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County. They asked for a meeting between the APS Board and the Board of County Commissioners where there can be a two-way dialogue as to who should operate the shelter in the future. She urged the Board to hold this meeting as soon as possible. She asked the Board not to make a final decision until it has met with the APS Board directly. Ann Peterson is an APS Board member. She continued with Pat Beyle's statement. Regarding the financial considerations, the Board of County Commissioners needs to hear the APS Board's perspective an these matters. APS has contributed thousands of their own privately raised dollars each year to subsidize the County funds to operate the shelter. APS has also given many man-hours to operate the shelter. She said that they think that, given this service, the very least the County could do is meet with them one on one before making a decision about the future of the shelter. Robert Schopler said that whoever runs the Orange County shelter will be contacted by the public concerning injured wildlife or situations that could put the public or wildlife in danger. He said that the Piedmont Wildlife Center is proud to have service to residents of Orange County and surrounding communities over the past year. The PWC was formed after the APS abandoned its wildlife program about one year ago. It is a 501 (C) 3 organization that supports wildlife through rehabilitation, education, and scientific study. To date, they have cared for over 1,OQ0 animals. They also field calls from the public with questions about wildlife. They put on programs about wildlife issues in the schools. They employ two full-time wildlife veterinarians and afull-time wildlife assistant. They have a temporary rehabilitation facility in Orange County. He continued to speak about the accomplishments of PWC. Joseph Lobuglio is the President of the Board of Directors at the Piedmont Wildlife Center. He asked that the Board add to its criteria the willingness for the organization that will run the shelter to work with the Piedmont Wildlife Center. He said that this cooperation has not been forthcoming from the APS. He said that APS continues to associate Dr. Schopler with the lawsuit against them. He cited several examples where the APS did not mention the PWC as an alternative to their disbanded wildlife program. He mentioned an APS Board meeting that he attended where Ann Peterson said that there is nothing that the PWC could do for the APS. He said that when there is confusion and delay regarding wildlife, it increases the chances of harm for the public and the wildlife. Jesse Kaufman said that she became a member of the APS Board in April. Her interest in accepting this position was to ensure that humane standards govern life both for the animals and the people that serve at the shelter. She said that the old administration took advantage of the people, but she does not see this happening under the new direction of Laura Walters. She made reference to the high number of strays brought in from the unincorporated areas of Orange County. She said that the County does not contribute funds towards education and outreach. She is Chair of the Education and Outreach Committee at APS and she started to initiate collaboration with Animal Control in May to reach unincorporated areas of the County. The collaboration came to a halt in June because it was unclear about the relationship between the County and APS. She spoke about the low amount of funds contributed by the County. Gina Burns introduced her family and said that they are foster parents of animals and volunteers at APS. They are ignorant to all of these issues. She said that if anything comes out of this mess, they would like to see volunteers be kept as an integral part of the operation. They want to see volunteering be instrumental and they want to see education. The community needs to be educated about their responsibility to spay and neuter animals.