Oakland Police Department Bureau of Services Animal Services Annual Report 2008 1
Table of Contents I. Division Functions / Responsibilities... 3 II. Staffing... 5 III. Fiscal Management... 6 IV. Training Received and/or Provided... 7 V. Significant Accomplishments... 13 VI. Performance Data... 14 VII. Other Performance Data... 15 VIII. Plans and Goals... 16 2
I. Division Functions / Responsibilities Oakland Animal Services (OAS) is responsible for responding to animal related calls for service in Oakland and enforcing animal related laws. OAS houses stray, surrendered, neglected and abused animals from Oakland for the period mandated by the State of California and then determines placement for them through adoption, redemption to the original owner, transfer to a rescue organizations, or euthanasia. Oakland Animal Services also investigates animal bites, quarantines biting animals, and administers the dog licensing program for Oakland. II. Staffing Classification Authorized (FTE) Filled (FTE) Need to Fill (FTE) Percentage Filled Director 1 1 0 100% Animal Control Officer Supervisor 1 1 0 100% Volunteer Specialist 1 1 0 100% Veterinarian** 1 0 0 0% Veterinary Technician 1 1 0 100% Animal Care Coordinator*** 1 0 1 0% Animal Control Officer**** 12 12 0 100% Animal Care Attendant 6 6 0 100% Police Record Specialist***** 3 3 0 100% As of the date of this report: * Director: The Director was hired and began work in July of 2007. ** Veterinarian: OAS works with a few different contract veterinarians and currently has a vet at the shelter five days a week all coordinated by one lead contract veterinarian. *** Animal Care Coordinator: It is unclear what the status of this position is but there a TCSE contracting under this position throughout the year. **** There were 12 ACO s working but due to budget cuts one position was lost. By the end of the year there were 11 ACOs working in 11 positions. There is also one part time ACO and one vacant part time ACO position. *****One PRS position was vacant part of the year and this position was lost in the fall due to budget cuts. Name Title - Classification No full time employees separated from OAS in 2008. Years of Service Type of Separation 3
III. Fiscal Management Report for 07/07 through 06/08 Appropriation Budget Actual Expenditures Category Appropriation Difference O&M 173,089 174,150 1,061 Grants 0 0 0 Personnel Costs 2,080,116 2,078,730-1,386 Overtime 71,400 117,446 46,046 Overages OAS overspent in this category for two main reasons: 1. OAS was not budgeted for civilian holiday overtime; however, Animal Control Officers work on holidays to answer field calls and care for Shelter animals. IV. Training Received and/or Provided by Unit Personnel NSA Mandated Training: At the time of this report, OAS is compliant with the majority of the Department s mandated NSA training as reported by Training Division. Animal Control staff members are non-sworn and are therefore mandated to complete fewer tasks than sworn staff. OAS is 100% complaint in the following trainings: Task 18 Task 27 Task 38 DGO D17 NIMS Training Task 19 Task 33 Task 42 DGO B6 LERT Training Task 20 Task 34 Task 43 DGO M3 Task 22 Task 37 Task 47 Areas where training needed: Use of force training for all ACO s FBR training for four new hires and the Director Additional Training: Two of the four Officers attended the Humane Academy at Marin Humane and completed both levels (this has taken the place of the previous NACA training which required sending Officers out of state) One Animal Control Officer attended a course on Animal Adoptions Sexual Harassment training was given to all staff at the shelter OAS staff participated in City Wide Training various topics The Director completed ICS 300 and 400 Three of the four new Officers completed PC832 Both the Director and the Volunteer Manager attended the Animal Care Expo and attended workshops on various animal sheltering related issues. In addition the Volunteer Manager led a workshop on volunteer management. V. Significant Accomplishments In house spay/neuter is being performed three to four days per week. This has allowed OAS to reduce the amount of time animals spend in the shelter awaiting spay/neuter and also has allowed OAS to spay/neuter animals before putting them into adoption (has met and exceeded 25% increase in spay/neuter services from last year s goal). Adoption of dogs increased 59% over 2007 (683 adoptions for this year vs. 429 for 2007). For cats the adoptions increased by 54% (584 adoptions this year vs. 379 in 2007) and for rabbits by 28% (87 for this year vs. 68 for 2007). This is well over the stated goal of a 10% increase and is, in fact, the 4
first time in recorded history of OAS that more animals were adopted out of the shelter than transferred to other agencies. Four new Animal Control Officers were hired and three completed all their training and became fully effective by the end of 2008. Redemptions of cats increased by 38%- cats are historically reclaimed much less than dogs. Dog redemptions increased by 7%. Worked with the City Attorney s office to include penal code 597 cases (animal cruelty) into the category of cases which falls under their purview. OAS volunteer program has grown so that volunteer hours at the shelter average 1200 hours a month (well above the stated goal of 900 hours). A small dog volunteer program was added to allow volunteers to specialize in working with small dogs. Director identified dog fighting issues at the core of a stabbing case and contacted the detective on the case and the DA. Felony dog fighting charges were subsequently added to the charges the suspect faced. OAS successfully created a partnership with Bad Rap to partner on pit bulls in the shelter at OAScreating a one of a kind program to approach the issue of pit bulls in the shelter and to become a national model for shelters around the country. Created a small dog program which includes innovative housing, a temperament test designed specifically for small dogs, and volunteers trained and designated for dealing with and handling small dogs in addition to training staff to handle small dogs more effectively. This has led to roughly 90% of small dogs in the shelter being adoptable versus only 10-15% of small dogs being considered adoptable prior to this program. Director worked with OES to complete the animal portion of the City s disaster plan. VI. Productivity Performance Data The table and graph below shows the number of animals impounded by OAS each year from 1999 to 2008. Impoundment of both dogs and cats has been increasing since 2004. We expect this trend to continue due to the housing crisis. The intake of cats has increased overall since 1998 while the intake of dogs has begun creeping up but is still well below 1998 levels. Total Number of Animals OAS Impounded 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Cat 1612 1885 1818 1945 1714 1944 2019 1969 2269 2173 Dog 3944 4283 4082 3343 3013 2429 2493 2765 3197 3232 Rabbit 164 85 67 164 361 201 286 400 116 143 Total 5771 6383 6134 5563 5096 4578 4802 5138 5582 5548 5
Animal Intake by Type in 2008 Bite Observation Protective Custody Surrendered Stray Cat 3 39 490 1708 19 Dog 118 231 710 2322 19 Rabbit 0 0 59 77 4 Return Adoption Intake Type OAS 2008 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 Cat Dog Rabbit 0 Bite Observation Protective Custody Surrendered Stray Return Adoption 6
Increase in Owner Surrenders from 2007-2008 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Cat Dog 2007 2008 OAS has seen a large increase in owner surrendered animals to the shelter in 2008- believed to be mostly due to the housing crisis and the economy. Animal Outcome by type for 2008 OAS animals Adopted Euthanized Transferred Redeem Cat 584 946 376 54 Dog 683 1281 664 405 Rabbit 87 8 8 3 7
Dog Licenses Current in 2008: 9127 I have been working with Pet Data and we have created a letter to mail to all veterinarians in Oakland which advises them of the law that they need to provide rabies vaccination info and also asks them if they wish to sell licenses. This should help to increase license sales if veterinarians can send them. They will contact the licensing company Pet Data directly for supplies and to mail the licensing in. This letter should go out by the end of February. VII. Other Performance Data Category 2008 Personnel Complaints 3 Vehicular Collisions 3 Letters of Appreciation 2 Uses of Force 0 IPAS Issues 0 VIII. Plans, Expectations and Goals Oakland Animal Services has the following goals for 2008: Reduce the euthanasia of cats by 10% through better housing, coordinating with other agencies for transferring and foster care of kittens Increase awareness amongst patrol officers about animal related issues they may encounter during the performance of their duties; Begin to refer appropriate cases investigated by the Animal Control Officers to the DA or the City Attorney s office for prosecution. Increase both enforcement and educational services to targeted area of Beat 35 through partnerships with other agencies (PAL, VIP vet services, EBSPCA, Bad Rap, etc ) Effectively market the shelter to the community as a resource for animal issues in the City of Oakland Comply with and implement the provisions of the NSA relative to the operation of Oakland Animal Services. IX. Other Information Photos Shelter and Enforcement activities 8
Every day at the shelter brings a new challenge. Included this year was a case where 500 1-day-old chicks were impounded at the airport post office after a concerned employee called animal control because the chicks were overheating and dying in their shipping containers. After spending several weeks at the shelter the majority of chickens were sent to live at a sanctuary in Southern California. Also impounded this year were a horse, several goats, a pot bellied pig, and a fox. The Non-Profit Friends of the Oakland Animal Shelter (FOAS) teamed up with Pet Food Express, Purrfect fence, and others to help shelter animals FOAS provided funds this year for a number of projects including expanded cat housing, lighting for the exercise yard, new murals for the get acquainted room, fencing for an outdoor cat area, new spaces for small dogs including an outdoor run, and many other smaller projects to improve the quality of life for animals at OAS. The shelter veterinarians working with Noble vet hospital, Berkeley Dog and Cat, and UC Davis teamed up to provide medical care and surgery for animals in need of critical care The case which received the most attention was Little Lance (pictured right) who received much media attention and public concern after being found shot and thrown out of a car on the side of the road. Lance required multiple surgeries but thanks to media attention the public responded in record numbers providing enough funds to FOAS to do the surgery. In addition, OAS teamed up with FOAS, the EBSPCA, and Pet Food Express to offer a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of persons responsible. However, no information was forthcoming as to who perpetrated this horrific crime. 9
In December 2008 a US Fish and Game Department employee came to visit the Shelter with her dog Cooper who she had adopted from the Oakland Animal Shelter in 2006. She trained Cooper as a detection dog to detect the transport of illegal wildlife. He was then accepted into the US Fish and Game Department detection program! Cooper was the first ever canine employee of the Fish and Game department of California. 10