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32 <br /> Brief Statement of Board/Commission's Assigned Charge and <br /> Responsibilities. <br /> The ASAB serves as a sounding board for animal-related policy issues raised by <br /> residents or identified by the BOCC. Residents are referred to the ASAB as a <br /> critical step in any consideration of stakeholder concerns, before bringing an item <br /> to the Board of County Commissioners. <br /> Also, the ASAB is concerned with the human aspects of animal issues as well as <br /> animal welfare. Indeed, one board member is the veterinarian for Orange <br /> County Health Board. In addition, the ASAB values and seeks to support the <br /> "human-animal bond" and the place of animal companions in in our lives. <br /> A special concern is the services needed by disadvantaged and often <br /> underserved households. A good illustration is the ASAB's support for the <br /> county's Community Spay and Neuter Program, which subsidizes cat and dog <br /> sterilization for people on public assistance or whose household income is less <br /> than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. The board has also supported <br /> Animal Services in exploring other ways to serve underserved parts of our <br /> county. <br /> What are your Board/Commission's most important accomplishments? <br /> The ASAB continued to work with staff and stakeholders managing pet <br /> overpopulation in Orange County. A notable accomplishment was the approval <br /> of the Unified Animal Ordinance (UAO), which includes a differential recovery <br /> rate for reproductive versus sterilized stray animals and a microchip requirement <br /> for the recovery of stray animals. <br /> Given that the ASAB no longer is responsible for appeal hearings, the board and <br /> staff have initiated a review of the procedures for the ASAB. Proposed revisions <br /> including a number of updates are expected to be forthcoming by the end of <br /> 2016. <br /> A related initiative is to change ordinance language from "vicious" to "dangerous" <br /> which is expected to be forthcoming in a proposed amendment. This initiative <br /> arose from the concern of members of the Animal Services Hearing Panel Pool <br /> that the "vicious" language was alarming to the owners of animals so deemed. <br /> They expressed their sense that for this reason alone there were appeals <br /> requests that might not otherwise be made. <br /> In addition, the board played an important role in creating the Pat Sanford Animal <br /> Welfare Grant with a $5,000 donation from the Friends of Orange County Animal. <br /> A task force worked with staff to create a concept plan and grant application. <br /> Several board members will also sit with staff on the panel that reviews grant <br />