Agenda - 09-20-2011 - 8a - Laserfiche WebLink

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4 As is true of the County's local laws, the new state law not only requires a permission slip for each hunter, but also requires that if the hunter is a member of a hunt club, the hunter must also have their hunt club membership card on their person. However, under Session Law 2008-264 Orange County residents are not required post their property as a condition of requiring written permission to hunt. In 2010, the Orange County Sheriffs Office, the Communications (911) Division of Emergency Services, and Animal Services coordinated with one another to increase their presence in Northern Orange during the hunting season to enforce the current laws and ordinances. In addition, the WRC Enforcement Officer coordinated efforts to deploy additional Enforcement Officers to select areas of the County. As a result of these efforts, one of the hunt clubs will no longer be hunting deer with dogs in Orange County. Because the number of complaints received about hunting deer with dogs is far less than the number of complaints received about hunting in general, the focus will continue to be on hunting as a whole. Nonetheless, staff has identified several action steps to continue the collaboration of the past hunting season during the 2011-12 hunting season. These are: Action Item 1: Coordinated Complaint-Making and Responses • The Communications (911) Division of Emergency Services will coordinate with the Sheriff's Department to receive and dispatch resident complaints in order to ensure timely and effective held services responses. All complaints will be directed to 911 Communication Center, which, in turn, will dispatch calls to a Sheriffs Deputy. As needed, the Sheriffs Deputy will obtain support from the WRC Enforcement Officer, other law enforcement officials, or County Animal Control Officers. Because this process was used during the 2010 season, there was much greater satisfaction than in previous years. The complaint process allowed for consistent communication about the process even before the season opened. Action Item 2a: On Saturda s during the deer hunting with dog season, the protocol for the on-call Animal Control Officer will be redefined to include stray dogs identified as hunting dogs: This will be done because hunting is permitted every day of the week except Sunday, and on Saturday an Animal Control Officer is ordinarily scheduled only in an on-call capacity for urgent calls. With the expanded protocol, an Animal Control Officer would be available to respond to complaints by impounding errant or at large hunting dogs. It should be stressed that the impoundment of errant or at large hunting dogs is the best basis for enforcement of the County's "public nuisance" provision (which covers "animals off property"). Enforcement is much more effective when an owner and dog are positively identified through the process of impounding and then redeeming an at large animal. Action Item 2b: Saturday Scheduling of an Animal Control Officer (ACO): As an alternative to Action Item 2a, the BOCC could direct staff to schedule an Animal Control Officer on Saturday at a location in the northern part of the County. Saturday scheduling in Northern Orange would ensure timely responses to requests for assistance from Sheriffs Deputies handling hunting calls involving dogs. Also, Saturday