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Animal Services News <br />March 19, 2014 <br />ICE STORM ONE <br />• Animal Services staff were at the Emergency Operations Center both Friday and Saturday <br />• Pet co- location was organized in combination with a mass shelter opened by the Red Cross at <br />C. W. Stanford Middle School in Hillsborough <br />• Two cats were co- located (and a group of 5 dogs and cats were almost co- located) <br />• The Red Cross and many others were very appreciative <br />• Power and heat were lost for upwards of 24 hours at the Animal Services Center <br />• Major lessons include <br />• Renewing relations with new EM staff and others in regard to pet colocation <br />• Challenge of no generator generally and for mass sheltering too <br />RABIES <br />• So far in 2014 there have been 5 laboratory confirmed rabies cases (all involving raccoons) <br />• In 2013 and 2012, there were 12 confirmed rabies cases, and in 2011, there were 11 <br />• Historical data generally shows that rabies ebbs and flows, i.e., that there is a cycle within the <br />host or reservoir species (raccoons in North Carolina) <br />• As can be seen from the attachments for our county and North Carolina, however, the cycle <br />has not been prominent in recent years <br />• 2014 could be an uptick in the rabies cycle or the 5 cases YTD may just be a "blip" <br />• No matter, the message is that a little of prevention is worth a lot of cure!!! <br />COUNTY NOTES <br />Department budget recommendation meeting with Manager is this week <br />• Generally, it is a continuation budget <br />• However, there is a request for a fourth "vet tech" FTE <br />• Community Giving Fund donations have become part of next year's budget <br />■ Specifically, for Community Spay /Neuter and Veterinary Health Care <br />Animal Services is now under Assistant County Manager Cheryl Young <br />DEPARTMENT NOTES <br />• Ashley Miller was selected for our new Training & Lead Animal Control Officer position <br />• There are 3 vacant Animal Control Officer FTEs and 1 Office Assistant vacancy <br />o Interviews are now being conducted for Animal Control Officers <br />• Ten volunteers attended the State of Animal Service session Friday, March 14 <br />• Congratulations to everyone for making 2013 a very extraordinary year with more than 1500 <br />adoptions and live release rate of 83 percent (see attached column) <br />By Bob Marotta, Animal Services Director <br />