City of Sacramento
City Council - 5PM Report
915 I Street Sacramento, CA 95814
www.cityofsacramento.org
File ID: 2025-01721 11/18/2025
Contract: Professional Service Supplemental Agreement for Contracted On-Site Veterinary Services
File ID: 2025-01721
Location: Citywide
Recommendation: Pass a Motion authorizing the Interim City Manager or Designee to execute Supplemental Agreement No. 4 to City Agreement PRC002049 with Friends of Front Street Shelter in the amount not-to-exceed $116,002, bringing the total not-to-exceed amount to $1,250,000 for contracted on-site veterinary services, and ratify all prior agreements previously issued by the Interim City Manager in accordance with Chapter 3.56 of the City Code.
Contact: Phillip Zimmerman, Animal Care Services Manager, (916) 808-8333, [email protected], Community Development Department Presenter: None
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Supplemental Agreement with Friends of Front Street Animal Shelter Additional Description/Analysis
Issue Detail: Staff is requesting authorization to execute a proposed supplemental agreement with Friends of the Front Street Animal Shelter. The supplemental agreement will increase the contract by $116,002. Supplemental Agreement No. 4 to City Agreement PRC002049 will bring the total not-to- exceed amount to $1,250,000 for contracted on-site veterinary services.
California Civil Code § 1834 states: “A depositary of living animals shall provide the animals with necessary and prompt veterinary care, nutrition, and shelter, and treat them kindly. Any depositary that fails to perform these duties may be liable for civil damages as provided by law.” If an animal enters the Shelter and is sick or injured, it must be treated promptly. To comply with this Civil Code, Council approval is required for agreements to provide on-site relief veterinary services. The Shelter is classified as a depositary for living animals and therefore bound by California Civil Code.
Policy Considerations: City Code Section 3.56.090 requires Council approval to authorize the
File ID: 2025-01721 11/18/2025
Interim City Manager to bind the City by contract for purchases that are $250,000 or more. The recommendations in this report are consistent with Sacramento City Code Section 3.56.
The supplemental agreement with Friends of Front Street Shelter exceeds the Interim City Manager’s approval authority and requires approval by City Council.
Continuing to contract with Friends of Front Street Shelter ensures that Animal Care Services continues to comply with California Civil Code § 1834 to provide necessary and prompt veterinary care.
Economic Impacts: Not applicable.
Environmental Considerations: Not applicable. This is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it does not have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. (CEQA Guidelines §15061(b)(3).)
Sustainability: Not applicable.
Commission/Committee Action: Not applicable.
Rationale for Recommendation: To remain compliant with California Civil Code § 1834, it is imperative that the Shelter has daytime on-site veterinarian services when the Shelter veterinarian is not on duty. Although the City currently has 3.0 FTE (full-time equivalent) veterinarian positions, one position remains vacant. Additionally, coverage is needed for sick leave, vacation, and other intermittent leaves. It is more efficient and cost-effective to have a veterinarian on-site than sending animals to our emergency contract veterinary provider. As a result, there is a need to establish a new contract with Friends of Front Street Shelter to continue services and cover these operational needs.
Friends of Front Street Shelter is the only recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization committed to assisting the City Front Street Animal Shelter achieve their goal of saving the lives of all strays, abandoned, and abused animals who come through its doors. To help the City Shelter achieve their life-saving goal, Friends has contracted directly with a pool of up to 15 veterinarians to provide as- needed, on-site relief veterinary services at the Shelter. Friends also manages the scheduling and payments for each of their contracted veterinarians which reduces administrative work for Shelter staff. In the best interest of the City, a request to suspend competitive bidding to continue contracting with Friends for on-site veterinary services was requested and approved by a two-thirds vote on June 20, 2023 - Resolution No. 2023-0210.
Financial Considerations: The current contract amounts are not sufficient to meet the operational needs for the current fiscal year. Due to the rise in veterinary service costs and the department's inability to fill one vacant Veterinarian position, along with coverage for leaves, the demand for
File ID: 2025-01721 11/18/2025
contract services to provide life-saving care to sick and injured animals has increased significantly.
The existing budget in the Animal Care division is insufficient to support ongoing veterinary services, but the department anticipates generating operational savings in the current fiscal year to cover the costs of the new agreement. Additionally, there is a current balance of $615,677 in donated funds in the Friends of the City Animal Shelter multi-year operating project (I13000400), designated to partially fund the increased costs and alleviate the impact on the operating budget.
All expenditures related to this agreement will be based on the availability of departmental funding.
Future agreements will undergo review by department staff and will be contingent upon future fiscal year budget appropriations and savings within the department's operating budget.
Local Business Enterprise (LBE): Friends of Front Street is a qualified LBE.
Rev. 8/1/2025
CONTRACT AMENDMENT
CHANGE IN SCOPE AND NOT-TO-EXCEED AMOUNT
Project Title and Job Number: On-Site Contracted Veterinarian Services Date: 11/18/25 Purchase Order #: Contract Amendment No.: 4
The City of Sacramento (“City”) and Friends of Front Street Shelter (“Contractor”), as parties to that certain contract designated as Contract Number PRC002049 , including any and all prior amendments modifying the contract (the contract and all amendments are hereafter collectively referred to as the “Contract”), hereby amend the Contract as follows:
1. The scope set forth in Exhibit A of the Contract is amended as follows:
A change to the Scope of Service as outlined in Attachment 1 to Exhibit A
2. The maximum not-to-exceed amount that is specified in the Contract for payment of Contractor’s fees and expense s is increased by $116,002., and the Contract’s maximum not-to-exceed amount is amended as follows:
Contract’s original not-to-exceed amount: $249,999
Net change by previous amendments: $883,999
Not-to-exceed amount prior to this amendment: $1,133,998 Increase by this amendment: $116,002
New not-to exceed amount including all amendments: $1,250,000
3. Contractor agrees that the amount specified in section 2 above shall fully compensate Contractor under the Contract, as modified by this amendment, including any and all direct and indirect costs that may be incurred by Contractor in connection with such additional and/or revised services, and costs associated with any changes and/or delays in schedules or in the delivery of other services by Contractor.
4. Contractor warrants and represents that the person or persons executing this contract amendment on behalf of Contractor is duly authorized by Contractor to sign this amendment and bind Contractor to the terms hereof.
5. Except as specifically revised herein, all terms and conditions of the Contract shall remain in full force and effect, and Contractor shall perform as required under the Contract, as modified by this amendment.
1 Attachment 1 to Exhibit A
Scope of Services for On-Site Veterinarian Coverage at the City of Sacramento Animal Care Services – provided by Friends of Front Street Shelter
The following scope of services shall be provided by the Friends of Front Street Shelter when Animal Care Services does not have legally required veterinarian coverage at the Front Street Animal Shelter.
• Friends of Front Street Shelter will provide veterinarian coverage when requested by Animal Care Services Management when there are no veterinarians, or reduced veterinarian coverage due to vacancies, vacations, sick days, or leaves of absence.
• Veterinarians will be subcontractors of Friends of Front Street Shelter.
• Friends of Front Street Shelter will only provide contract veterinarians that have Professional Liability Insurance providing coverage on a claims-made basis for errors and omissions, or malpractice with limits of not less than one million dollars ($1,000,000).
• Veterinarians will provide shelter medicine services including herd health of shelter animals, spay/neuter surgeries, and specialty services such as amputations, eye enucleations, etc.
• Veterinarians will provide treatment to animals that are housed both in the shelter and in foster homes.
• Veterinarians will provide veterinary treatment services for owned animals, primarily for the HOAP* (Homeless Outreach and Assistance Program) initiative.
*The HOAP program supports people experiencing homelessness in Sacramento by prioritizing the human–animal bond and providing essential pet services such as preventative care, medical appointments, spay/neuter surgeries, resource distribution, and emergency care.
• The City of Sacramento Animal Care Services is required to have a California Veterinary Premise Permit to practice veterinary medicine, veterinary dentistry, and veterinary surgery. This permit can be issued to a licensed California veterinarian in good standing by the State of California Veterinary Medical Board.
If the City does not have a City staffed veterinarian holding a premise permit with the California Veterinary Medical Board, Friends of Front Street Shelter may 2 provide a veterinarian to temporarily be the Licensee Manager holding the Veterinary Premise Permit.
• The City of Sacramento Animal Care Services is required to have a veterinarian with a Drug Enforcement Administration License issued by the U.S. Department of Justice to order, use and store controlled substances. If the City does not have a City staff veterinarian holding a Drug Enforcement Administration License, Friends of Front Street Shelter may provide a veterinarian to temporarily by provide their Drug Enforcement Administration License to order, use, and store control substances.
• Contract veterinarians shall receive a minimum of four (4) paid hours per day, regardless of the number of surgeries performed.