Animal Services Advisory Board

Animal Control Advisory Board Minutes November 16, 2016 www.wichita.gov The Animal Control Advisory Board meeting was held at 4 p.m. at 777 E. Waterman, Wichita, KS 67202. Eight Board members and three City staff were present; 13 citizens attended. Members Present Staff Present Teresa Burks Capt. Brent Allred, WPD Chris Hagman Janet Johnson, City Manager’s Office Judy Handley Donte Martin, Municipal Court Judy Hill Stephanie Fisk McCurdy Melodee Myers Christy Rafferty John Stevens Members Absent Guests Listed on last page ORDER OF BUSINESS Chair Stephanie McCurdy called the meeting to order. Minutes from the Oct. 19 meeting were approved 8-0. STAFF REPORTS Capt. Brent Allred provided Shelter statistics for October. October reclaims (animals picked up by their owner) - Dogs – 147 – 33% of total intakes - Cats – 7 – 2% of total intakes - Other – 1 – 5% of total intakes - Total reclaims 155 - 19% October transfers (animals taken by KHS or other rescues) - Dogs – 268 - 60% of total intakes - Cats – 196 – 57% of total intakes - Other – 9 – 43% of total intakes - Total – 475 – 59% of total intakes October euthanasia - Dogs – 28- 6% of total intakes - Cats – 141 – 41% of total intakes - Other – 7 – 18% of total intakes - Total – 178 – 22% of total intakes October dog bites totaled 42 - District 1 – 14 - District 2 – 5 - District 3 – 7 - District 4 – 7 Page 1 of 6  Animal Control Advisory Board Minutes November 16, 2016 www.wichita.gov - District 5 – 2 - District 6 – 7 October dogs deemed dangerous totaled 18 - District 1 – 0 - District 2 – 2 - District 3 – 3 - District 4 – 4 - District 5 – 1 - District 6 – 9 - Capt. Allred reported they have changed the schedules for supervisors. The two supervisors now work four 10 hour days and their schedules are staggered so there is a supervisor working every day, including the weekends. He said staff continue to work on the volunteer program for the Shelter and 10 additional cameras have been ordered for the Shelter – eight will be placed inside the facility and two outside. Capt. Allred also reported that a transformer blew a couple of weeks ago and knocked out power at the Shelter and damaged some equipment including the washer and dryer. He reported a part-time position has recently been filled at the Shelter and they are in the process of hiring two full time Animal Control Officers. Judy Hill said it was previously reported that the Law Department had already approved the volunteer program and she wanted to know why they had to approve it again. Allred said portions of the program have been approved, but not all of it. Hill asked how they plan on advertising for volunteers; Allred said most likely word of mouth and Facebook. He said the number of volunteers will be limited to a number that staff are able to manage. She also asked what the new staff would be doing; Allred said the part-time person will work in the Shelter and the two full-time positions will be in the field. Hill also asked of the 28 dogs that were euthanized, if there was one particular breed that stands out; Allred said he didn’t have that information. Teresa Burks asked if there was a way to tell if the bites occurred on premise or off; Janet Johnson said the data committee is working with WPD staff to determine what all can be pulled via Crystal reports. Capt. Allred said he would follow up with WPD data staff to see where they are on compiling the various requested reports. Kansas Humane Society was not present to provide an update on their operations. COMMITTEE REPORTS Spay Neuter Committee Teresa Burks, committee chair, presented and reviewed a draft rack card and billboard messaging. The committee is looking at possibly posting the information on a website such as wichitapits.com which would be easy to remember. She said they want to target the geographical areas that have the most pit bulls showing up in the Shelter. Burks said the committee would like to get approval from the Board to pass the rack card on to the City for approval. Page 2 of 6  Animal Control Advisory Board Minutes November 16, 2016 www.wichita.gov Action Taken: Hill/Myers made a motion to submit the rack card to the City for final edits and approval. Motion passed 8-0. Burks said the next committee meeting will be at 4:15 p.m. on Dec. 6th at the Wichita Animal Shelter. Dangerous Dog Committee John Stevens, committee chair, said they didn’t have City staff available, so they didn’t have their committee meeting this month. He passed out a document the committee is working from that depicts some of the challenges with dangerous dogs. He said he had been contacted by citizen Ramie Reed and asked if she could address the Board regarding a dangerous dog situation. Reed, who lives at 110 N. Mt. Carmel, shared with the Board the issues she is having with her neighbor’s dogs that are animal aggressive. She provided photographs and vet bills supporting her claims. McCurdy confirmed with Reed that Animal Control did investigate and took action where ordinances were violated. Capt. Allred will have all of the reports pulled and review what actions have been taken in order to determine if there is anything additional that Animal Control can do. Data Collection Committee Judy Handley, committee chair, said the committee didn’t meet this month, they are still waiting on the finalization of the software transition. Trap, Neuter, Release (TNR) Committee Judy Handley, committee chair, reported the first meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at the Central Library, 3rd Floor. Action Taken: Receive and file. Sarah Coffman, Wichita Animal Action League, raised an objection to the address of the aggressive dogs Reed talked about being provided to the Board. Stevens felt like it was acceptable as the information came from the citizen whose dogs had been injured and not from an official source. NEW BUSINESS Municipal Court overview Donte Martin, Municipal Court Director, explained that Wichita has the largest Municipal Court in the state and they handle all types of cases with the exception of felony cases, which are heard in District Court. He said Municipal Court cases carry jail sentences of a year or less and the fines never exceed $2,500. He explained it’s not unusual for defendants found guilty to receive probation. He said they can be sentenced to up to one year probation and if they aren’t Page 3 of 6  Animal Control Advisory Board Minutes November 16, 2016 www.wichita.gov successful, the probation can be extended a year. In terms of animal cases, he said the Judge has the discretion to levy a fine, probation or jail time as well as the ability to seize animals and prohibit animal ownership. He said for other offenses, it’s common for the defendant to be ordered to some type of educational program. He said Municipal Court currently does not have any education components for those convicted of animal offenses. Martin also explained the difficulty in collecting Municipal Court fines. He gave a brief overview of court processes, what the responsibilities of the prosecutor are and what the responsibilities of the Judge are. He said when a person receives a fine, they have 30 days to either pay it in full or set up a payment plan. If it’s a traffic offense, the Court can ask the State to suspend the person’s driver’s license if they don’t pay their court fine, but for other offenses, they don’t have that option. He explained that if a person doesn’t pay their fine on an animal case, the only thing the Court can do is refer it to a collection agency. He also explained that the prosecutors have a lot of power regarding cases; for example they have the ability to dismiss charges. Janet Johnson told the Board that Assistant City Attorney Jan Jarman, after reviewing a number of cruelty cases, said she thought there were additional actions the prosecutor could be taking on some of the cases and that she was willing to take a closer look at those. John Stevens asked who the Judges answer to; Martin said they are appointed by City Council to a four year term. Teresa Burks said part of the problem with Municipal Court is you get very little information in the dispositions. Martin agreed and said that detailed information is available through the prosecutor. Judy Hill asked which Judge hears animal cases; Martin said Bryce Abbott. Hill asked if the Judge can order removal of the animals; Martin said yes that is within the Judge’s discretion. A citizen asked on a dog bite incident, how long is it before the owner goes to court? Martin said the first appearance typically occurs within 30 days and it varies after that. He said normally a case will be adjudicated within 180 days, but if it goes to trial it can take longer. Teresa Burks asked if a defense attorney could find ways to drag it out; Martin said yes, but the Judges try to keep the number of continuances down. A citizen asked what happens if a person is a no show for court; Martin said a bench warrant is issued. A citizen asked about the number of cases and charges being dismissed. Ellen Querner, Spay Neuter Kansas, said the clinic has three to four pit bulls a week in for services after being court ordered. The clinic provides paperwork to the court that the surgery has been performed and then often that charge will be dismissed. Page 4 of 6  Animal Control Advisory Board Minutes November 16, 2016 www.wichita.gov McCurdy asked if the Board would consider moving the Cruelty and Neglect item to the next meeting so they would have more time to review the information. Action Taken: Burks/Hageman made a motion to move the agenda item to the December meeting. Motion passed 8-0. Dog park survey The Board reviewed the draft survey questions. The Board suggested keeping the survey open 30 days and Judy Handley agreed to compile the data from the one open-ended question. Action Taken: Burks/Hageman made a motion to approve the survey. Motion passed 8-0. ACAB newsletter The Board was sent a sample of an electronic newsletter that could be distributed monthly detailing Board and Animal Control activities. The newsletter could be posted on the Police Department’s Facebook page and then Board members could link to it from their personal FB pages. Action Taken: Burks/McCurdy made a motion to implement the electronic newsletter. Motion passed 8-0. PUBLIC AGENDA Scheduled items George Theoharis, member of the dangerous dog committee, wanted to speak about the phone issues at Animal Control dispatch, but before talking about that, asked if the Board was still going to meet on Dec. 21st. McCurdy asked the Board if they still wanted to meet in December. The Board said they wanted to meet in December, but asked if the meeting could be moved up a week to December 14. McCurdy also clarified how member selections are made regarding ACAB committees. She said leadership reviews the list of volunteers and selects participants that will be representative of all sides of the issue being addressed and subject matter expertise is also considered. Theoharis reported he called Animal Control to report a dead opossum and was on hold for 25 minutes. He said he then called Lt. Schroeder who investigated and discovered there was an issue with the phone system. Theoharis said he called back and at that point was 4th in the que and finally gave up after being number three for 10 minutes. He said he called back the next day and got right through. He also passed out a sheet that clarifies when to call 911. Teresa Burks shared that she had recently had to contact Animal Control about a couple of dogs running at large – one of which was aggressive – and the response was very prompt. Page 5 of 6  Animal Control Advisory Board Minutes November 16, 2016 www.wichita.gov Off Agenda items Randi Carter and Melodee Myers both shared situations where they weren’t sure that Animal Control had completed re-checks on cruelty and neglect reports. Janet Johnson asked that they e-mail her specific addresses so the City could report back on what actions have been taken. Judy Hill talked about being at the Shelter and only two staff working the front desk. She said one was on the phone and the other was waiting on customers with a line that was three people deep. She said the phone just kept ringing and ringing and that it’s no wonder the Shelter gets a bad reputation. She said she offered to answer the phone and she wondered why the two supervisors weren’t up front helping. She said she has been there six times and has never seen the supervisors. A citizen asked a question about animals being quarantined for a rabies hold. McCurdy said if the animals are picked up by Animal Control for biting, it’s an automatic 10 day quarantine. Burks explained how quarantine works. Amy Heggestad said the quarantine is also part of the deemed dangerous process. John Stevens said he agreed with George, he tried to call Animal Control and the first two times he got nothing and the third time he got a recording. He said that’s unacceptable for a government agency. Burks said if you listen to the recording options it gives one that connects you with the dispatcher. McCurdy said it’s just like 911 where if there’s a high call volume, you get a recording. It was suggested the call volume be discussed at the next meeting. Board Agenda Issues and Updates Judy Hill asked about moving the meeting time; McCurdy said no one else was interested in moving the meeting. Action Taken: Receive and file Adjourned Guests George Theoharis Cheryl Taskinen Amy Heggestad Randi Carter Lonny Wright Sarah Coffman Arlene Piatkowski Amanda Hackerott Ellen Querner Beth Biehler Donna Wirth Kim Pugliese Page 6 of 6