into the field and so it ties nicely into the next point and with the animal care and attendants we know that that causes the issues in the shelter and so right now we have eleven, animal care attendants that provide, basically a cleaning, and also, care, feeding, and adoption, and redemption and departure services for the animals and they have 400 on any given day and each, animal care has to deal with about 50 animal and i believe that within the industry, one of the standards that is considered to be a best practice is that he wants each and every animal to have about 15 minutes of interaction with a person and right now, given that ratio of our staffing, and also because of vacantcies, it causes pressures, where we are not able to meet that 15 minutes. and there, we think that they could use more positions, in order to take into account the people that are out on live, for whatever reason, vacation or medical or otherwise.

>> i just wanted to add, to my comments that if you have not visited the facilities, if you have your image of dog catchers in mind and as what the department represents it could not be further from the truth with the really caring people that work under really difficult facility and conditions there. and so i am glad that you have some slides on facilities needs and i think that is coupling up and i know that there are a ton of people that want to speak. and i did want to say that the increased the animal socialization activities is critical because when i visited to see the cats and the abused dogs, that the facility is really in need of much more improvement in addition to the positions and it or the additional animal care

attendants as well. and but i did want to say that unless you have seen directly the facility, that the data is not as or it does not hit you as hard until you see facility, but i did want to say that slide number nine gives the data on the types of animals that are currently within the animal welfare and control and i see a trend of wild animals going way up and i know that bunnies are dumped after families get them around easter time and there are other types of animals that are coming in, but it looks like cats are going down, dogs are going up. and but the numbers of animals seem to be going down a little bit from several years ago, is that right? >> that is correct.

>> okay. >> and that, that bar graph does show that we have a particular spike in right when the economy tanked. and in 2008. 9, and we saw a huge uptick in honor and surrenders and we continue to see a number of surrenders and in particular, the dogs, the cost of the vet care in san francisco is very high and the cost for behavior and training and so forth and also, probably not enough pet housing throughout the city and so, we do see an increase of about 1,000 dogs annually coming into the shelter, i did, i do have some staff and managers here if there are questions that come up but one of our animal care supervisor eric can speak about the onnes that it takes or the toll that it takes or the burden for caring for dogs is greater than that of the other animals just

in terms physically the labor for cleaning for them and the socialization and the vet cost and all of that. >> so, could i just ask you, since you are up here and i know that the staffing needs and then i know that the next slide is on the capitol budget and but for the facility of i think, it, when i saw the facility, it looked like it is a very old building with not enough space for a modern, i guess, in modern day dealing in the psychology of the animals that have been abused and or in the small confined spaces but could you just talk about that capitol need? >> sure, and the building dates back to 1939 and i think that it was a munitions warehouse, and it was subsequently used by the city as a purchasing department, and in, 1988, the city received notice that the san francisco sbca would not continue to provide the

contract for services animal control service and so, they converted that building, and about a year, year and a half time, to an animal shelter, which i don't know how they did it as fast as they did, still not an ideal space for it. and given what we know now, about animal care and the needs, both behaviorally and medically of animals and we could, definitely use, the significantly more space, of course, from a human resources, perspective we could use more space as well, some of our managers do not have private offices even to have the conversations with the employees, we definitely don't have enough storage space for disaster supplies and other things like that. and not enough space to even park all of our vehicles. and so we are definitely challenged by the space that we have. for the animals for the people and for the equipment. so, you know, when we talk about wanting to increase space, and we are really not

talking about increasing the number of animals, because caring for more animals is and well, i come from starting this in the city with the sheriff's department, and that same perspective about jailed and prisons if you build them you fill them and if you build the space we could warehouse the animal and we don't think that is in the interest of animal welfare either. >> there are only a couple more slides. >> that is just to continue as far as the proposed enhancements, currently there is one vet and one vet tech that is budgeted and that is for the treatment and care of 10,000 animals in a given year and one of those persons is out we are not able to provide it. wait that we have done it is as-needed staff but they are budgeted but i think that we could improve the care and plan and just coverage, where were to have more vets and vet tech.

and also would like to be able to increase the animal associate *f socialization activity and helps to offsets the cost. >> how does this, this happen? that, the we have this agency that has so many responsibility, like critical responsibility from the shelter and the vet and the animal control officers, and so forth, and yet, the budget is just, it seems to be just, willfully unadequate and i know that the city administrator did not prepare the budget, the mayor and the board of supervisors we have a political responsibility of budgeting for the agencies but it just seems pretty stark. and some, how did this happen? >> well the budget has been static for as far as i know for the last decade and if you go

back further i would not be surprised if the budget has been the same there have been some increases because of cpi but the level of resources has not changed with the exception of the past two years we have been working with the mayor's budget office to try to increase the level of funding and we increased by the level of supplies by close to 200,000 and that is to offset the increased cost of vet materials and equipment, and medical equipment and medical supplies and they have also helped to provide more salary dollars, and to reduce basically the attrition, and that enables us to hire, closer up to the 41 fte that we are budget $and they are aware and trying to work with us to increase the double resources and they have been providing a lot of capitol funding for the last year and this year. and there are well over a million dollars in funding to help improve the facilities for the animal care and control, and looking at the floors, and

actually that ties in the nice link to the next slide and provides, $700,000 for this year and just to look at the facility planning and to determine what will be the best plan for the acc and whether it is to do the renovations within the existing facility and move to another location, and building that out. but, for the current year, we have $50,000 to repair the roof, and $52,000 to repair the floors, and last year there were many other enhancements for improving the hvac system and looking at security, kenling the cages was improved, and so, they have been working with us to try to meet the needs as you have noted there are additional areas where we think that we can enhance the level of resources and the quality of the services that they are providing. >> i think that what this really does and points to as well is i am glad that there is more organizizing in the community and going on around the animal welfare and issues and funding in particular, and what we have seen as the colleagues can attest is during

that the budget process and whether it is with the board and it is, and the rule of the squeaky wheel and we see that the subject areas and the budget where the strong organizing and the community tend to do well in the budget and i would just encourage those who were interested and improving something around the animal welfare issues to be extremely organized and vocal and participation during the budget process and because that really has a significant impact, and i think on the mayor and on the board in terms of making sure that priorities are actually getting addressed. >> for the next steps we need to finalize the planning and determine what is the best fit in order to provide a modern facility that meets the needs of the animal and refine our own work load and look at best practice and smart practices and talk to our partners regionally and see what is the opt mal level of resources to

provide for the animals within the city and we need to submit the budget and we will do so in february. and we will work with the mayor's office and supervisors through june, and july, and in order to finalize the budget for acc. >> okay. >> thank you, >> thank you, so much for the presentation. >> okay. >> supervisor weiner and tang, if there are no other presentations, let's open this up for public comment. >> i think that before we get to the public comment, the one last statement is stevens from the animal welfare commission is here, and could speak for just a few minutes. and a brief statement and we will go to public comment. >> hi. >> good morning. >> animal care and control is a important agency for the animal and people as well. the under funded and they are under staffed yet they do a lot of good things in spite of all of that. there is so much more that they could be doing, if they were properly staffed and funded.

for example, they could administer programs to peer shelter with the kids at the juvenile custody center and help the adult and youth, and more out reach to help to row exist with the wild life or a data base of abusers to keep them from adopting pets. and if they had adequate staff and added funding. acc is not just about animals people who abuse or neglect animals also often abuse and neglect children and spouses. and investigating all reports of animal abuse and neglect will save human lives as well. if acc has enough staffing to do so. acc is crucial to the city disaster planning and another animal commission and dr. o'neil could not be here but she sent you a letter outlining the importance of the work on the disaster animal response team training and for the building that holds the acc staff and animals is not

rebuilt. we expect acc to shelter the animals if we find ourselves temporarily forced out of our homes and that become harder if not impossible to do if the shelter cannot be used because it is no longer safe, please find a way to rebuild the acc facility. and the control of work and the commission advises you on the animal issues and do not provide the oversight of the acc and it does come up that involve the agency. >> and whether san francisco should mandate that it be a no kill shelter and no adoptable animal is euthanized including those who need behavior or medical help before they can be adopted for two years we heard presentations from advocates and organizations on all sides of the issue, no kill is a goal that everyone wants and san francisco is close. to be successful no kill requires among other things, extensive public out reach and education, and behavior training in the shelter, all of

which require adequate staffing and managing to carry out, something that acc does not now have and has not had for years, acc is an open shelter ask required to accept any animal that comes in the door, many shelters in the country are not, they can and do refuse to adopt animals. and ultimately, the commission decided to take no action. while encouraging no kill as a goal we do not feel that the city could or should mandate it for acc unless and until, acc had adequate fubding and staff to do all of the programs and out reach needed for it to succeed. they did not have that then and they don't have it now, it is a necessary and useful goal but not a mandate. given full staffing and more funding, acc might not become a no kill without any mandate. the role of the animal shelter should be held by a city agency not a private organization and i am glad to say that is the case in san francisco.

we need accountability and transparency and that is easier with public organizations please insure that acc has adequate funding and staff to help the people and the animals of san francisco give them the funding they need to be fully staffed and add more to the programs. the greatness of a nation and the moral progress can be measured by the way that the animals are treated as gandhi said. thank you. >> so, could we open up this for public comment? >> yes. and i do have public comment cards and i will call a number of names, public comment, and mr. chairman will be two minutes. okay. >> and you don't have to speak in the order that i call you, but if you folks could line up that will be great.

>> all right, my name is brandy and i am the director of advocacy for the sfpca and i thought that it would be useful to use the information so that we can make sure that we are all on the same page and the san francisco spca has a pact with acc and pursuant to which we take any healthy dog or cat that acc offers to us and we also regularly go above and beyond the terms of the pack by taking every adoptable dog or cat with a treatable medical condition as well as those with behavior problems that we can address. the number one destination for dogs and cats, entering acc is the san francisco spca.

at the same time, thanks to the prevention programs the number of dogs and cats that are entering acc have delined ten percent in the last ten years alone, these two shelter system is not opt mal for animals or for their guardians. and transferring the animals between the two shelters greatly increases the stress on the animals which could ex-sas bait the problems and increases the risk of sickness and decide, and confuses the guardians that are unsure of where to go, we found that in many cases, but they are unsure what free or subsidizes severs are available for them. the point is to get the animals with the guardians if a loving home and to keep them there. and but by offering the services available to san francisco, sfca, for example, our subsidized vet care and many are able to keep their

animals in the loving homes. this is the best possible out come for everyone involved. and we believe that there are hundreds, if not thousands of animals, that could be prevented if the guardians knew of the services available right across the street to them at the san francisco sbca. and we look forward to improving our partnership.

>> when the acc closed down on sunday ask monday we did not want the animals to be impacted and so we surrendered the services and opened it seven days a week and we became the open door shelter on these days and we did not turn away, any dog or cat that was being surrendered by san francisco residents. although the acc has reopened on sunday and mondays, we have kept the ex-expanded services in place to reduce the confusion and ease the burden and we are prepared to go much further to help. and we became, and we are willing to be the open door shelter, seven days a week, and handle all public surrenders and more importantly we are willing to do this at no cost to the city. our hope is that it will free acc to the time of handling public surrenders something that they are not required to do by law and focus on the safety and cruelty investigations by working

together, we can stamp out the city and make it an even better place for animals. >> good morning, supervisors my name is susanna and i come wearing three hats today and i am a vet, and i am a member of the commission of animal control and welfare, and i am, the neighborhood emergency response team coordinator for glen park. and i would like to thank my supervisor weiner, for initiating this conversation which i think is long overdue, and particularly germane now when it is not budget season. i am here today as a strong supporter of san francisco's animal care and control. and i am here to ask you to increase the funding for this

chronically under funded and critically important city organization. as a vet, and a member of the commission of animal control and welfare, i believe that acc could do more good for more animals if it had additional field staff, and the resources to both develop and expand programs and to promote more adoptions. and as a coordinator my number one priority is to facility and encourage my glen park neighbors to plan for the next earthquake and include their pets. i am asking you to plan for the future, by building a new shelter before the next

earthquake occurs. >> my family and many members of my family have adopted dogs over the years from acc and i have had the opportunity to sit in that lobby for about at least 20 times. and to use some gut language for a second, i am blown away. i am blown away by i have seen equanas come in pigeons and rats and dogs and cats and snakes and the officers and the staff at acc should be cloned, they treat every animal like their own child. and it is astonishing, and it is astonishing also, to, i have learned not too long ago, about the shoe string budget that the acc has and in all due respect it is still astonishing what

they do aa shoe string as a professional in the criminal justice system i also want to share with you that i have had the good fortune to collaborate with miss cats and her staff and bringing in their officers, to share the fire reaching effects of animal abuse and many of you know that we start a violence program in our jails years ago and the officers talk about the nexus between domestic violence and animal abuse and teaching the men, the far-reaching effects of that. and we can do so much more and helping the animals and all citizens if they are on the acc is on a level playing field. please help this agency become that much more effective thank you. >> thank you very much. >> next speaker? >> good morning, my name is julie johnson and i am from sick san francisco and i want

acc to be well funded and however any discussion about operational and budgetary concerns must consider the ways to save more than san franciscan mals as decreasing the number of animals euthanized too many animal and not much money and staff i will argue this this is a budget management issue not a crisis, san francisco has one of the lowest per capita intakes of animals in the u.s. and also one of the best funded cities for animal and shelter animals and acc budget has increased in the five years and it currently has an adopted budget of 5.6 million, despite this increase it has not inmoved and by this the animalwise treatable conditions continue to be killed at acc and almost one in four dogs that enter acc do not leave alive that is shocking. to better understand the trend we did a public records request and reviewed that the dogs killed from january to june, of the dogs killed the fast

majority were young adults and pit bulldogs, this represents a failure in our shelter, the mass killing of pit bulls will not make them go away, as you know, san francisco passed specific legislation requiring mandatory spay and neuter, this passed in 2005, here we are in 7 years later and now telling us that there is an increase in dog intake it is possible that this legislation has a very negative effect on acc. >> thank you, next speaker? >> good morning, thank you so much for calling this hearing. my name is bobby lang and i am advocate for animals. they take in all animals from san francisco regardless of their health or adoptbility and regardless of the budget and resources it provides vital services for san francisco

voiceless population and animals truly have no voice, and they cannot call 911 and say that they are being starved or abused or neglected and cannot ask for shelter, they can depend on the department for warm bed and food and a second chance at life, i had the pleasure of volunteering last year, providing exercise training and enrichment for dogs waiting to be adopted every time i entered the shelter i felt the sadness for the animals that i saw, thededer guardians passed away or sick in the hospital or those who are under going medical and evaluation whose lives hung in the balance those who are so ill or beaten and abused who needed to be released from their pain and suffering and those waiting for their forever home. i was thankful that they were safe and being taken care of by the control and staff and volunteers, without this department, most of these animals will be left in their homes or in the streets. however, the department current budget and the criens in dog intake with that, fact, and

animal care and control cannot adequately carry out the responsibility to the city's forgotten animals the other homeless population, please increase the animal care and control budget. >> thank you. >> next speaker. >> before you go, let me call a few more names, belinda rider. kelley linqist. jane, greenwald. and jennifer jamison, shaft, and brooks, jamie ray. daniel, yakaguchi? ? >> richard pastor and kathleen mcgar and then elizabeth young. go ahead. >> good afternoon, supervisors my name is ean and i was born in san francisco and i am a resident of san francisco and i

am a small animals volunteer at acc, and one of the things that i just wanted to come here to stress, especially since this is especially about budget matters s how creatively, the staff of the shelter uses volunteers and often uses them in ways that reduce ex-spend thank youers and reduce the need of considering to put a animal down, and they will send that home with someone like me and it will be cared for and and the pups will be born and when the time comes they will be brought back to the shelter and we will adropt them out. and this, of course, reduces expenses at the shelter and i just think that the shelter is to be congratulated for how creatively they use the volunteers and the last thing that i want to say very quickly

is just thinking personally about interacting with the government, i often think about going to the dmv and how unpleasant that is. and when people come into the shelter, they often bring their children and i know that the supervisors have talked about their positive experiences. it is a pleasant place to come. and the animals are clearly well cared for. and you always hear the laughter of children in there and much of that is due to the volunteers and what happens with the volunteers is due to the professionals that work there, thank you so much. >> thank you, very much >> i also want to thank tang and weiner for bringing this to the floor. >> i am a 36 year resident of san francisco and a volunteer for the past eight years at the san francisco, animal and control. and my thunder has been stolen. and so i will try to summarize,

one of the things that i have observed for 30 years in san francisco i worked for one of staoet agency and working for that agency i had a lot of contact with the other city agencies and the thing that i have observed in the san franciscan , animal care and control, is the stewardship. and they should be commended for that and there is no flat in their budget and they operate as best as they can despite that. you