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Receive a presentation from the Sheriff’s Office - Animal Care Division on the status of Animal Shelter Operations to include veterinary services, spay/neuter services, and the Community Cat Program
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Published Notice Required? Yes ____ No _X _
Public Hearing Required? Yes ____ No _X _
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Sheriff’s Office recommends the Board of Supervisors receive a presentation on the status of Animal Shelter Operations to include veterinary services, spay/neuter services, and the Community Cat Program.
SUMMARY:
Solano County Animal Care (Animal Care), a division of the Sheriff’s Office, provides care, shelter, and placement of stray and/or abandoned animals; spay and neutering, vaccination and microchipping of adoptable animals; and countywide dog licensing. Animal Care also has a veterinary center that provides the public with low-cost spay/neuter, vaccination, and microchipping services. A Memorandum of Understanding on Provisions of Animal Care Services exists between the County of Solano and the seven cities within the County. Solano County Animal Care has experienced staffing challenges which have affected these services.
Background information is also being provided on current services as they pertain to community cats, sometimes referred to as feral cats, which has been the subject of public comments during recent Board Meetings. Animal Care has provided a variety of programs and services including Trap-Neuter-Return program, has established a Community Cat program to assess the unique needs of every cat entering shelter care, participated in Spay Day events, implemented a Hip To Be Tipped Program, a Trap Loan Program, and participated in Homeless Outreach events with local law enforcement agencies to provide animal medical care, vaccinations and spay/neuter services to pets of homeless individuals. Some of these programs have been impacted by staff shortages and COVID-19 impacts as further described in the Discussion section.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
A Memorandum of Understanding on the Provision of Animal Care Services (MOU) was entered into on December 30, 2012 by the County of Solano and the seven cities, it requires the cities to make payments covering the prior year net shelter costs based on the percentages of animals received into the shelter from each city to the total animals received by the shelter. Some prior public commenters suggested possible use of ARPA funds to expand services to address the community cats population. Use of ARPA funds for this purpose is outside the scope of the Sheriffs’ Office budget. The costs associated with preparing the agenda item and presentation are nominal and absorbed by the department’s FY2021/22 Adopted Budget.
DISCUSSION:
Background
Solano County Animal Care (Animal Care) provides care, shelter, and placement of stray and/or abandoned animals; spay and neutering, vaccination and microchipping of adoptable animals; and countywide dog licensing. Animal Care also has veterinary services which offer low-cost spay/neuter to the public, as well as vaccination and microchipping services. The Animal Care Shelter is a 24-hour operation engaged in the care of animals housed at the shelter, certain specialized services have more limited hours, including public access hours.
Community Cats
Community cats (a.k.a. feral cats) are not pets, they are free-roaming cats that live outdoors without care from a responsible pet owner. Community cats exist in most communities around our State and in every corner of the world, regardless of climate. Community cats are the most significant contributor to free-roaming cat over population, feline disease, and transmission and health issues, and as a result, they are more often euthanized. Community cats are not suited to live as indoor pets or to be confined in a shelter even for a short period of time, as this can be extremely stressful and detrimental to their health and quality of life. After having been spayed or neutered and vaccinating, the best live outcome for individual cats and for the community members who may have been taking care of them are to return the cats to their original location, where they had been living.
Programs
Solano County Animal Care supports a non-lethal strategy known as Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) as a solution to reduce community cat overpopulation. TNR involves the careful trapping, spaying or neutering, and vaccinating of the cats.
For community cats who enter the shelter sick or injured, Animal Care has implemented a Hip To Be Tipped program in which the cats are spayed or neutered, and a small notch is made on their ear to indicated the procedure has been completed, and remain at the shelter until their health improves. Once their health improves, they are released back into the community and can easily be identified as spayed or neutered.
Animal Care offers low-cost spay/neuter services at the Solano County Animal Clinic to pet owners, the public, and local organizations who partner with Animal Care for TNR. However, due to vacancies in the Veterinary Technician (Registered) classification, a necessary classification of staff to assist in spay/neuter and other surgery, Animal Care has had to reduce clinic appointments from three days weekly to two days. Animal Care currently schedules 25 TNR procedures per week by appointment, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. As staff vacancies are filled, Animal Care will increase the number of service days back to three to include an increase in the number of TNR appointments.
To increase spay and neuter services in Solano County from three days per week to five days per week, Animal Care would need to add 2.0 FTE Veterinary Technician (Registered), 1.0 FTE Office Assistant II, and increase contract veterinarian hours by 16 hours weekly. This would allow for low cost spay and neuter surgeries five days per week with a goal of completing 75 procedures weekly. However, these are already hard to fill positions for Solano County Animal Care at this time. A decision to increase staffing has a cost implication not only to Solano County but also to the seven cities that are subject to the existing MOU.
February was recognized as Spay/Neuter Awareness Month and is a time to remind all pet owners that spaying and neutering are in the best interest of all animals. On February 22, 2022, Animal Care participated in Spay Day and schedule 30 appointments with members of the public for TNR services. Of the 30 appointments scheduled, 18 community cats were able to be humanely trapped and brought into Animal Care for TNR services.
In March of 2022, Animal Care implemented a Trap Loan Program, in which community members can borrow a trap for 7 days in order to trap community cats and bring them in for TNR services.
Twice a month, County Animal Care and County Animal Control partner with Solano County Health & Social Services and various law enforcement agencies to provide outreach services to homeless members of our County. If these individuals have pets, Animal Care will provide medical care, vaccinations, and spay/neuter services to the animals, at no cost to the individual. The cost of these services is covered by donations.
Vouchers
In November 2021, Animal Care contacted 31 veterinary hospitals to develop a TNR voucher program - 28 were not willing or able to participate, 3 indicated a $100 voucher program would be feasible at some point but were unable to participate at that time due to COVID-19 operational impacts on staffing. Animal Care staff plan to revisit this concept as COVID-19 impacts on potential veterinary operations diminish initiating this program depending on the willingness of veterinary hospitals to participate.
Staffing Challenges
Solano Animal Care has experienced challenges in attracting and retaining qualified staff. There is a nationwide shortage of veterinary professionals and only 32 accredited colleges of veterinary medicine in the United States. Between 2019 and 2021, Solano County Human Resources facilitated two Veterinary Technician (Registered) recruitments, from which two regular full-time employees were hired. During the same time period, three Veterinary Technician (Registered) resigned to pursue employment elsewhere, primarily at private veterinary clinics. When there is a vacancy, the Solano Animal Care must adjust the Animal Care clinic hours, remaining open for selected days and times. A closure impacts the revenue streams for vaccinations and spay/neuter surgeries and reduces services to the community for low-cost spay and neuter procedures.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board of Supervisors could choose not to accept the presentation; however, this alternative is not recommended as community cats are everyone’s responsibility.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
Human Resources and the County Administrator’s Office helped to develop the presentation.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
The CAO’s Office has reviewed potential use of ARPA funds to address increased service to respond to the community cat population. Initial analysis is such use would not be consistent with US Treasury guidelines to fund ongoing staffing and services. Possible use of ARPA funds for programs such as vouchers to address short term impacts including public health and disproportionate economic impacts associated with the increased cat population caused by reduced services available during the COVID-19 pandemic is still being evaluated.
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION