County of Du Page Animal Services Committee met March 16.
Here is the minutes provided by the committee:
1. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Brian J. Krajewski at 7:30 AM.
2. ROLL CALL
PRESENT: DeSart (Remote), Eckhoff, Garcia, Krajewski (Remote), Rutledge, Tornatore
ABSENT:
3. PUBLIC COMMENT
No public comment.
4. CHAIRMAN'S REMARKS - CHAIR KRAJEWSKI
Chairman Krajewski provided a brief update on legislative bills the committee has been following.
HB572 the pet finance bill passed Consumer Protection Committee on March 8th with a unanimous 6-0 vote. Chairman Krajewski has spoken with Seth Lewis from DuPage who is on the Consumer Protection Committee to encourage support of the bill. The bill attracted quite a bit of public comment from the pet store lobby who rallied their pet stores and employees to provide comment and file witness slips in opposition to the bill.
On March 15th the Consumer Protection Committee voted on HB1711 which would ban the retail sale of dogs and cats from puppy mills and kitten mills. More than 3,000 witness slips were filed. Five bills were filed in Springfield related to banning the sale of animals from commercial breeding facilities. Two of these bills filed by Rep. Hernandez and Rep Chesney were nearly identical to one another. Rep. Andrew Chesney took the lead on HB1711which had 25 co-sponsors. From DuPage County: Seth Lewis, Amy Grant, Deb Conroy and Ann Stava-Murray co-sponsored the bill. Amy Grant removed herself as co-sponsor on March 11th. HB1711 passed 5-1 out of committee. There is quite a bit of support for the bill in the House and our DuPage County lobbyist is working closely with DuPage County representatives to encourage their co-sponsorship.
5. MINUTES APPROVAL
A. Animal Services Committee - Regular Meeting - Feb 16, 2021 7:30 AM
| RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Dawn DeSart, Vice Chair SECONDER: Sam Tornatore, District 1 AYES: Tornatore, DeSart, Deacon Garcia, Krajewski, Eckhoff, Rutledge |
For the calendar year to-date the shelter has received just over 300 animals. Intakes are typically slower this time of year.
Kitten season has begun with the arrival of the first bottle babies at the shelter. We are preparing for the upcoming busy season by beginning to fill staff vacancies and gearing up for the return of volunteers. Bottle babies require a tremendous amount of people resources for around the clock feeding, cleaning and pottying. As the shelter does not currently have enough fosters to fill the need for bottle babies, much of this care falls on the staff until the kittens are old enough to advance the next level of foster. As a result, staff are developing informational videos that review what is involved in fostering and provide online training for fosters. The goal is to significantly increase our volunteer foster base as we head deeper into kitten season.
Staff is gearing up for surgery which is set to start up again on the specialty veterinary vehicle on May 7th.
Laura thanked DuPage Animal Friends board Vice President Stephanie Rhinesmith for attending the meeting. Staff has been working with the DAF board to gear up for Giving DuPage Days taking place April 26th-30th. DAF has aggressive fundraising goals for this year. More information will be shared with the committee in the coming days.
Laura reminded members of the committee that all are invited to participate in the DCAS virtual volunteer appreciation party scheduled for April 21st at 7pm.
Laura informed the committee that staff have been busy preparing for upcoming outreach microchip and vaccine clinics. Dr. Hanek has a new initiative to spay and neuter 100 pit bull type dogs this year. She is motivated by the number of larger intact pit bull type dogs arriving at the shelter with the goal of reducing the number of unwanted litters, reducing the number of bites, undesirable behaviors, etc. Staff are working on a plan to bring in an outside veterinarian once a week so that appointments can be scheduled on a regular basis. In the meantime, staff are working on heat mapping to find out where these animals are coming from throughout the county and where bites are occurring to target efforts.
Virtual educational programming will return at the end of March. Online bite prevention programming is also being developed in conjunction with risk management that will be offered to DuPage County employees working in the field that are at higher risk of encountering biting animals. This training will also be recorded and included in formal Training DuPage programming.
Chairman Krajewski has asked Laura to prepare suggested revisions to the current fee structure to allow greater flexibility in amending fees charged to residents in financial hardship for services like surrender, reclaim, etc. for the April committee meeting. Laura will be working with ASA Prindle to draft amended language to the code to allow for some flexibility on a case by-case basis for financial hardship. This information will be tracked for impact. Laura stated that especially during the pandemic, staff have seen an increase in animals arriving at the shelter that belong to residents who have been evicted, are living in their cars, or who cannot afford to reclaim their animal once it has been picked up as a stray. From a surrender perspective, the animals are arriving at DCAS anyway as dumped animals. It makes more sense to work with the owners so that staff are able to obtain as much historical and behavioral information on the animal as possible from the owner.
Member Rutledge inquired as to the status of volunteers at the shelter. Laura explained that only a select number of volunteers have been allowed in the building the past year. Before new volunteer recruitment is started, we will first assess what the need is based on how many of our existing volunteers return post-pandemic, then recruit and orient new volunteers based on that need.
7. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Laura shared thoughts on HB1762 which pertains to holding requirements for stray dogs and cats in animal shelters and animal control facilities. The bill requires animal shelters and animal control facilities to provide certain care to animals while being held and provides requirements for animal shelters and animal control facilities that euthanize animals.
DCAS is opposed to the bill for several reasons. For one, the reclamation and placement of animals that may present a public safety issue - toward people or other animals - is not addressed in the legislation. Additionally, the placement of animals with someone just because they are a finder may not meet the animal’s specific medical and behavioral needs, or the person may not meet adoption requirements for any reason including - but not limited to - already being in possession of a significant number of animals.
Also, there are concerns with mandating exercise. While providing environmental enrichment and exercise is important for all shelter animals and is something that DCAS places a high priority on, mandating that exercise be provided twice daily may be an issue for animals that cannot be handled safely or are under rabies observation.
Conditions to be met for euthanasia also do not address public safety concerns in a manner that aligns with how animals are assessed for those risks and include language that does not align with the criteria used by the state for legally declaring a dog dangerous. BH1762 would require that all animals at risk of euthanasia be evaluated by a certified veterinary behaviorist which sounds like a good idea, but with only a handful of CVBs in the state and each with month’s long waiting lists to get an appointment, is just not practical and would lead to “warehousing” animals. Additionally, the recommendation is cost prohibitive as typical CVB initial consultation alone can cost upwards of $500.
Member Eckhoff inquired as to the status of a formal vote to support or oppose the legislative items discussed. Chairman Krajewski stated that HB1711 and HB572 have already been shared with the Legislative committee and included in past state legislative priorities. Sheryl Markay added that both will be officially voted on by the Legislative committee next week. Sheryl also added that HB1762 is on the “oppose” list and will also be voted on by the Legislative committee next week.
Member DeSart has spoken with Representative Hernandez regarding HB168, the animal forfeiture bill which states that if you are arrested for “animal entertainment” i.e. dog fighting or similar, that all animals must be removed from the home. Member DeSart stated that she has questions about the bill including what happens if the individual is found innocent of the crime and their animals have already been forfeited. She will continue to research and hopes to get an answer to this question.
A. Animal Services Key Bill List
| RESULT: HAND OUT |
Chairman Krajewski introduced Stephanie Rhinesmith of DuPage Animal Friends and invited her to share information about the upcoming Giving DuPage Days fundraiser which she is spearheading. Stephanie asked the committee for any support they can lend with sharing marketing and communications regarding the Giving DuPage Days fundraiser, fundraising goals, and updates. Chairman Krajewski added that it is through fundraising efforts like Giving DuPage Days that DAF is able to raise the funds needed to help the staff and animals at DCAS by making it possible to do things that would not be possible without DAF’s financial support.
Member DeSart requested Giving DuPage Days marketing materials that can be shared via social media. Laura will provide DAF with committee member emails so that shareable content can be made available to committee members.
9. NEW BUSINESS
No new business.
10. ADJOURNMENT
Meeting adjourned at 7:51 AM.
http://dupage.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=15&ID=7587&Inline=True
Alerts Sign-up