Agenda - 09-19-2006-7b - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

Prange County Animal Services Sheltering Practices and Philosophies 60 system still takes in animals who-because of aggression ar for other reasons- cannot or should not be placed, But its progress is undeniable, Of the 8,600 animals who entered its two shelters from July 2000 through June 2001, almost 80 percent were either returned to their owners or placed into new homes. Since 1985, the shelters' intake of cats and dogs has dropped by 58 percent; last year alone that number dropped by more than 1,000, "We are very proud of the fact that we saved the lives of 77 percent of them ..," says Ed Sayres, executive director of the SF/SPCA. "But the real achievement is that we only had 8,600 to start with." The city s widely reported successes have brought the SF/SPCA and SF/ACC the sincerest form of flattery: imitation from others who want to achieve the same results. Citizens and government leaders often read about the "San Francisco story" and assume that the methods used there will work in their awn communities-and practically overnight, But the San Francisco SPCA, a 134- year-old organization with more than 1,000 volunteers and a $12 million budget, didn't spring out of the earth fully formed, It owes much of its success to years of sterilization and outreach efforts, a progressive community that is receptive to social change, and a strong partnership with awell-funded animal care and control agency, That agency came into being only after the SPCA farted the hand of city officials by relaying its plan to drop its chronically underfunded animal control contract; San Francisco was fortunate to have a city government that responded appropriately by providing the financial support necessary to build a second shelter and a proactive field services agency. Funding for animal control increased tenfold over what the SPCA had received during its tenure as the animal control services provider, says Avanzino, Some communities have not been so lucky. In recent years, private shelters in other areas of the country have tried to follow San Francisco's example by abandoning their contracts and limiting their admissions. And where there are no responsible agencies to pick up the slack and provide refuge to all the other homeless animals who don't pass the "adoptability" test, animals often suffer as a result-in some cases ending up spending their days and nights wherever municipal officials can find space for them, including industrial warehouses, "Anybody can close the door," says Ed Sayres, who took over the helm of the SF/SPCA about three years ago. "The origin of this is the door didn't close, the door was not closed here until the other door was open, And the group opening the door had competency and an adequate facility, The process to get there, unfortunately, requires collaboration and meetings and shared goals. It's not magic." Under San Francisco's "Adoption Pact," signed by the SF/SPCA and SF/ACC in 1994, "non-rehabilitatable" animals are guaranteed refuge at the open-door