Addressing Animal Shelter Concerns
in the City of Manteca
Whitney Monroe, Animal Services Supervisor
Paul Carmona, Captain
ATTACHMENT 1
About Manteca Animal Services
• Animal Services Staff Levels (FY 22/23):
• 1 – Full time Lead Animal Services Officer
• 2 – Full time Animal Services Officers
• 3 – Part time Kennel Assistants
• Current staffing for Kennel Assistants, is 2
• Animal Service Division consists of two elements:
• Field Services
• Animal Shelter Facility
• Previously contracted with City of Lathrop
• Contract expired 09/30/2022
ATTACHMENT 1
Field Services
• Animal Service officers perform the following
under Field Services:
• Impound animals
• Take reports of vicious, mistreated, or
nuisance animals
• Investigate animal bites
• Testify in court when appropriate
Animal Shelter Facility
• Animal Service officers perform the following
under Animal Shelter Facility:
• Seized, impounded, or surrendered animals
are being housed while attempting to
locating their owners or new owners
• Contracted veterinary clinics work closely
with staff members to ensure the health of
all impounded animals. Additionally, being
sure these animals are spayed/neutered
prior to release
• Efforts are made with rescue organizations
to find homes for as many animals as
possible
Elements within Animal Services
ATTACHMENT 1
Review of Shelter Floor Plan
ATTACHMENT 1
Current Animal Shelter Yard & Activities
• Two play yards are located in the back of the shelter • Shelter staff rotates dogs throughout the day in the yards • Dog play groups are located in the yards as well
• This is where dog friendly dogs have play time in the yard together with shelter staff Note: The Animal Shelter yard and activities assists with alleviating kennel stress. Kennel stress is a term used for when dogs encounter mental and emotional strain by experiencing tension during or after a kennel stay.
ATTACHMENT 1
Animal Intake Process at the Shelter
• Upon intake, evaluation completed on ALL animals:
• Overall condition (age, behavior, sex, etc.)
• Scan for microchip
• Check for additional forms of identification
• Example: License tag, name tag with contact information, etc.
Note: Hold times vary dependent upon findings from intake evaluation. Following state-mandated holding period, including 10 day hold for microchip animals.
ATTACHMENT 1
Animal Intake Process at the Shelter
• Types of intakes:
• Owner surrender
• Surrender for euthanasia
• Nuisance Wildlife
• Stray hold (including cats, dogs, avians, reptiles, etc.) • Deceased animals
ATTACHMENT 1
Owner Surrender
• Current requirements to surrender an animal:
• $25 surrender fee (dogs & cats)
• Provide proof of residency
Surrender for euthanasia
• Current requirements to surrender an animal
for euthanasia:
• Letter from veterinarian recommending
euthanasia
• $50 fee collected for services
Animal Intake Process Description
ATTACHMENT 1
Nuisance Wildlife
• Traps available for loan to assist in removal of
nuisance wildlife
Note: California Code of Regulations 465.5(g)(1):
This regulation does not prohibit employees of
federal, state, or local government from using
chemical euthanasia to dispatch trapped
animals. Trapped animals must be euthanized
or released immediately on site. Relocation of
trapped wildlife is prohibited.
Stray hold
(including cats, dogs, avians, reptiles, livestock etc.) • Cats & Dogs
• Hold periods 4-10 days dependent on intake
evaluation
• Avians, Reptiles, Livestock, etc.
• Follow state-mandated holding periods
Animal Intake Process Description
ATTACHMENT 1
Email Correspondence received by People for
the Ethical Treatment of Animals (P.E.T.A.)
• Individuals in the Manteca area are concerned about pressure on City officials to implement “no-kill” policies at the Manteca Animal Shelter
• P.E.T.A – composed of more than 659,600 members and supporters in California have expressed the following concerns:
• Such policies have been shown to have unintended consequences that harm animals and endanger the public • If “no-kill” policies actually helped animals, PETA would be their strongest supporter • However, when these policies are put into practice and animal shelters refuse to help people or make it difficult for them to do the right thing, both animals and the public are victimized • It isn’t surprising that residents in communities across the U.S. are becoming increasingly frustrated when shelters with “no-kill” policies turn animals away, refuse to provide important services, and fail to protect the community, all to make their “live release” statistics appealing
• Animals rejected by shelters don’t just disappear—they die slowly and painfully after they’ve been abandoned on the streets (often reproducing and creating even more homeless and roaming animals) or are cruelly killed • “Life at any cost” policies don’t address the root cause of the homeless-animal crisis and instead cause animals to endure fates that are far worse than a peaceful end
ATTACHMENT 1
“No-Kill” Shelter Information
• Challenges the shelter faces pertaining to no-kill
• Number of cats and dogs
• Posing public safety concerns due to behavioral traits • Animals needing constant care due to age or overall health condition (including severely injured strays) • Surrender for euthanasia
• Nuisance wildlife
ATTACHMENT 1
Process
• Get to know our animals
• Meet & Greet with available pets
• Complete adoption agreement
• Pay adoption fee & spay and neuter fee (fees
vary dependent on size and gender)
• Ensure the pet is spayed/neutered before
release
• Pet released to forever home!
Cost
Spay & Neuter Fee breakdown
• Dogs
• Spay $170 to $320+
• Neuter $140 to $230+
• Cats
• Spay $120
• Neuter $95
Miscellaneous:
• Feline Pain Injections $15
• Feline Pain Tablets $20
• Canine Pain Tables $21
• E-Collar $15
Animal Adoption Information
ATTACHMENT 1
What new things are we doing now:
• Weekly Pet Adoption Events
• 10/27 – Barks & Brews event on Maple Avenue
• Hold yearly Clear of the Shelter event
• Developed a Facebook Page for the Shelter
• Exploring new programs and volunteer opportunities
• Recently had the Shelter Audit, and looking to implement audit suggestions.
• Staff is scheduling tours of other shelters to benchmark best practices.
• Obtained $40,000 to put towards shelter services and
programs- staff will continue to look for funding
opportunities.
ATTACHMENT 1
Information Addressing the Shelters Swamp Coolers
Swamp Cooler/Air Conditioner Information
• The human body uses many methods to regulate its internal temperature, and we benefit from having exposed skin.
• Dogs on the other hand have an insulating fur coat which can make it hard for them to lose heat. • In addition, dogs don’t have cooling sweat. They only have a small number of sweat glands on their feet, which produce sweat for traction, not cooling.
• Instead dogs lose heat by panting, which evaporates water from their mouth, nose, and throat. • This evaporation cools them off the way our sweat does. • That is why Evaporative Coolers are good…An evaporative cooler, aka a swamp cooler, essentially sweats for your dog.
• It draws hot air over the evaporative media, similar to a giant sponge that’s saturated with water. • Water evaporates from the media, taking heat from the air. • Then the dramatically cooler air comes out to keep dogs cool in summer.
ATTACHMENT 1
Information Addressing the Shelters
Swamp Coolers and Temperature
• As you can see on the chart when the
temperature increases and the relative
humidity is low the Swamp Cooler
cools the temperature down to a
comfortable level.
• Looking at the chart, when the
temperature outside is 115 degrees
the temperature inside the shelter is
86 degrees.
• This is exactly what we just observed
at the shelter with the last heat wave.
• Because the air was cool and moist the
animals in the shelter were cool and
comfortable.
ATTACHMENT 1
Animal Shelter Recommendations
1. Establish a Foster program
• It would help free up space within the shelter
• Help animals not ready for adoption (bottle baby kittens, kittens that are not 2lbs yet, puppies younger than 8 weeks) • Help animals decompress from the shelter environment and combat dogs becoming kennel stressed
2. Expand volunteer programs
• Allowing for volunteers to take dogs on walks within specific locations, dates, and times • Volunteers undergo training
• Forms to be signed by volunteers
3. Low cost spay and neuter program
4. Research possibility of Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate and Return (TNVR) program
5. Pet Micro-Chip program (significantly increase in animals return to owner)
6. Increase annual budget FY23-24
• Veterinarian services
• Additional staff
• 1 additional full time Animal Services Officer
• Helps as a rescue coordinator
• Assist community outreach and educational programs
• 2 additional part time staff to help with the programs listed
7. Research possibility of establishing an 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and animal welfare society. • Provides extra funds for the Animal Shelter that will fund programs like Spay and Neuter and veterinarian services.
8. Eliminate nuisance wildlife trapping or acceptance of nuisance wildlife ATTACHMENT 1
THANK YOU- Questions, Comments, Concerns,
or Other Recommendations
ATTACHMENT 1