously under the Marshal's Office. In December 2017, the Marshal's office became a division under the Police Department and in August 2018, the Animal Adoption Center moved under the Police Department. The Animal Adoption Center currently has eight authorized positions. Within the first 30 days for the new operations of the Animal Adoption Center, the Police Department has been conducting a full review, which included budget reviews to see where we are financially, the shelter's policies and procedures, reviewing of all training and what training needs we may have. Staff safety and gear equipment necessities, the building requirements and repairs, address personnel issues, after hour call -out policy, cleaning procedure, animal intake procedures, sick animal care, and animal transfers. The HVAC system is not performing as designed. A forensic engineer is preparing a report for the city. Because of the HVAC system not working properly, we are using portable air conditioners to cool the building. There was no cleaning service provided by the city to clean the building. Staff was having to clean the common areas as well as the kennel and back isolation areas. We found that a lot of kennel gates and doors were sticking and not properly securing. We have been working with our facility maintenance department on solutions. We have identified what grating system was in the kennel originally and are looking for a vendor to purchase the original style of grates. In our vet room, we have medicine and drugs used for euthanasia, which is regulated by DEA. This is a concern on tracking its usage and documentation of dates and times, and what usage we do have. We also found drugs used for euthanasia that was unaccounted 09 -25 -2018 Minutes, Animal Care Advisory Committee for based on our investigation. We attribute this to unfair documentation. We do not think that there was a theft, but a lack of documented use. We have a bid out for a swipe card service and are looking into a second layer of security with an electronic vault, which is also swipe card access. This will provide tracking in and out of the room and vault 24 hours a day. The kennels in the cat rooms and dog kennels are old and some were either donated or were brought over from the old facility. We are in need of ISO care units with Plexiglas and self - contained ventilation. Upon intake, we have created a dedicated area for both dogs and cats since we do not know their background or how healthy they are. These animals will get vaccinated and placed in an observation room. We work with local veterinarians to complete testing on diseases. We have been approved to purchase ISO care kennels to help not spread diseases within our facility. We have a medical check list posted on each kennel for all animals in quarantine. Since May of 2018, all animals are photographed and ages and gender are documented. This information is then placed on social media. Our primary goal is to reunite the pets with their owners. We have extended the wait period for adoption to a week in order to have time for the vaccinations to get into their system. We spay or neuter each animal and microchip upon receiving the animal so they will be ready to go once adopted. We do a weekly deep cleaning of bay areas, kennels, areas surrounding the kennels, and the entire building. Building maintenance department is providing a cleaning service to the care of the common non - animal areas of the building. We have a group that is contracted to come in and clean, which provides a tremendous help. The floors are getting mopped two to three times a day. The over -all care of the facility is getting much better. We are working on procedures for inspections of required tasks, such as cleaning the kennels, cleaning out the litter boxes and change out of the food. The new hours of operation for the shelter have been changed from 9:00 am to opening at 10:00 am. The goal is to get the kennels cleaned before the public comes in to look at the pets. Animal deaths are a concern to us greatly. Since May 1, we have had 18 animals die in the care of animal services. The vast majority have been kittens that were un- weaned. Others had a respiratory condition, a genetic condition, and two cases were unexplained. We are looking at bench mark cities on what kind of death rates other have to see if we are doing something right or something wrong. We have stopped all animal transfers into the facility at this time. We are focusing on getting the animals we currently have adopted into families of their own. We would 09 -25 -2018 Minutes, Animal Care Advisory Committee consider receiving an animal from a neighboring facility, but on a case -by -case basis. We provide 12 dogs and 12 cats to Palo Alto College for each semester to assist with their vet tech program. Partnering with the college provides us with very healthy animals. Our animals are fully vetted from the time they walk into the door. Included in their full exams are receive treatment, get spayed /neutered, and vaccinated. This program helps them and us as well. We have invited Palo Alto College to our shelter. They will give us feedback as to how they clean their facility and the processes they use when they have sick animals. Since 2015, donations made to the animal shelter are deposited into a donations account specifically for the animal shelter and are utilized for their intended purpose. A list of items needed are posted on social media and will now be posted in the animal shelter for those visiting. 5. Discussion on adding community members to the Animal Services Advisory Committee. Mr. James reported that the city has eight or so boards and commissions established with bylaws that are approved by city council. Each membership appointments are made and approved by council as well. The Animal Services Advisory Committee is different by the fact that it is a requirement by state law. The law dedicates that a City Manager appoints a board which consists of four members and shall include a licensed veterinarian, a municipal official, a shelter operator, and one member of an animal welfare organization. Other than these requirements, the law does not state a set number of members to be on the committee. The current ordinance gives very little instruction on the board and essentially reflects what the state law dictates. The board gives recommendations to staff on operating procedures. What we would like to do is look at the role of the board and come back with recommendations. Do we want to handle the members of this board like we do the others and expand to seven members? Do we allow members of this community only or members from multiple organizations? Having more members will allow us not to have to rely on the same 3 -4 members all the time. We could look into the purpose of this board and what areas we would like to focus. 6. Tour of Animal Adoption Center Assistant Bane asked to move the tour of the animal adoption center to after item #10. Requests and Announcements 7. Announcements by the Executive Director In the absence of Mr. Wait, Mr. James stated that he does not have anything to add. 8. Announcements by Animal Services Manager 09 -25 -2018 Minutes, Animal Care Advisory Committee Assistant Chief Bane announced that the state conducted a surprise inspection last week and we passed the inspection. The only concern was the shelter's flooring sealer has come up. We are currently bidding out this project and will be putting in new flooring in the shelter. The DEA has been invited to come review our facility and they have offered to assist with paperwork to get us updated in order for us to purchase our euthanasia medicine. 9. Announcements by Committee Members No announcements by the committee. 10. Requests by Committee Members that items be placed on a future Animal Care Advisory Committee Agenda Present schedule of the meeting dates and times. Cover the board makeup. Update of procedures and concepts of draft ordinance. Assistant Chief Bane called for a recess at 2:47 pm to take a tour of the animal adoption facility. Assistant Chief Bane reconvened the meeting at the animal adoption facility at 2:55 pm. The committee and citizens were provide a tour of the facility by Assistant Chief Bane. Adjournment Assistant Chief Bane adjourned the meeting at 3:22 pm Dudley Wait, Ex cutive Director ATTEST: Jackie' Gaines, Executive Assistant 09 -25 -2018 Minutes, Animal Care Advisory Committee