Animal Shelter Statistics - 07-2007

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Animal Services Monthly Report July, 2007 8 care of the Animal Shelter, subject to the terms of a plea agreement reached in Superior Court in July. The costs of their care are covered, but their presence reduces the available kennel space the shelter has to house other animals. In a similar vein, mult iple kennels in our holding areas have been undergoing routine sanding and paint ing during July. This periodic maintenance is necessary for the purposes of disease control and sanitation, and at least four kennels at a time have been unusable due to this maintenance project, reducing available space. Yet the numbers o f direct adoptions as well as “live releases” remain strong. These very posit ive indicators reflect the varied efforts of staff (discussed in detail in previous mo nthly reports). In addit ion to their work with potential adopters, they have built and maintained important relationships with various placement partners. They have also init iated new market ing activit ies including communit y posters and targeted ads that are intended to supplement ongoing outreach activit ies in raising the public profile of Orange County’s Animal Shelter and Animal Services Department. Conclusion As a very young department that came into existence in 2005, Animal Services cont inues to develop new ways in which to better serve the animals and cit izens of the county. As suggested in our discussion o f pet overpopulation, there are a number of init iatives that must be taken to effect ively address the underlying problem of pet overpopulation. These include the creation of a spay/neuter fund and an effective program to address feral cats, among others, and steps are being taken toward those goals by the department in coordination with the Animal Services Advisory Board. Also, on behalf o f its cit izens the County has committed itself to building a new animal services facilit y. Wit h the opening of this facilit y at the end of 2008, for the first time Animal Control, the Animal Shelter, and Administ rative staff will be housed under the same roof. In addit ion to providing so me true econo mies o f scale, and better allowing the coordination of animal services, it is expected that this facilit y will help to overcome one of the major inhibit io ns to our placement efforts—namely, the fear and inhibit io n that members of the public have toward earlier generations of shelters which are often perceived as dreadful places. As it is being designed as a resource center that is an attractive public dest ination, the new facilit y is expected to have a very posit ive affect on the number of adoptions, transfers, communit y outreach programs, public visitors— and much more. With its inno vative and modern design, this new facilit y will become a communit y asset and help further staff efforts to deliver integrated and coordinated animal services to the cit izens o f Orange Count y. As well, it is intended and expected to enhance our adoption activit ies and increase our average rate of “live releases” at the same t ime as it enabled our staff to work with communit y stakeholders to more effective address and ult imately reso lve the pressing problem o f pet overpopulation.