Animal Services Oversight Team
January 20, 2016
1:00 pm ‐ 3:00 pm
Santa Barbara County - Animal Services
Meeting Summary
Welcome & Introductions
Dr. Relly Nadler welcomed all members of the Animal Services Oversight Team and guests to the meeting.
Because of the agenda item on the Animal Farm Foundation philosophy and practices, Santa Barbara Valley
Humane Society representatives Peggy Langle, Erica Jackson, and Faryn Beverino as well as Woods Humane
Society representative Jill Tucker were invited to provide information and share their practices. The role of the
Oversight Team is to advise on the implementation, including helping to prioritize tasks identified in the
American Humane Association (AHA) report. Oversight Committee members in attendance included:
Charlotte
Jill
Dr. Darcie
Amy
Chris
Linda
Shirley
Pete
Dr. Relly
Phil
Nancy
Dr. Takashi
Janelle
Alexander
Anderson
Barnes
Black
Erskine
Greco
Jansen
Miller
Nadler
Seymour
Vasquez
Wada
Ward
Santa Maria Valley Humane Society
Shadow's Fund
Veterinarian - Shelter Medicine
Volunteer at Large
Dog Volunteer
Animal Care Foundation
DAWG
Animal Services Staff
Facilitator
BUNS
Project Manager
Director, Public Health
K-9 PALS
Approval of Summary
Oversight Team Members were asked if the January 11th Meeting Summary accurately captured the details of
that meeting. No changes were requested.
Follow Up Items from January 11th Meeting
o Communications from Stakeholders: A question regarding the purpose of several Animal Services staff
at the last meeting was raised as well as the process for communicating progress on completion of the
AHA recommendations. Pete Miller, Manager of the Lompoc Shelter, shared that progress is being
made regarding implementation of the recommendations and information is provided at staff
meetings, however there is no regular joint meeting of the shelter supervisors with the Animal Services
Director. He acknowledged communication could be improved. Dr. Wada stated that he and Susan will
be meeting with Jan Glick, who has been out on jury duty, to discuss communication methods and
report back at a future meeting.
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Janelle Ward asked about the process for euthanasia decisions, the status of the Care and Evaluation
Committee, and working with outside agencies who may be able to provide resources. After a brief
discussion, the matter was deferred until Jan Glick, Animal Services Director, returns from jury duty.
o
Announcements: Dr. Wada announced that the presentation to the Board of Supervisors has been
moved to Tuesday, February 16th in Santa Barbara, based on the calendar. A time has not been
established yet. Information will be sent to all Oversight Team members once the Board of Supervisors
agenda item is posted the Thursday prior to the meeting.
o Compassion Fatigue Trainings – will be provided by Dr. Relly Nadler and held February 3rd from 2:304:30 at the Santa Barbara Humane Society and February 22nd from 12:30 – 2:30 at the Santa Maria
Animal Services Education Center. Animals Services staff, volunteers and Oversight Team members are
invited.
Presentation & Discussion: Animal Farm Foundation Philosophy
Jill Anderson and Chris Erskine presented the following information from the Animal Farm Foundation:
 Being seen as different sets pit bull apart from all dogs.
 Look at a dog as an individual.
 All of the dogs at our shelters are mixed breed dogs.
 Don't say a dog is an "ambassador for a breed."
 Base actions and decisions on the individual characteristics to all dogs.
 88% of the time professionals are incorrect in guessing the breed of a dog.
 Dogs have 20,000 genes, less than 1% of those genes affect appearance.
 We make assumptions about dogs based on appearance and what we think of breeds.
 We must get to know the individual dogs and match with what the adopter is seeking.
 Using this approach has not resulted in more returns.
 Drop labels and stereotypes; stop assigning traits to mixed breed dogs. This also applies to positive assumptions about breeds.
 The DNA is an approximation.
 There are wider differences within a breed than across breeds.
 All dogs that look the same don't act the same.
 A mixed breed dog is no breed at all.
 Where do we go from here?
o Share what we know about a dog's personality.
o Tell people we don't know the breed and explain why we don't know. Be honest.
o Encourage people to get to know individual dogs.
o Remove breeds from kennel cards and replace with information on size, energy, likes and dislikes
o Petfinder and other software systems require a breed; the label does not have to be on the card.
o Issue a statement such as "The breed is only a guess. We do not know for this mixed breed dog.
The software system requires a guess."
o Words matter; talk with people about animals as individuals rather than their breed.
o Have big and small dog areas.
o Have posters such as: "My label won't change who I am. It might change how you see me. Get to
know me."
Key points from the discussion of this approach with the Humane Societies and Shadow's Fund:
 On owner relinquishment card, note small, medium or large mixed breed.
 Describe size, color, weight and age.
 Stop being so over-protective for animals in your care. Be more open to potential
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adopters who are not perfect or ideal.
Don't bombard potential adopters with information. Let them get to know the animal.
Disclose fully about the animal’s history after they to get to know the animal.
Non-negotiables include a dog who shouldn't be in a home with a cat due to prey drive.
Ask about their home environment to ensure a good match.
Previously, the adoption process was lengthy, creating barriers. Their new approach has a shorter
form and is filled out before a potential adopter sees an animal.
Adopters with past experiences (e.g., relinquished in the past) are no longer an automatic no. Now we
counsel and ask more questions as part of the process. We try for a better relationship.
Staff have more discretion and flexibility.
Dog introductions (in the home), family member introductions, landlord checks, and premise checks
are no longer mandatory in their open adoption model.
More individual decision-making and more responsibility is put on adopters.
Returns have not increased. We tell them, if you have a questions, call us.
The adoption application is more of an adoption questionnaire; the relationship starts off differently.
Animals are no longer on hold; it’s first come, first served. On occasion, they’ll do a soft hold if an
adopter needs one hour to get the home ready, for example.
Dogs are not viewable until adoptable.
We've tightened up our counseling. You can say no to a potential adopter. The objective is to understand an animal's life with a potential adopter. If there is some concern, I might say, I'm concerned
this might not be a good fit for this reason. Let's talk about it."
Post-adoption calls/ follow-up calls are made at 3 days, 3 weeks and 3 months.
SOP's are written and can be shared.
DAWG does pre-adoptive foster placements and no immediate adoptions. Others have found some
legal concerns and believe it is in the best interest of the organization to fully transfer the animal to
the adopter.
Discussion: Prioritization of Oversight Team Discussion Items & Sub-Committee
Nancy Vasquez shared the list of 23 prioritized AHA discussion items that Oversight Team members voted on
at the January 11th meeting. Adoption, Behavior & Enrichment, and Volunteer Management were the top
three issues. Given the discussion on the Animal Farm Foundation and the interest in Adoption, the Oversight
Team agreed to form a subcommittee on this issue. The formation of sub-committees was discussed and some
concern was shared about the number of sub-committees being formed and workload, chairing of a subcommittee, meeting time and membership. Members and key elements from the presentation for the subcommittee will be identified at the Feb 3rd meeting.
Next Steps
The team agreed:
1. Add Adoption Sub-Committee and process for creating sub-committees to the Feb 3rd agenda.
2. Jan Glick will share with Oversight Team her communication methods with staff and volunteers on
AHA Recommendation progress following her return from jury duty.
The next meetings are:
 February 3rd 12:00pm-2:00pm at SBPHD Room 101/102
 February 22nd 10:00am – 12:00pm at SMAC Education Center
The meeting concluded at 3:00pm.
More information regarding the work of the Oversight Team can be found on: www.sbcphd.org. Check the
Animal Oversight Team tab at the bottom of the page.
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