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
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