Tuesday, March 17, 2015

[Kings County] Grand jury seeks changes to animal control


Recommendations issued for county, cities

Kings County, Hanford, Lemoore, Corcoran and Avenal need to make changes to their animal control operations, according to a Kings County Grand Jury report.
The 24-page document praises animal control workers in the various cities and at the county’s animal shelter in Hanford, but identifies a number of actions the grand jury thinks need to be implemented.
In all, there are 16 findings and recommended actions.
Animal control services are offered by the Kings County Sheriff’s Office and by the city police departments. Animals impounded in county jurisdiction, Hanford and Lemoore go to the Kings County Animal Shelter in Hanford. Animals impounded in Avenal and Corcoran go to the shelter in Avenal.
According to the report, the county’s shelter “is lacking space to efficiently conduct daily operations.”
That report lists as an example that the animal intake room also being used to store dog and cat food. Separating the two functions would “cut down on the possibility of contamination of the food supply,” the report states.
In an interview, Sheriff Dave Robinson expressed concern that building a bigger shelter would detract from the main animal control goal, which he said is to increase the number of animals being fixed.
"If you build the bigger building, guess what?," he said. "We’re just going to be bringing in more animals."
The report also recommends that the shelter accept payment with credit and debit cards.
“The county is actually working on that right now,” Robinson said, adding that he thinks it’s an issue in multiple county departments.
“I hope it’s completed very soon,” he said.
Hanford and Lemoore animal control services also don’t offer payment via debit/credit card, according to the report.
Hanford Police Chief Parker Sever that Hanford animal control officers had “already been looking into accepting payments by credit card and debit card for convenience.” He said it'll be offered "in the next 30 days."
Lemoore Finance Director Cheryl Silva said that Lemoore is hoping to have a debit/credit card-friendly system in place by October.
The grand jury found that a “large percentage of animals from Avenal and Corcoran are euthanized at the Avenal Animal Shelter.”
The report suggests that Avenal officers “expand their outreach [to] no-kill rescue shelters.”
Avenal officials couldn’t be reached Monday for comment.
Avenal is also taken to task for not doing spay/neutering, not vaccinating and not offering the microchip ID option for pets.
Another recommendation for Avenal — which the grand jury also issued to Hanford, Lemoore and Corcoran — is to fine the owner of every unfixed animal that is impounded.
Sever said Hanford’s animal control officers have since been instructed to issue citations.
Lemoore Police Chief Darrell Smith said the city of Lemoore is in the process of changing the animal control ordinance to comply.
In Corcoran, Police Chief Reuben Shortnacy said officers impose administrative fees rather than citations.
The county and the cities are required to issue written responses to the report within 90 days.
Overall, Kings County Animal Services Manager Teri Rockhold said she’s “fairly pleased with the report.”
“We always welcome anyone who wants to talk to us about what we do,” she said.
Rockhold said the goal is to get more pets spayed and neutered in the hopes of eventually reducing the large percentage of unfixed/unclaimed animals that fill up the shelter.
The county is in the process of considering a move to a mandatory spay/neuter policy. That change would bring it in line with similar policies in place in Lemoore and Hanford.
“The goal is to stop [unfixed animals] from coming through the door,” Rockhold said.
March 17, 2015
Hanford Sentinal
By Seth Nidever

No comments: