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<br /> <br />Brief Statement of Board/Commission’s Assigned Charge and Responsibilities. <br /> <br />The ASAB serves as a sounding board for animal-related policy issues <br />raised by residents or identified by the BOCC. Residents are referred to the <br />ASAB as a critical step in any consideration of stakeholder concerns, <br />before bringing an item to the Board of County Commissioners. <br /> <br />Integral to this general responsibility is a concern with ensuring that the <br />practices and outcomes of Orange County Animal Services meet or exceed <br />prevailing professional standards. A good illustration is the ASAB’s <br />support for the county’s Community Spay and Neuter Program, which <br />subsidizes cat and dog sterilization for people on public assistance or <br />whose household income is less than 200 percent of the federal poverty <br />level. The board has also supported Animal Services in exploring other <br />ways to serve underserved parts of our county. <br /> <br />Also integral to this responsibility is receiving and reviewing continuous <br />feedback from the three board members who serve on the Animal Services <br />Hearing Panel Pool. The ASAB is working with staff to maintain a list of <br />challenges and problems that may be addressed through the amendment <br />of the Unified Animal Ordinance based upon the experiences of the hearing <br />panel pool. <br /> <br />Finally, the ASAB is concerned with the human aspects of animal issues as <br />well as animal welfare. Fundamental to this concern is the relation of <br />animals to public health and safety. Indeed, one board member is the <br />veterinarian for Orange County Health Board. <br /> <br />Notable here are the changes that Animal Services made in coordination <br />with the Health Director for the post-exposure management of rabies. <br />These were made on the basis of the new recommendations made in the <br />Compendium of Rabies and they were at the forefront of progressive <br />changes in the state of North Carolina and beyond. <br /> <br />What are your Board/Commission’s most important accomplishments? <br /> <br />The ASAB continued to work with staff and stakeholders managing pet <br />overpopulation in Orange County. Free-roaming cats have been of great <br />significance to recent efforts in this area, and among other things, the <br />ASAB and staff together have sought to establish strong working relations <br />with potential community partners. These have included efforts to craft a <br />“working barn cat” program with the Agriculture Preservation Board. <br /> <br />In close coordination with staff, the board revised the policies and <br />procedures for the ASAB. The revised policy was necessitated by the <br />changes appeal process required by the Unified Animal Ordinance (UAO).