To all who are on this page please read: Roger A Fairbanks had a wonderful idea to create a form letter that Sumter residents could send to the Board of County Commissioners here in Sumter County so I asked my mentor Steve Shank if he would tackle that and as always he has come through! Thank you for all you do Steve!! You can copy and paste this form letter into an email or print and send by mail. Please take a few minutes to do this as it will help get the commissioners attention and make them see that we are serious about change for the animals. This will only happen if we work together. Please feel free to share this with all your friends and relatives that live here in Sumter County as well! I have included the BOCCs emails as well. Thank you and please Be Their Voice!! [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] October 6, 2014 RE: Reform Sumter County Animal Services Dear Administrator Arnold and Commissioners: I am writing to express concern over certain procedures at the Sumter County Animal Shelter located at 819 CR529, Lake Panasoffkee. Sumter County promotes itself as A Great Place to Live, Work and Play. According to the 2013-2014 APPA (American Pet Products Association) National Pet Owners Survey, 68% of U.S. households own a pet. Pets are a big part of families. As stated on the Sumter County Animal Services web page, “ Our mission is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens and animals of Sumter County and to promote justice and equity in the enforcement of state and local laws for control and protection. Animal Services is responsible for enforcement of all County Codes related to the ownership and care of domestic animals.” I am calling for a change in shelter philosphy and managerial methods at my taxpayer funded facility. I want my shelter, SCAS, to be an establishment that provides a temporary home for dogs, cats, and other animals that are offered for adoption, a place where all adoptable and treatable animals are saved and where only unadoptable or animals beyond rehabilitation are euthanized, not the kill facility that it sadly is. A shelter should be a rest stop on the road to a new life not a place where they are likely to die. In a further initiative to promote adoption as a means of saving lives several available, proven changes would lower kill rates: (1) different shelter hours, staying open until at least 6pm and having adoption hours each Saturday, possibly 10-4pm, (2) lower fees charged to potential adopters and rescue groups, (3) holding outside adoption events away from the facility, bringing the pets to the people rather than making them go to the pets, (4) eliminating the mandatory hold time of seven business days for shelter animals before they are killed, (5) more advertising/promoting of the shelter animals using public service announcements via paper and electronic media, (6) posting photos on the Sumter County Animal Services facebook page of all adoptable animals on intake, (7) installing county signage at select intersections and roads throughout the county directing potential adopters to the facility in Lake Panasoffkee, (8) implementing a TNR program for feral cats, and amending your feral animal policy to reflect it. The general public has a difficult time viewing animals up for adoption when shelter hours are 11:30am to 5pm Monday -Friday. This is a barrier for many who work and for their kids who are in school waiting for their parents. Sumter is the only animal control facility in central Florida that is not open on at least one weekend day. This is a significant barrier and greatly increases the hinderence in adopting out shelter animals. This is not an effective service to the public or the animals. A special day at the shelter would be a plus. Pets for Vets; Cat and Kitten day, and other imaginative, creative special pet adoption events to get the residents involved in celebration of the new community commitment to reduce kill rates, increase adoptions and the facility Live Release Rate (LRR). It would give folks an opportunity to participate and support the shelter. Local business could get involved by having coupons for adopters and pets. This would change the atmosphere of the shelter and increases the local economy. There are rescue groups in the central Florida area that have proven their merit and deserve to be recognized as trusted stewards of shelter animals. Eliminating or lowering fees to rescue groups who spend a large percentage of their time and money on such fees would enable them to save more pets. These initiatives would promote adoption as a means of saving lives and further define Sumter County as a caring community. An argument for shelter animal rights does not decrease respect for human life, it increases respect for all life. I am asking the County to address these life saving issues. Both pets and animal lovers deserve your best efforts. It is important that you consider measures to bring about timely change as the shelter is presently failing its animals. According to the Sumter County Animal Services Monthly Reports, for the first eight months of 2014, Sumter County killed 268 dogs and puppies, 546 cats and kittens, for a total euthanasia number of 814. Using your Intake numbers, that equates to killing 36% of dogs and 70% of cats. That rate is unacceptable to me as a taxpayer and voter. There is no reason for Sumter not to become a No Kill facility, saving 90% or greater of the animals in my county shelters care. I in fact demand it from my representatives and will be watching and listening for the decisions made impacting the transition of this facility in to one myself and the citizens of Sumter can be proud of, rather than ridiculed for and embarrassed about. The next step for Sumter County should be to implement ALL of the proven lifesaving steps of the No Kill Equation. Feral Cat TNR Program Trap-Neuter Release (TNR) programs allow shelters to reduce death rates of free-living cats. Traditional methods of managing the feral cat populations have involved removing cats from their home territories and euthanizing them. Modern community cat management strategies involve neutering the cats and returning them to their capture site (TNR). As a neutered community cat population ages, the number of cats will decrease by natural attrition and will not be replaced by subsequent generations. Numerous studies have shown that trap/neuter/return is the most effective way to reduce community cat populations over time, and it is the only successful method to keep feral cats from being euthanized. High Volume, Low Cost Spay and Neuter Services No-and low-cost, high-volume spay and neuter reduces the number of animals entering the shelter system, allowing more resources to be allocated toward saving lives. These services should be readily available to targeted populations of people unable to afford the surgery at the normal rate and/or specific jurisdictions within a community known for having a large number of unaltered animals. These services have been proven to reduce shelter intake, making spay and neuter incredibly cost effective. Rescue Partnerships Rescue groups provide a valuable resource to shelters. An adoption or transfer to a rescue group free up kennel space, reduce expenses, and will improve a community’s rate of lifesaving. Partnerships between shelters and rescue groups are vital, and rare is the circumstance in which a licensed rescue group would be denied an animal. Foster Care Volunteer foster care is a low-cost and often no-cost way of increasing a shelter’s capacity, caring for sick and injured or behaviorally challenged animals, and thus saving more lives. Providing temporary foster care to litters of puppies or kittens that are too young for adoption, animals who are shy, those that need some extra TLC, or animals who need special medical attention can dramatically increase the lifesaving capacity. Comprehensive Adoption Adoptions are vital to the lifesaving mission. The quantity and quality of shelter adoptions is in shelter management’s hands, making lifesaving a direct function of shelter policies and practice. If shelters better promoted their animals and had adoption programs responsive to community needs, including public access hours for working people, providing a welcoming atmosphere and excellent customer service, offsite adoptions, adoption incentives, and effective marketing, contrary to conventional wisdom, shelters can adopt their way out of killing. Pet Retention While some surrender of animals to shelters are unavoidable, others can be prevented-but only if shelters work with people to help them solve their problems. Saving animals requires shelters to develop innovative strategies for keeping people and their companion animals together. And the more a community sees its shelters as a place to turn for advice and assistance, the easier this job will be. Medical and Behavioral Programs To meet its commitment to a lifesaving guarantee for all savable animals, shelters need to keep animals happy and healthy and keep animals moving efficiently through the system. To do this, shelters must put in place comprehensive vaccination, handling, cleaning, socialization, and care policies before animals get sick and rehabilitative efforts for those who come in sick, injured, un-weaned, or traumatized. Public Relations/Community Involvement Increasing adoptions, maximizing donations, recruiting volunteers and partnering with community agencies comes down to increasing the shelter’s public exposure. And that means consistent marketing and public relations. Public relations and marketing are the foundation of a shelter’s activities and success. Volunteers Volunteers are a dedicated “army of compassion” and the backbone of a No Kill effort. There is never enough staff, never enough dollars to hire more staff, and always more needs than paid human resources. That is where volunteers make the difference between success and failure and, for the animals, life and death. Proactive Redemptions One of the most overlooked areas for reducing killing in animal control shelters are lost animal reclaims. Shifting from a passive to a more proactive approach has allowed shelters to return a large percentage of lost animals to their families. Compassionate Director The final element of the No Kill Equation is the most important of all, without which all other elements are thwarted–a hard working, compassionate animal shelter director who is willing to be accountable to results by implementing these programs. Get the right people on the team who bring strong, knowledgeable, flexible, and inspired leadership! An action plan with timelines for change would help everyone work towards a common goal and attract those who are willing to help. Sincerely, YOUR NAME YOUR ADDRESS YOUR PHONE NUMBER (optional) (Adding your personal info gives your letter authenticity, please do not leave this part out.)
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 00:27:23 +0000
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