2003 S Manager - Animal Protection Society of Orange County, Inc Interim Mngt & Operation Services for Orange Co Animal Shelter

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5. g ADOPTION AND RECLAMATION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES(continued) fill out an application, be interviewed, and have a home visit to insure that adequate care will be given to the animal. The pre-2002 foster animal requirements will also be in place; i.e., if the animal is over 8 weeks of age it must remain in the shelter until after the legally mandated stray date is over. Breed Rescue. This is an area for which HSUS has recommended a screening process. To put in place ashelter-related Breed Rescue Release Program, there must be an application process that includes the nonprofit status information of the group, an interview, home visits, and follow-up procedures for released animals. This would be very limited initially, as it has been in the past, until adequate staffing is available to implement the program adequately. Adoption, fostering, and release to Breed Rescue optimally require an additional person, e.g., an adoption counselor. Following HSUS recommendations, purebred animals will be housed at the Shelter initially, giving Orange County residents the first opportunity to adopt them before release to rescue groups. Temperament Testing. Temperament testing helps select animals that will have the best chance of fitting into a home situation. The Temperament Testing Program is still new in shelters. Continued upgrading and monitoring of this program will be needed. Temperament testers are dog trainers and shelter employees and not animal behaviorists. Our goal is to find ways to better utilize this program to make safer and more beneficial decisions on adoptions and euthanasia. Feral Cats. It was decided in 1997 by the Orange County Health Board and the APS Board that for public welfare reasons the Shelter should not adopt out feral cats except under special circumstances. An example of such a circumstance would be a person who has been feeding a cat for some time and wants it sterilized and is willing to accept responsibility for its care. Appeals Committee: The HSOC will ask the County to help assemble a group to serve on the Appeals Committee. Members of the group will be trained so that they understand the adoption policy and goals. Having representatives from a greater demographic area would make the committee and process stronger. Reclamations: Four fees are collected when animals are reclaimed: a reclaim fee, a fee to cover the 5-in-1 distemper and tracheobronchitis inoculation given when the animal entered the Shelter, a board fee that is calculated by the day, and if current rabies vaccination information is not available, a rabies vaccination fee. Lost-and-Found files will be kept at the front desk and will be reviewed daily by kennel technicians to match lost pets with lost-animal reports. Likewise, found animals will be matched to lost reports. Chameleon software has the capacity to match animal descriptions to animals in the shelter. Owners of lost pets will be encouraged to visit the Shelter daily since descriptions of In order to serve Northern Orange better, it is proposed that a bulletin board be placed at a convenient location-possibly on Hwy 86-listing found animals that have been taken to the Animal Shelter. We also propose that when Chameleon is put into service at the OCAS, satellite computers will be installed in the Hillsborough and Chapel Hill libraries where people can scan information on the stray animals at the shelter to help them locate lost pets. 29