2011-256 AS - Renewal with Town of Chapel Hill for County Provision of Animal Control, Emergency Animal After-Hours Call Services, Collection of Pet License Fees

Browse Search

EXHIBIT A: GUIDELINES FOR EMERGENCY AFTER HOUR CALLS TO THE CONTRACT BETWEEN THE TOWN AND ORANGE COUNTY FOR THE PROVISION OF` ANIMAL CONTROL SERVICES Regular service involves an Animal Control Officer (ACO) being stationed at the Animal Services Center Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. This ACO has principal responsibility for enforcing the Town's animal control ordinance within the Town limits and responding to calls about stray animals and other such requests for animal services. Orange County Animal Control Officers will provide emergency services outside of regular business hours (from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.), Monday through Friday, and 24-hours on Saturday, Sunday and holidays. These services include rabies exposures, dangerous animals, exigent animal cruelty and animals in immediate need of assistance. The Town will perform "triage" of after-hours service requests in accordance with guidelines jointly developed by Animal Services and the Chapel Hill Police Department. PROCEDURES FOR ORANGE COUNTY AND TOWN RESPONSE TO EMERGENCY AFTER-HOURS ANIMAL CALLS 1. Injured Deer - A CHPD officer will respond to locate and euthanize. If the deer is a slightly injured fawn, the CHPD officer may consult with a rehabber such as CLAW's Inc. to make arrangements for its removal. The on-call ACO will assist with this coordination as needed. 2. Owned Injured Animals - A CHPD officer will respond or otherwise instruct the owner to take the animal to their veterinarian or the after-hours emergency veterinary clinic to be cared for or euthanized. 3. Neglect/Cruelty Situations - A CHPD Officer will respond and make an assessment. If the situation is severe, they will contact the on-call ACO for assistance. If it is not severe, they shall document in an incident report. The report will be sent to the Animal Services Center the next business day for investigation. 4. Strays - A CHPD Officer will respond or otherwise instruct the caller to take the animal to the Animal Services Center and leave in the Drop Box. 5. Aggressive Dogs ~- A CHPD Officer will respond to assess and confirm the presence of the reported animal: If the owner cannot be located to secure the dog, the on-call ACO shall be contacted to assist in capturing the dog. 6. The on-call ACO will respond to any call(s) related to: Rabies Exposures; Bites to Humans; Injured Strays. 7. The on-call ACO will not respond to the following calls: nuisance wildlife; and injured or orphaned wildlife. Unless there is an immediate issue of public safety, the on-call ACO will not respond to calls about snakes. If these calls make their way through Communications, members of the public are to be referred to the Animal Services webpage or asked to call Animal Services during regular business hours for appropriate referral.