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Meeting October 7, 2015 <br />Minutes <br />Committee members: Susan Elmore, Caroline Green, Maureane Hoffman, Dewana <br />Anderson <br />OCAS staff: Bob Marotto <br />Public: DeAnna Rowan, Bette Smith and Margaret Heath <br />Agenda: To critically re-evaluate the costs and benefits of the proposal for participation <br />in animal research studies. <br />Major concerns/issues (benefits) for participation: <br />• Select research (academic collaboration) has the potential to improve animal <br />health, especially that of animals in shelters <br />• Procedures would not result in pain or distress on animals <br />• Enhanced relationship with other animal welfare interests <br />• The community could understand or perceive that we are doing beneficial things <br />for the animals <br />• We want the shelter to be more than a place that just shuffles animals in and out <br />Major concerns/issues (costs) against participation: <br />• There could be a backlash from the community. The misunderstanding that this <br />participation could cause in our community may not be an easy thing to address or <br />correct. OCAS has put much time and effort into good community relations and it <br />would be unfortunate to see this effort eroded by such a potential <br />misunderstanding. Perception by the community is an important consideration. <br />• The shelter should do what it does best, which is addressing the sheltering and <br />animal control services of our community and addressing pet overpopulation. <br />Branching out into an area in which it has no expertise (sample collection for <br />research projects) could take valuable time and resources away from its primary <br />mission (spreading yourself too thin). Must fit in with OCAS operations. <br />• Could cause OCAS inefficiencies and dysfunctions for example, if there are needs <br />for sample collection or requests for public records <br />• May need to indicate on an animal surrender form that the animal or animal <br />specimens may be used for animal research (public relations issue and/or legal <br />issue) <br />• If people thought that their animal might be used for research then they might be <br />discouraged from bringing their animal to the shelter <br />