DATE: April 25, 2023
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Acting Chief of Police
SUBJECT: Adopt a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Accept $30,000 From the Moirao Family Trust – Surviving Spouse’s Trust to be Used by the Hayward Animal Shelter for the Continued Operation of the Community Cats Trap, Neuter, and Return Program and to Purchase Replacement Kennels for Small Animals
RECOMMENDATION
That Council adopts a resolution (Attachment II) authorizing the City Manager to accept $30,000 from the Moirao Family Trust – Surviving Spouse’s Trust, to be used by the Hayward Animal Shelter (the Shelter) for the continued operation of the Community Cats Trap, Neuter, and Return Program, and to purchase replacement kennels for the Shelter’s small animal room.
SUMMARY
The Hayward Animal Shelter has been named as a beneficiary of a cash gift from the Moirao Family Trust – Surviving Spouse’s Trust (the Trust). Pursuant to the Trust, thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) is to be given “to the City of Hayward, California strictly for the benefit of the Hayward Animal Shelter and the animals for which it provides care.” The Hayward Animal Shelter is proposing to use $15,000 of the $30,000 gift for the continued operation of the Community Cats Trap, Neuter, and Return program. The Shelter would like to use the other $15,000 to purchase replacement kennels for the Shelter’s small animal room. The Shelter plans to place a donor recognition plaque on the new bank of kennels to memorialize this wonderful gift the Moirao family has bestowed upon the City of Hayward, and the animals it serves.
BACKGROUND
The Hayward Animal Shelter, also referred to as the Hayward Animal Services Bureau, provides animal field and shelter services for the City of Hayward. The Shelter is open for adoptions, recovering lost pets, intake of stray dogs and cats, and other services. Two such services include the provision of the City of Hayward’s Community Cat Trap, Neuter and Return (TNR) program, and its small animal room, where the Shelter houses stray, lost or adoptable small animals.
Community Cat Trap Neuter and Return (TNR) Program
The Hayward Animal Shelter began the operation of its Community Cat Trap, Neuter, and Return (TNR) Program in 2014. Under the program, the Shelter is able to offer subsidized spay/neuter services to: (1) low-income caregivers who need assistance spaying or neutering community cats fed on their property; and (2) residents who would like to help reduce the cat population in their neighborhoods by trapping feral/free-roaming cats for purposes of spaying or neutering them, prior to being released back into the community they call home.
Pursuant to the TNR program, community cats are caught in humane traps by caregivers, neighborhood residents, or volunteers. The trappers then bring the cats to the Hayward Animal Shelter where the cats are then transported by volunteers to partner spay/neuter clinics for spay/neuter, “ear tipping”, vaccinating, and microchipping (they are often provided other medical care as needed as well), before being returned to the same location in the community where they were found. The practice of ear-tipping is a universal sign indicating that the cat has been altered.
The purpose of the program is to decrease the number of feral/community cats living in neighborhoods by preventing their continued breeding of litters of kittens. Additionally, TNR reduces shelter intake and decreases euthanasia of unadoptable feral cats, and nursing kittens who need 24-hour care. The spay and neutering of community cats through the TNR program reduces nuisance behaviors in the cats that are often the basis of community complaints, helping them to become better neighbors and creating a less hostile environment for the community cats and residents to live in. Colony management protects the cat’s continued well-being and fosters caring relationships between the residents, community cat caregivers, and the community cats they care for. TNR is the most humane and effective method for managing and reducing cat populations and is the method recommended and supported by the ASPCA, the Humane Society of the United States, and the National Animal Care and Control Association.
Small Animal Kennels
In addition to dogs and cats, the Hayward Animal Shelter receives throughout the year various species of small animals, most commonly rabbits, guinea pigs, and hamsters. The small animals are stray, lost, or surrendered to the shelter for care as they await redemption, adoption, or transfer to a rescue partner. The average length of stay for our small animals is 19 days, however, we have had several remain in our care for upwards of four months. Rabbits and guinea pigs are housed in cages that were originally manufactured to house cats. Four cages make up one bank. When the shelter is low on rabbits and guinea pigs, the cages can be opened to allow the pet to have two cages which provide the pet more space to perform natural habits and supports their improved mental and physical well-being. The two banks of cages currently in our small animal room are 23 years old and due to cage wear and tear, they are no longer conducive to disease control. Cage surfaces are cracked, and seam caulking has peeled leaving exposed material underneath that can’t be properly sanitized. Plexiglass windows are scratched and cloudy. The banks of cages sit on the floor putting the pets in the lower cages at a level that can cause them increased stress and fear. This also makes the pets in the lower cages less visible to visitors, requiring them to bend over or kneel to see the pet.
DISCUSSION
As indicated above, the Shelter’s Community Cat TNR program is an indispensable program that benefits not only our community cats but our community residents. The Shelter believes that the use of $15,000 of the $30,000 gift towards the continued operation of its Community Cat TNR program, would assist in the TNR of at least 150 community cats. This means that those 150 cats trapped, would not only be spayed, and neutered preventing the increase of the cat colony population but these 150 cats would also be vaccinated, dewormed, microchipped, and potentially provided further medical care (as needed).
The Shelter proposes that the other $15,000 of the $30,000 gift from the Moirao family be used for the purchase of new kennels for the Shelter’s small animal room. The Shelter believes that $15,000 would allow the Shelter to purchase two banks of four cages each that would comfortably house anywhere from 4-10 small animals at a time and would ultimately house close to 100 small animals a year. These new cages are constructed using a new durable PVC material and have seamless insides. Additionally, the cage doors will be equipped with quiet close latches to reduce noise that causes the animals stress and support a Fear Free environment. The new banks of cages include drawers and cabinets to store our small animal supplies and raise the cages off the floor making them more visible to adopters and putting them at a less stressful height for the animals.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
This agenda item will have an economic impact on the residents of Hayward since it will enable the Shelter to continue to provide subsidized TNR services to: (1) low-income caregivers who need assistance spaying or neutering community cats fed on their property; and (2) residents who would like to help reduce the cat population in their neighborhoods by trapping feral/roaming cats for purposes of spaying or neutering them, prior to being released back into the community they call home.
FISCAL IMPACT
The $30,000 donation from the Mairo Family Trust – Surviving Spouse’s Trust will allow the Animal Shelter to fund projects to continue supporting its operational efforts. The donation will allow for the continued operation of the Community Cats Trap, Neuter, and Return program, as well as the purchase of replacement kennels for the Shelter’s small animal room.
STRATEGIC ROADMAP
This agenda item supports the Strategic Priority of Enhancing Community Safety & Quality of Life, Growing the Economy and Strengthening Organizational Health.
SUSTAINABILITY FEATURES
The recommended action for this report will not directly result in physical development, purchase or service, new policy or legislation related to sustainability.
PUBLIC CONTACT
No public contact was made for this item.
NEXT STEPS
If Council approves, the City will send a copy of the approved Staff Report and Resolution to the Trustee of the Moirao Family Trust – Surviving Spouse’s Trust, and execute a “Request for Distribution” of the $30,000 gift, to be distributed and used as directed above.
Prepared by: Amy S. Rothman, Deputy City Attorney II
Jennie Comstock, Animal Services Administrator
Recommended by: Jennie Comstock, Animal Services Administrator Bryan Matthews, Acting Chief of Police
Approved by:
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Kelly McAdoo, City Manager