Report says Animal Services should be run by Sheriff’s Dept.
Calaveras County Animal
Services “operated more efficiently and effectively” when it was part of the
Sheriff’s Department and should be returned to that agency, according to the
final report of the county’s 2014-2015 Grand Jury.
Animal Services has been part
of the Environmental Management Agency since October of 2012. The
recommendation that animal control officers and the animal shelter should
instead be part of the Sheriff’s Department is just the most controversial of a
number of recommendations that the report issued last week makes on topics
ranging from the county’s budgeting process to the drought.
The Calaveras Humane Society
defended the current Animal Services administration, saying that fewer animals
are now being euthanized and that the leadership has encouraged volunteers such
as those who helped run a pet adoption event Saturday at the shelter.
The report says that the Grand
Jury visited the Animal Services facility in San Andreas, reviewed a variety of
documents, and listened to the Animal Services after-hours phone recording.
“The Grand Jury found through
testimony that ACS (Animal Services) operated more efficiently when under the
control of the Sheriff’s Department,” the report said. In particular, the
report added, “after-hours emergencies are seldom responded to in a timely
manner, if at all.” The report also criticized the Animal Services website as
being “outdated.”
In defense of Animal Services,
however, the report noted that the department has been understaffed “for
years.”
That understaffing was part of
the reason Sheriff Gary Kuntz wanted to get rid of the department several years
ago when it was transferred to the Environmental Management Agency.
“The last time I had Animal
Services under me, it wasn’t half bad, but then they cut staff and I had to
have deputies answering dog calls,” Kuntz said, referring to budget cut
decisions the county board of supervisors made in response to declining
revenues.
“I know that it hasn’t been run
very well since I let it go. It is never open,” Kuntz said. “For a long time
afterwards people (with animal complaints) kept calling me.”
But Kuntz said he would be
reluctant to again assume responsibility for Animal Services unless county
leaders are willing to fund it adequately.
“I am not saying no, but I’d
have to be in some heavy negotiations to even consider taking that place back,”
Kuntz said. “It is very expensive to run an animal shelter.”
Those currently involved in
operating Animal Services or in supplying volunteers there share Kuntz’s lack
of enthusiasm for a transfer to the Sheriff’s Office, although they differ in
their view of the current operation.
“I think it is a horrid
suggestion. I think it is absolutely abominable,” said Debby Beaufort,
chairwoman of Friends of Calaveras Animal Services, a nonprofit organization
that raises funds for the agency.
“I would guess that if they
gave it back to the Sheriff’s Office, I would say that 75 to maybe even 100
percent of the volunteers would leave,” Beaufort said.
Beaufort said that she and
other volunteers trust the leadership of Animal Services Manager Henning
Schreiber and Environmental Services Agency Director Brian Moss.
“They are improving the staff.
They are improving the attitude. They are improving the morale,” Beaufort said.
Calaveras Humane Society
President Jo Ingraham said she fears the proposal to transfer Animal Services
is really a money grab by the Sheriff’s Department.
“Downum transferred the money
into his pocket and added one patrol staff. And that is exactly what Kuntz
wants to do,” Ingraham said, referring to a budget cycle during the
administration of former Sheriff Dennis Downum in which elimination of an
animal control officer allowed the Sheriff’s Department to shift funds to
personnel needs elsewhere.
The Humane Society on Sunday
issued a written response that disputed most of the Grand Jury’s findings in
regard to Animal Services. The Humane Society praised the shelter for
increasing the rate of adoptions and reducing the proportion of animals
euthanized in the years since control was transferred to the Environmental
Management Agency.
The Humane Society said that
Animal Services has succeeded in increasing volunteer support and bringing in
more donations the last few years. “A perfect example of this relationship
occurred this past Saturday when an adoption event was held at the shelter and
with staff and volunteers working together seven dogs and pups and nine cats
and kittens were adopted by the public,” the Humane Society letter said.
Schreiber, the current
administrator for Animal Services, said he also disagrees with the Grand Jury’s
conclusion.
“I don’t know what criteria
they used to come to the conclusion it was more efficient under the sheriff,”
Schreiber said. “I think that is the wrong conclusion.”
Schreiber said his agency has
little ability to respond after hours because it has only two full-time animal
control officers. With more officers, he would be able to have at least one on
call at all times, Schreiber said.
Neither Kuntz nor Schreiber
wants to see sheriff deputies pressed into service as animal control officers.
“A sheriff deputy is about
twice as expensive as an animal control officer,” Schreiber said.
Other findings and
recommendations by the 2014-2015 Calaveras County Grand Jury:
• The county administration did
not mislead the board of supervisors or the public about county finances during
the 2013-14 fiscal year nor during adoption of the 2014-15 budget. The Grand
Jury received a complaint that there had been misrepresentations that led to
unwarranted cuts. Kuntz was the public official who was most at odds with other
county leaders during adoption of the 2014-15 budget. When asked if he was the
one who made the complaint to the Grand Jury, he said “No. I don’t believe I
did.” Kuntz acknowledged, however, that he does believe county administrators
misled the board. “I don’t believe we’re in as bad a shape as the people with
the finances say we are.”
• County water agencies should
set aside funding from property taxes to assist property owners with failed
wells. Also, the county government and water agencies should work together to
track well failures and plan how to cope with a long drought.
• All six public water agencies
in the county should submit quarterly budget reports to the Calaveras County
Board of Supervisors and the county and those agencies should promote water
conservation even during times of ample water supply.
• The Vallecito Conservation
Camp, a base for prison inmate fire crews, is “well maintained” and “orderly.”
June
23, 2015
Calaveras
Enterprise
By Dana
Nichols
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