DuPage County Animal Services Committee met May 17.
Here are the minutes provided by the committee:
1. CALL TO ORDER
7:30 AM meeting was called to order by Chairman Brian J. Krajewski at 7:30 AM. The meeting was called to order at 7:30am
2. ROLL CALL
PRESENT: DeSart, Eckhoff, Garcia, Krajewski, Rutledge, Tornatore (joined the meeting at 7:38am)
ABSENT: None
A quorum was present in the room.
3. PUBLIC COMMENT
No public comment.
4. CHAIRMAN'S REMARKS - CHAIR KRAJEWSKI
No Chairman's Remarks.
5. MINUTES APPROVAL
A. Animal Services Committee - Regular Meeting - Mar 15, 2022 7:30 AM All in favor. No questions or comments.
| RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Dawn DeSart, Vice Chair SECONDER: Paula Deacon Garcia, District 2 AYES: DeSart, Deacon Garcia, Krajewski, Eckhoff, Rutledge ABSENT: Tornatore |
A. AS-P-0165-22 Recommendation for the approval of a contract to RWE Design Build, for professional construction manager services on an at-risk basis, to execute the work scope detailed for the Animal Services facility addition, for Animal Services, for a contract total amount of $10,967,013, in accordance with the Professional Services Selection Process found in Section 2-353 of the DuPage County Procurement Ordinance, effective through November 30, 2024. (PARTIAL ARPA ITEM)
Member Garcia commented that she is very excited about the proposed Animal Services renovation. Chairman Krajewski commented that Hinsdale Humane Society and West Suburban Humane Society used RWE Design Build for their recent shelter construction projects. Laura added that RWE is currently finishing up construction on South Suburban Humane Society.
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Dawn DeSart, Vice Chair SECONDER: Sheila Rutledge, District 6 AYES: DeSart, Deacon Garcia, Krajewski, Eckhoff, Rutledge ABSENT: Tornatore |
A. Grant Proposal Notifications -- GPN 028-22: DuPage Animal Friends Foundation Coordinator Grant FY22 - DuPage Animal Friends - Department of Animal Services - $20,000. (DuPage Animal Services)
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Paula Deacon Garcia, District 2 SECONDER: Dawn DeSart, Vice Chair AYES: DeSart, Deacon Garcia, Krajewski, Eckhoff, Rutledge ABSENT: Tornatore |
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Dawn DeSart, Vice Chair SECONDER: Sheila Rutledge, District 6 AYES: DeSart, Deacon Garcia, Krajewski, Eckhoff, Rutledge ABSENT: Tornatore |
Member Tornatore joined the meeting at this time.
Laura thanked the community for their support during Giving DuPage Days (GDD). She also thanked the DAF board and praised them for the wonderful job they did on their GDD campaign. DAF finished in first place raising just over $56,000 and exceeding their goal of $50,000. Laura shared that the GDD virtual event has been a huge benefit for the community. DCAS and DAF enjoyed getting together in person on the last night of the event at Dry City in Wheaton to watch the final results, thank supporters in person, and celebrate the success of other groups participating in GDD.
The SVV spay/neuter season has begun with Feral Fixers starting with practice days with our new SVV veterinarian. Securing a veterinarian for the vehicle has been challenging this year following the loss of both former SVV veterinarian and part time SVV Vet Tech. We will make every effort to keep SVV numbers up, but Laura cautioned the committee that numbers might be low this year due to challenges with scheduling veterinary personnel. Laura added that she is looking at ways the SVV can also be used to help other area shelters that are also struggling with their own vet shortages.
Shelter intake has been steady. Staff are still seeing an increase in requests for assistance from out-of-county residents. DCAS is trying to manage intake while also meeting the needs of our own community first. The shelter has taken in 624 domestic animals so far this year. Adoptions are up this year over last year but animals that are staying in our system, namely large dogs, are staying with us longer as staff struggles to find adoption, foster or rescue placement for them.
DCAS is working with the Chicagoland Humane Coalition to launch a summer long awareness campaign on June 15th aimed at preparing potential adopters for what to expect when adopting a big dog, resources for big dog owners, etc. aimed at increasing big dog adoptions and preventing returned adoptions. Laura shared that this has been the year of the German Shepherd with DCAS seeing large numbers of shepherds, shepherd mixes, and as always, pit bull type dogs. Kitten season has started, and an abandoned pig arrived a few days ago.
Chairman Krajewski inquired about adoption numbers and whether they include animals transferred to rescue. Laura clarified that rescue transfer numbers are tracked and reported separately, as are return-to-owner numbers.
9. OLD BUSINESS
A. Animal Services Addition and Renovation Project
1. FI-R-0198-22 RESOLUTION -- Recommendation for the additional appropriation for the Animal Services Fund Company 1100, Accounting Unit 1300 $1,620,000
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Sheila Rutledge, District 6 SECONDER: Paula Deacon Garcia, District 2 AYES: Tornatore, DeSart, Deacon Garcia, Krajewski, Eckhoff, Rutledge |
| RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Sam Tornatore, District 1 SECONDER: Paula Deacon Garcia, District 2 AYES: Tornatore, DeSart, Deacon Garcia, Krajewski, Eckhoff, Rutledge |
| RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Sam Tornatore, District 1 SECONDER: Paula Deacon Garcia, District 2 AYES: Tornatore, DeSart, Deacon Garcia, Krajewski, Eckhoff, Rutledge |
| RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Dawn DeSart, Vice Chair SECONDER: Paula Deacon Garcia, District 2 AYES: Tornatore, DeSart, Deacon Garcia, Krajewski, Eckhoff, Rutledge |
Member DeSart shared an update regarding the passage of HB1711 last year. Since that time Petland has closed five stores. Three stores remain open and are in compliance. Happiness is Pets has left the state. The problem is Furry Babies. Furry Babies continues to have stores operating in Aurora, Lombard and Rockford. Furry Babies has abandoned their pet store licenses and have instead obtained a dog dealer License. There are fewer than thirty dog dealer licenses in the state of Illinois. Dog dealers refer to persons who breed animals at home and sell them out of their home. The dog dealer license is not intended for pet stores but Furry Babies and their lawyers have discovered that loophole. There is trailer legislation in the works to update the definition of dog dealer led by Representative Jonathan Carroll from Lake County who is Chairman of the IL Consumer Protection Committee. Also last Wednesday the City of Aurora Council passed a city ordinance stating that dog dealers must spay/neuter the animals they sell or be fined $500 per puppy per day.
Member DeSart would like to hold a meeting between herself, Marc Ayers of HSUS, Chairman Krajewski, Laura, Jason Blumenthal, and the State’s Attorney to discuss a county strategy that will put an end to non-compliant pet stores like Furry Babies in DuPage County. Member DeSart reminded members of the committee that DuPage County passed a humane ordinance under Public Nuisance in October 2020. Chairman Krajewski added that Lombard may want to pursue a zoning ordinance similar to the one passed in Lisle. He added that Furry Babies is currently selling animals brought in from Lake County Indiana using a sham not-for-profit organization wrapped around a puppy mill. Based on this arrangement, Furry Babies is still selling puppy mill dogs in their stores. Laura added that the IL Dept of Ag has since changed their dog dealer license application to prevent issues like this from happening in the future.
11. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7:45am.
http://dupage.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=12&ID=8072&Inline=True
Alerts Sign-up