From: Jessica McNamara
To: Espejo, Gina
Subject: San Jose Animal Care Needs You!
Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2022 4:55:55 PM
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Hi Gina,
Generally, I know you know how much of a positive impact animals have on a humans life. There is absolutely no reason that is reason enough to decide not to help these animals in need at SJ Animal Care and the humans who are negatively impacted by the lack of resources there. This has a ricochet effect on countless lives! Please do something.
Jessica
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From: Debbi Snyder
To: Espejo, Gina
Subject: SJ Animal Care
Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2022 7:12:56 PM
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When is the TNR returning
Pregnant cats are overrunning our neighborhood
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From: Jenna Skinner
To: Espejo, Gina
Subject: San Jose Animal Care Center
Date: Wednesday, December 7, 2022 10:38:12 PM
To whom it may concern,
I am the director of Gatos de la Noche and have been a rescue partner with SJACC for about 10 years.
The last few years have been especially difficult with the pandemic and the lack of shelter services that having shutdowns created. Unfortunately, when the world got started again, San Jose Animal Care Center did not. TNR services and low cost spay and neuter services for the community you serve have not resumed and the fallout of this is being felt by rescues and the public as well. And, for cats and kittens, the tsunami is coming. The lack of TNR services means more unwanted kittens being born on the streets and rescues like mine being flooded for requests for help. I received three requests today. Here are two of them
Good Afternoon. We have at least 6 kittens, several weeks old, who were born somewhere around the boundary of our facility. Our Deputy Director directed me to ask you for assistance.
He (we) are happy to
have an organization neuter snd release or catch and adopt or a little of both. Only 1 of the kittens, a male, will approach people. The Mon cat has not shown the litter how to hunt, from observation.
Mansfield.Kirk our Deputy Director. I am happy to assist with needs and requests, information, etc. Have a good day. Karrie
What do I tell Karrie? Sorry there’s no place to get your cats TNR’d in San Jose and no place to take the kittens.
Or how about this one.
Name
Laura Nacorda-Hole
Hi, a friend and I have been feeding a couple of feral cats since the gentleman who used to feed them moved out of the area. The few cats we've been feeding are all surgically neutered, but we noticed several new cats recently and we think they were just abandoned in the area. They are skittish and avoid contact. We are feeding them and want to make sure they are spayed/neutered. I looked up some info but it says Milpitas residents can only get strays TNR'd at San Jose Animal Shelter--which is currently closed for TNR and has been for three years. Please help! I will gladly donate to the cause and do what I can, but my resources are limited and my knowledge in this area is, too. Thanks.
Again, unless I pay out of pocket or hope to get a precious HSSV appointment I cannot help this community member who is trying to do the right thing.
People are desperate to find someone who will help them and the municipal shelter that is supposed to be doing that is no where to be found.
We know the answers we have been given. We are told that there just aren't people that want the jobs, even though the pay is very competitive for many of the positions. So why don't people want to work at San Jose Animal Care Center? Is it the culture? I know that several people have resigned recently....why is that? These issues are not mine to solve, but the brunt of the dysfunction at the shelter falls on me and many of the rescue partners who have supported SJACC for years. The fallout of the failing system is This message is from outside the City email system. Do not open links or attachments from untrusted sources.
seen in animals suffering within the walls of 2750 Monterey Rd and the back yards of Alum Rock. The kittens born under a dumpster in a Jack in the Box parking lot on San Carlos St. or the community cat hit by a car because he was unaltered and roaming the streets.
San Jose Animal Care Center used to be a model for other shelters with their active TNR program, robust foster program and no-kill status with their live release rate. That status was achieved through the participation of your rescue partners. I have looked at the annual report you will be reading, the numbers absolutely don't tell the story. The numbers that are not included are the number of animals turned away or the number of animals rescues took upon themselves to TNR, provide medical care for or put into our foster system.
Lets be totally clear here.This system is not working. Not for the animals, not for your constituents or for your rescue partners. I've been working with a coalition of rescue organizations and city leaders for months trying to effect change. While I believe that we are starting to move in the right direction, it is taking far too long. We are talking about living things and the quality of life for your communities. Change needs to happen and it needs to happen faster.
Thank you for taking the time to read this email.
Jenna Skinner
Director
Gatos de la Noche
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From: Rebekah Davis-Matthews
To: Espejo, Gina
Subject: NSE comments for Animal Care presentation 12/8/2022 Date: Thursday, December 8, 2022 8:30:34 AM
Here is my replacement letter.
I have two questions for Animal Care staff.
1. Could the animal behavior staff (evaluating the dogs for adoptability) please be trained/certified in force-free dog training rather than using the archaic techniques that are currently being used?
2. Would Animal Care be willing to work with this committee and Council to pass an ordinance making it illegal for landlords and rental companies to use breed-specific guidelines when renting to residents, and giving incentives to landlords to rent to people with pets, so that renters do not have to bring their pets to the shelter due to being forbidden from having them in their rental units?
Thank you!
Rebekah Davis-Matthews
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From: Tina Rivera
To: Espejo, Gina
Subject: SJAC&S
Date: Thursday, December 8, 2022 8:39:58 AM
You don't often get email from . Learn why this is important Hello and thank you for doing this Gina.
1. Why have you stopped TNR programs? When will they resume?
2. Why are so many people leaving? Toxic work place, not paid enough, overwhelmed? What is being done about the issues there?
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From: Kay Blom
To: Espejo, Gina
Subject: San Jose Animal Care Center
Date: Thursday, December 8, 2022 8:34:16 AM
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I’ll be brief, but wanted to express a couple of ideas about San Jose Animal Care Center.
I would like to see SJACC work closer with rescues. This includes more transparency and more communication.
Also SJACC needs to get the TNR program running again, especially for feral cats. With trappers willing to spend time trapping, this is a great service to San Jose. Now we have to scramble for appointments at HSSV.
Thank you,
Kay Blom
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staff "cleans" a kennel by spraying it with a high-pressure hose, which then washes these pieces down the drain in the kennels. On Nov. 19, this caused a sewage obstruction which resulted in multiple kennel rooms being flooded. Management decided that, rather than instruct low-level staff to pick up pieces of trash, it would take away these comfort items entirely.
• Animal Behavior
o The shelter has zero staff certified in animal training or behavior. o Behavioral evaluations, conducted by un-certified staff, are designed to put animals under stress and provoke an aggressive response. For example, notes for "Bruno" show that Stephnie Hancock used the "plastic hand" test as late as November 18, 2022. This test has been discredited for decades, and upper management stated in August 2022 that shelter staff were no longer using it. Notes for "Hugo" show that Monty Kameda intentionally makes eye contact with dogs. To a dog, a stare-down is a sign of aggression and a warning of attack.
o Once staff has managed to provoke an aggressive response from a dog, that animal is deemed aggressive and unadoptable. Over the summer, Monty Kameda told two volunteers, “Why would you want to put resources into Sampson [that allegedly has behavior problems] when you could give resources to a dog that doesn’t?” Monty Kameda decidedt that Sampson had a “behavior problem,” and warranted euthanasia, because Sampson had attempted to pee on his shoe. (Volunteers were able to find a rescue to take Sampson.)
o Even when volunteers are able to engage with the dog and provide proof that it is not aggressive, staff does not correct the notes available to the public. For example, "Lobo" is publicly deemed aggressive and "not an adoption candidate" despite multiple written statements from volunteers that he is not aggressive. (Indeed, he climbed into one volunteer's lap to gently take a treat.)
o Over time, the lack of socialization, exercise, and stimulation, combined with staff's aggression toward animals, results in a decline in that animal's behavior. "Everest" has become increasingly frightened in the face of this mistreatment, and has gone from handleable to non-handleable by staff. (Everest is treated humanely by volunteers, and so is not afraid of and can still be handled by them.)
• Live Outcomes
o Staff euthanized five dogs within two weeks after turning in the annual report which included "live outcomes." This appears to be an attempt to game the data provided to the city.
o In the last six months, at least three animals have been euthanized "accidentally" due to "miscommunications." A cat with a broken leg was euthanized even though a rescue was willing to take it, because the rescue's interest was not communicated internally. A dog in May (I believe she was named Sally) was euthanized under similar circumstances. Last week "Goofy" was euthanized as aggressive, even though volunteers were able to interact with him without incident and upper management had verbally committed to giving him more time.
o Shelter conducts zero outreach to get animals adopted or rescued. The "bios" posted for animals on Facebook and in the shelter are done completely by unpaid volunteers. Volunteers fight to rescue animals through illness and family loss; shelter staff can't be bothered to email a single rescue for an at-risk animal. • Retaliation