Animal Services Oversight Team
January 11, 2016
3:00 pm ‐ 5:00 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 animal intake and the role of the Humane Societies in this county, Santa
Barbara and Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society representatives Peggy Langle and Emily Grossheider were
invited to participate. Animal Services staff members Joe Avalos, Trirena Barnett, Stacy Silva, Jennifer Adame,
Dr. Ginger White, Kendall Johnston, Jeanne Saadi, and Lisa Kenyon were also invited and participated as a
resource to the Team. 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
Jan
Linda
Shirley
Susan
Pete
Dr. Relly
Angela
Phil
Nancy
Dr. Takashi
Janelle
Alexander
Anderson
Barnes
Black
Erskine
Glick
Greco
Jansen
Klein-Rothschild
Miller
Nadler
Rockwell
Seymour
Vasquez
Wada
Ward
Santa Maria Valley Humane Society
Shadow's Fund
Veterinarian - Shelter Medicine
Volunteer at Large
Dog Volunteer
Animal Services
Animal Care Foundation
DAWG
Public Health
Animal Services Staff
Facilitator
ASAP
BUNS
Project Manager
Director, Public Health
K-9 PALS
Approval of Summary
Oversight Team Members were asked if the December 1st Meeting Summary accurately captured the details of
that meeting. No changes were requested.
Follow Up Items from November 9th Meeting
o Communications from Stakeholders: no communication was received.
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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. There will be two Board
items. One is a presentation to update the Board on progress with implementation of the AHA
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Recommendations. The second item is on governance. Public Health will be presenting preliminary
research and will not be making any recommendations on governance models. Team members again
expressed disappointment at not being able to discuss governance or provide input on the report and
shared their concern with trust. Based on the high policy level nature of the governance issue, all input
will be brought directly to the Board of Supervisors for an open discussion at the February meeting.
Dr. Wada ensured that information will be sent to all Oversight Team members once the Board of
Supervisors agenda item is posted the Thursday prior to the meeting. Public Health will consider
bringing preliminary research information to the February 3rd Oversight Team meeting.
o Update on work with partners regarding animals with medical issues: Animal Services is organizing the
Shelter Health Care Medical Team (SMHCT) as recommended by AHA to address the medical needs of
the animals. The County is required to provide prompt and appropriate medical care and now has a
better capacity to do this. Evaluations are being conducted on animals of concern and sent out to a
specialist if it is beyond the resources within the shelter. The County will request assistance from
partners and transfers as deemed appropriate. The MOU’s that will be developed with partners will be
helpful to clarify roles.
o Update on formation of subcommittees: The formation of the sub-committees was postponed due to
Jan Glick’s jury duty assignment. Jan announced that Pete Miller will chair the Owner Surrender and
Trirena Barnett will chair the Community Cat sub-committee. The membership of each committee
includes Oversight Team members, Animal Services staff, volunteers, and other key stakeholders with
expertise on that issue. If someone wants to participate or share information, they should speak with
their representative on the sub-committee. The Community Cat sub-committee will not merge with the
Catalyst for Cats committee as their goals are different. Committees are expected to start meeting by
February.
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
all invited. Information, tools for dealing with stress, and supporting one another will be the focus of
the training. A request was made to email the training information to all Humane Societies and other
stakeholders. Expanded participation will be considered following RSVP information from County
Animals Services staff and volunteers and the Oversight Team.
Discussion: Animal Intakes
Jan Glick provided the Team with a copy of the County policy on the Intake of an Animal as well as 4-year data
on owner surrender and relinquished animals. A primary mandate of animal control agencies is to provide a
shelter for stray animals. Roughly 80% of animal intakes over the past 4 years were strays. Staff believe the
stray numbers may be lower than reported because people are reluctant admit they are turning in their pet or
may not be able to afford the fees and instead report the animal as a stray. Jan reviewed the policy and staff
procedures, including discussion with the owner about other resources and referral to the Humane Society.
Jan acknowledged the positive partnerships between Animal Services and the three Humane Societies.
As part of the broad discussion animal intake, each of the three Humane Societies were invited to share their
policy and processes. Highlights from that discussion included:
Emily Grossheider - Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society:
 they do take owner surrenders
 an appointment is required
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no fee is charged for surrender
they currently have a wait list for intake
by the time space is available, the owner has often found another option
they have 14 dog cages and 13 cat enclosures
75% of their animals come from the SB County Shelters and 25% are owner surrender
due to limited space, behavior, size of animal and other factors are considered at intake
the primary reason for cat relinquishment is the owner passed away
they had 400 intakes in 2014
Peggy Langle – Santa Barbara Humane Society
 they’ve had many changes over the past few years and are utilizing some of the Animal Farm
Foundation models
 they do take owner surrenders, but the owner is required to show proof of residency from Ventura to
Buellton
 no fee is charged for surrender
 an appointment is required
 they ask information on where they got the animal from and use to help track backyard breeders,
along with medical information and behavioral issues
 they counsel owners on other options and solutions to problems; roughly 20% are amendable to trying
 their volunteers have had “slumber parties” in which they take a shelter animal home for a night or
weekend to watch for behavioral issues
 playgroups have been very positive in reducing behavioral issues
 they will take back any animal adopted from their shelter anytime
 they are utilizing an open adoption model with less screening of adopters to reduce barriers
 they have 45 dog kennels and 35 cat kennels
 due to the open adoption model (resulting in a reduction in dogs), they pull dogs from other shelters
 they try to take animals from within the County first, however due to a no-kill policy and few barriers,
they also take animals from the Camarillo shelter
 medical and behavioral evaluations are conducted on animals coming from the shelters
 they had 325 owner surrenders in 2015
 they no longer do owner requested euthanasia
Charlotte Alexander - Santa Maria Valley Humane Society
 they accept owner surrenders, which have increased over the last year
 10-15% of their intakes are historically owner surrender
 they require an appointment, however if their trained staff are available, they will accept a walk in
 their trained counselors promote other resources or options to relinquishment
 they ask for medical records and proof of ownership
 most animals come from Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo; they will accept animals from any location
 primary reasons for relinquishment: death, lost job, lost home
 they charge a $75 fee for relinquishment but will waive for economic reasons
 medical needs of an animal and space are primary reasons for declining an animal
 they do pull dogs from other shelters; most come from Santa Barbara County, but for diversity reasons
they take some from Taft and LA County shelters
 they utilize an open adoption model
 they do roughly 600 intakes annually; roughly 20-25% come from owner relinquishment
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Shirley Jansen – DAWG
 they accept owner surrenders
 they currently have a wait list
 DAWG has 25 small dog cages, 23 large dog cages and 15 foster placements
 they reserve 30% of large dog kennel space for pit bulls
 they provide veterinary care
 they take Santa Barbara County Animal Services dogs first, then owner surrenders
Following the presentation by the above organizations, team members discussed the organizational policies in
relation to the AHA recommendations. Interest was expressed by some in affirming a policy to take all
surrenders as a safety net. AHA recommendations suggest limiting surrenders by providing counseling on
behavioral issues and promoting other resources. The issue of accepting animals from outside Santa Barbara
County, policy vs consistency in practice, and relinquishment vs euthanasia were also raised as concerns.
Team members offered the following recommendations for the newly established Owner Surrender SubCommittee to consider:
1. owner surrender counseling with options and resources
2. one intake policy for all shelters within the county
3. an understanding of all resources available countywide
4. knowledge and use of best practices with communication to the whole system
5. consider use of open adoption model to reduce barriers for potential adopters
6. consistent intake implementation, including use of the same script
7. decrease length of stay
The Owner Surrender Sub-Committee will consider the above information, review the current policy, and
report back to the Oversight Team with recommendations.
Discussion: Prioritization of Oversight Team Discussion Items
Linda Greco shared a list of 23 prioritized AHA discussion items that she, Jan Glick and Nancy Vasquez drafted.
Prioritization was based upon items that most benefitted animals. Using post-it notes, she asked team
members to vote on their top five priorities. Results will be tallied and brought back to the Oversight Team.
Next Steps
The team agreed:
1. Jan Glick will follow-up with Emily Grossheider regarding the Compassion Fatigue trainings.
2. Future meeting topics: Jill Anderson and others will provide a presentation on the overall philosophy
and approach of the Animal Farm Foundation at the January 20th meeting. The topic is no longer
Behavior and Enrichment. At the conclusion of the presentation, the Oversight Team will identify
concepts to suggest to bring to the sub-committees and implementation of AHA recommendations.
The next meetings are:
 Wednesday, January 20th, 1:00pm - 3:00pm at Santa Maria Animal Center, Education Center
 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 5:00pm.
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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