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10 <br /> <br /> 1 <br />Three (3) ASAB members serve on the Animal Services Hearing Panel Pool. They chair the 2 <br />appeal hearing panels convened under the Unified Animal Ordinance. Each month there have 3 <br />been between two (2) and four (4) appeal hearings (ranging in time from three-quarters of an 4 <br />hour up to two hours). 5 <br /> 6 <br />Unified Animal Ordinance: Several items of concern have arisen in the hearing process 7 <br />experience over the last year. Some of these are more technical issues but there is a general 8 <br />policy issue as well, namely, whether there should be more gradations in the manner in which a 9 <br />dog is declared a danger to the public. As one panel member recently noted after a challenging 10 <br />hearing, the ordinance does not have a lot of flexibility in this area and everyone would feel 11 <br />better about their service if more tools were available to use in administering this part of the 12 <br />ordinance. Thus, the ASAB will be considering whether there are reasonable options that may 13 <br />be put into the language of an amendment for consideration by the BOCC. 14 <br /> 15 <br />Also, the board proposed a change from “vicious” to “dangerous” in the UAO and the BOCC 16 <br />adopted an amendment making the change. This is a good illustration of the interdependence 17 <br />of the ASAB and the Animal Services Hearing Panel Pool. In this case, members of the Animal 18 <br />Services Hearing Panel Pool became concerned that the “vicious” language was alarming to 19 <br />the owners of animals so deemed and the three members of the pool from the ASAB brought 20 <br />this concern before the board for consideration. 21 <br /> 22 <br />Pets of the Homeless: Working with the county’s Homelessness Coordinator to identify 23 <br />community resources that can be tapped to help care for pets belonging to the homeless as 24 <br />they undergo different transitions. Among the expected deliverables for this collaborative effort 25 <br />are an infographic and an inventory of assorted services and resources that may be useful to 26 <br />people with pets who are homeless or who are trying to make a transition to some kind of 27 <br />housing. This has been a perplexing problem for Animal Services to deal with on its own and 28 <br />there is a strong sense that a broad based approach is the most successful way to find 29 <br />solutions to what are very stressful situations. 30 <br /> 31 <br />Pat Sanford Award: 32 <br />Three members of the ASAB serve on the review committee for the Pat Sanford Animal 33 <br />Welfare Award. The committee is charged with reviewing applications and making a selection 34 <br />based upon award criteria. 35 <br /> 36 <br />Accomplishments: 37 <br />The ASAB continued to work with staff and stakeholders managing pet overpopulation in 38 <br />Orange County. Free-roaming cats have been of great significance to recent efforts in this 39 <br />area, and among other things, the ASAB and staff together have sought to establish strong 40 <br />working relations with potential community partners. These have included efforts to craft a 41 <br />“working barn cat” program with the Agriculture Preservation Board. 42 <br /> 43 <br />Commissioner McKee asked if there has been any feedback from utility companies that 44 <br />this easement would not be available, once the construction is complete. 45 <br />Bob Marotto said there was an initial meeting with Duke Energy last week, and they 46 <br />seemed open to letting Animal Services (AS) use the easement while the work is being done, 47 <br />but AS is reviewing the processes before moving forward. 48 <br />Commissioner Marcoplos asked if the dogs rescued from the dog-fighting ring have 49 <br />been cared for. 50