Animal control task force recommends partnership

CLOVIS — When it came to a review of the city’s animal shelter and animal control policies, its task force never veered from a simple concept over 90 minutes.

Free is a very good price.

With that in mind, the task force unanimously recommended a partnership with the Best Friends Animal Network to take place in the next few months. Final approval will go to the Clovis city commission, with Dec. 16 the earliest the commission would consider such an item. Any memorandum of understanding with Best Friends, City Manager Justin Howalt said, would have to be run by counsel, city administration and the Clovis Police Department, which runs the animal control department.

Much of the Monday meeting at Clovis’ city hall was a presentation of the nonprofit’s work from Scott Giacoppo and Jesstca Gutman. The Utah-based nonprofit has worked with more than 75 municipalities and provides services like shelter visits, short-term workers and policy reviews. Best Friends, founded in 1984, has a goal of 90% or more animals saved from all shelters by 2025.

“We do this to help you,” Giacoppo said. “It is completely covered by our donors.”

The nonprofit has a variety of free services, but the most discussed item Monday was a site visit over a period of usually around three days.

“That includes everything from ordinance changes to the way you sanitize your kennels to the way you interact with your community,” Giacoppo said. “It’s not us coming in and telling you what to do.”

Giacoppo said the key factor in making changes is to take animal control from a punitive model to a community-based model. Ideas thrown out during the discussion included placing “found dog” signs with a phone number at the location an animal control officer picks up a stray pet, fixing a fence that has been ineffective in keeping a pet, or giving other city departments microchip scanners because a lost dog is a community issue.

“A stray dog is usually within one mile of home,” Giacoppo said, “and neighbors know who the dog belongs to.”

The animal control department staff who attended said they’re not against Best Friends’ offer, but asked if it would be possible to hold off any suggested training for a few months to build up staff. Interim Shelter Supervisor Brice Stacy, who said he is likely leaving at the end of the year, said the staff is currently himself, Animal Control Officer Larry Jacquez, an officer in training and a general office worker.

Jacquez and Stacy said the shelter suffers from a negative public perception that it euthanizes more animals than it actually does.

“The thing we put down the most is feral cats,” Stacy said. “There’s no way around that.”

So far in November, Jacquez said, the shelter had 10 cats and 21 dogs adopted. The shelter has euthanized 28 cats — 24 of them feral — and six dogs. Jacquez said several of the dog euthanizations were the result of protective orders where the dog was ordered to be put down in a court hearing.

Linda Cross, task force chair, said Best Friends had a track record of success, and Howalt said he didn’t think it would hurt to have an assessment done.

“They’re reputable,” Cross said. “Their organization is amazing. They know what works, what doesn’t.”

Task force member Erica Romero believed Best Friends could improve the shelter, but countered the shelter is not the source of the city’s animal problems.

“The shelter is a direct result of the actual problem,” Romero said, “and I think we’re going to be chasing our proverbial tail. Responsible pet ownership is the real issue.”

The task force adjourned without scheduling a future meeting, with everybody agreeing there was little to discuss until Best Friends could make policy recommendations.