Mendocino County HHSA director responds to grand jury report on animal care

October 25, 2014

Ukiah Daily Journal

By Adam Randall

The response from the director of the Mendocino County Health and Human Services Agency regarding the grand jury's report on the delivery of county animal care services has been released.

Of the eight findings in the report seeking response from the HHSA, Stacey Cryer disputed each, and implemented one of the three recommendations for training shelter staff in negotiations, including contracts.

Most notably, Cryer addressed the organizational separation of both animal control and animal care, overall capacity of the shelter and staff morale.

The grand jury alleged that separation of both animal control and animal care services has led to problems between both departments. Animal control is under the direction of the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, while the operation of the animal shelter is under the HHSA. The grand jury has made a recommendation to the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors to integrate both departments under the control of MCSO.

Cryer disagreed with the finding that organizational separation between the two departments is causing issues by saying, "animal care services successfully works with animal control officers from the county as well as from the cities of Ukiah, Willits and Fort Bragg to deliver fully integrated animal control and animal care services to the citizens of Mendocino County."

As far as the shelter being overcrowded, Cryer stated that the annual number of boarded animals remains under the total allotted capacity of the shelter.

She said the shelter capacity for dogs is 86 regular kennels, and 134 for cats and kittens.

Between July 1, 2013 and June 1, 2014, Cryer said there were an average of 73 dogs at the shelter and an average of 63 cats. She said each regular kennel typically houses one dog, but several small dogs or a mother with puppies may be placed together in a single kennel.

Because Cryer said the shelter was not overcrowded, there was no evidence this issue could affect staff morale, nor did the jury provide any evidence of the alleged "detrimental well-being" of the housed animals, she said.

"The grand jury report offers no evidence to support the claim that the morale of shelter staff or volunteers has suffered due to the number of animals being cared for," Cryer said. "There is no evidence of overcrowding. Animals are regularly exercised and cared for. When the shelter population beings to approach capacity, steps are taken to relieve overcrowding, including encouraging adoptions, working with volunteer foster homes and local animal rescue groups."

The sole recommendation implemented by Cryer was to have management be trained in all aspects of shelter operations, contracts, negotiations and implementation of contracts.

Cryer said with the recommendation, "General Services Agency staff is trained in negotiations and will negotiate any or all contracts. Additionally, GSA has developed new procedural guidelines and will be providing annual training which includes contracts."

The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors has six months from the date of the original grand jury report, or Dec. 9, to implement any recommendations suggested on their end, which includes whether or not to take the operational aspect of the shelter out of the hands of the HHSA, and move it into the care of the Sheriff's Office.

Cryer's full response can be found on the grand jury website at http://www.co.mendocino.ca.us/grandjury/13-14/index.htm.