Agenda 05-02-2019 - 12-5 - Information Item - Memorandum-Cat Concern

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2 The ASAB and Animal Services staff agree that the approach taken in creating the UAO is sound and that amending the ordinance would be ill-advised. They hold this view for the following reasons: • Public health and safety:At-large cats do not pose as great a risk to public health and safety as do at- large dogs or larger animals.This is not to downplay the unwanted impacts that free-roaming cats may have on wildlife, but it is doubtful that more restrictive rules and stricter enforcement are the solution given our experience over the recent decades. • Enforcement: As suggested above,there is a concern with making it a code violation and a crime for a cat with a registered microchip to be off of the owner's property. (Prior experience with violations of this kind in the criminal justice system underscores this concern.) In addition, there is concern with whether addressing microchipped cats off the property of their owner or keeper as a legal violation is a good use of the limited public resources available for animal control and protection. • Scale: During the month of June 2018,for instance, ,Animal Control and Protection staff tracked the complaints they received from one person about a cat belonging to another person that was on their property. Only one complaint of this kind was made even though June is one of the busier months of the year for field services as well as animal admissions.Thus, it appears that this issue is not of widespread concern in Orange County. Furthermore,the ASAB believes that there are remedies available to Ms. McCanna other than amendment of the current Animal Ordinance. One is her Homeowner's Association,which apparently has covenants in place that restrict dogs as well as cats from being at large and adversely impacting members of the HOA. Another is to trap the cat of concern to her on her own property(using a humane trap) and bringing the cat to Orange County Animal Services, from which it would need to be recovered by its owner for standard fees. I very much hope that you find this information to be of value, as we very much wish for the BOCC to be aware of the discussions the ASAB has with residents and stakeholders about policy and programmatic matters. Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is any other information you would find helpful. Cc: Maureane Hoffman, MD, Ph.D., Chair,Animal Services Advisory Board Molly Mullins, Ph.D.,Vice Chair,Animal Services Advisory Board Anne Marie Tosco, Staff Attorney, Orange County Andi Morgan,Animal Services Assistant Director Irene Phipps,Animal Control Manager, Orange County Animal Services