Animal Welfare Committee

Approved: 092217 Animal Welfare Committee Meeting August 24, 2017 Davis Hall Term Exp Members Present Absent Staff Vivian Cooper X 2/28/2018 Taimi Anderson X 4/30/2021 Suzie Bellamy X (left at 7:20pm) 5/26/2018 Nick Brennan X 08/31/2020 Carol Macknis X 11/23/2018 Kathy Rodeffer X 2/28/2021 Patti Stange X 3/31/2020 Dave Turley X Guests: Councilmember PJ Brennan, Sheryl DeWalt, contract secretary The meeting was called to order at 7:00pm by Mr. Brennan, Chairperson. 1. Reviewed tonight’s agenda and in lieu of Ms. Bellamy needing to leave early for another meeting, the request was made to adjust all items needing a quorum for voting. Mr. Turley made a motion to accept the change of order on the agenda. Ms. Bellamy seconded the motion. All in favor; no opposed. 2. Reviewed the July 27, 2017 minutes. Ms.Belamy made a motion to accept the minutes. Mr. Turley seconded the motion. All in favor; no opposed. 3. Mr. Brennan had emailed a draft copy of a letter to Mayor and Council outlining the AWC request to raise funds to help with all of the expenses with the animal care. Mayor and Council have a work session on September 5 and will meet on September 12. Mr. Brennan does not believe there will be any opposition to the letter if the committee agrees to submit. Ms. Bellamy made a motion to approve and submit Mr. Brennan’s letter to Mayor and Council for AWC fundraising efforts. Mr. Turley seconded the motion. All in favor; no opposed. 4. Ms. Cooper mentioned that she had a conversation with Finance on the vet expenses budgeted line item. If the AWC agrees to transfer funds from the donation account to cover current vet expenses, finance will complete upon approval of these minutes. If Mayor and Council agree to the fundraising efforts, those monies can be deposited into the donation account. The current amount of vet expenses is $2803.96. Ms. Bellamy made a motion to transfer $2803.96 from the donation account for the exceptional vet expenses beyond the $3000 vet services budgeted line item. Mr. Turley seconded the motion. All in favor; no opposed. 5. Ms. Cooper reported as follows: a. AWC fund balance is $12,046. A deposit of $526 was made into the account to include donations from the Farmer’s Market and adoption monies. b. Vet Services are $4075. c. Animal Control Cost recovery is $180. d. Intake of animals as follows: i. 1 puppy - Jelly  e. Adoption Report i. Tootie (dog) ii. 5 kittens: Baylor & Leo together, Nova & Divot together, Stella iii. 1 cat: Lela f. Fosters/Petco i. 3 underage kittens with Ms. Rodeffer ii. Liriope & Calliope at Petco (should be adopted together) iii. Orb, Kar and Sly (kittens) at Petco iv. Gus and Jelly at shelter 6. Discussed Farmer’s Market dates and activities. The Rabies clinic and Microchipping will be on Sunday, September 17 at the Downtown Farmer’s Market (City Hall). Ms. DeWalt made flyers for distribution. “Tricks N Treats” with microchipping on Saturday, October 28 at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market. Ms. Cooper thought it would be a great idea to take pictures of the animals in costumes. Ms. DeWalt volunteered to make a flyer for “Tricks N Treats.” 7. The state of Maryland has updated requirements with respect to the Open Meetings Act that pertains not only to the Mayor and City Council, but also to our City appointed Boards and Committees. The requirement is that each Board and Committee (which is considered a “public body” for this purpose) must designate at least one person to complete training on the Maryland Open Meetings Act. The on-line class is the easiest way to do this. Staff liaisons and contract secretaries are also being asked to complete the training. Once training is complete, please forward the certificate of completion to Yvette Allen at yallen@collegeparkmd.gov . The City Clerk’s office will keep the certificates on file. Training should be completed by October 1. This is the link to the on-line class: http://www.igsr.umd.edu/VLC/OMA/class_oma_intro1.php. This is the link to the Attorney General’s page that explains all of this: http://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/Pages/OpenGov/OpenMeetings/training.aspx. Mr. Brennan volunteered to take the class on behalf of AWC. 8. There are no updates on the feral cat colonies. Neither Ms. Davis nor Mrs. Williams have contacted Ms. Cooper. 9. The City sent a thank you letter to the VFW for allowing several City committees to hold their meetings there while construction was being completed at Davis Hall. 10. Discussed Ms. Cooper’s time off. Ms. DeWalt will cover Friday, October 25. Ms. Stange indicated, via email, she could cover Monday – Wednesday, August 28-30. Ms. DeWalt volunteered to cover Friday, October 13. 11. If Mayor and Council agree to the fundraiser efforts, the next meeting is September 28. That is also the night for the probable fund raiser with Blaze Pizza from 6pm-9pm. The City Clerk’s office has indicated having the meeting at Blaze Pizza would not be appropriate. Therefore, we would meet at 7pm at City Hall. Before and after the meeting, we will be at Blaze Pizza, pending approval from Mayor and Council. 12. Discussed the “Beagle Bill,” AKA House Bill 528. The synopsis of the bill is to allow research animals that have potential for adoption to be released to a rescue, foster group, etc. After  discussion amongst the committee members, Ms. Rodeffer made a motion to approach Mayor and Council to allow AWC to endorse House Bill 528. Mr. Turley seconded the motion. All in favor; no opposed. 13. Ms. Stange has asked for a reimbursement of $21.21 for news keys to the cat habitat at Petco. Ms. Rodeffer made a motion to reimburse Ms. Stange. Mr. Turley seconded the motion. All in favor; no opposed. 14. Mr. Brennan reported that there is a sign on the Patuxent Avenue house with the feral cat colony to please not feed the cats. Ms. Cooper reported that Mrs. Williams has moved to Cambridge and left the care of the feral cats to the new owner. The new owner would prefer not to have the cats and has asked for assistance and guidance. 15. The next meeting is scheduled for September 28, 2017 at 7:00pm at City Hall. Mr. Turley made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Brennan seconded the motion. All in favor; no opposed. The meeting was adjourned at 7:55pm. Respectfully submitted by Sheryl DeWalt, contract secretary.