Progress Report for FGCAS

Progress Report for FGCAS

Paper Trails (links to letters, goals, statistics) June 3rd, 2007 Flint Journal front page article, "Dead End" about the Shelter by Ron Fonger Agenda for First Meeting FGCAS & Animal Control June 7th, 2007 Summary of First Meeting June 7th Requirements for Rescues to work with Genesee County Animal Shelter Statistics for the Shelter Jan- April 2007 & the full year of 2006 List of Goals submitted June 14th July 5th Letter sent in response to complaints that our lists were causing people to repeatedly call the Shelter staff. July 17th letter to Lloyd Gerhardt, asking for a meeting and listing everything we're still waiting to hear upon. Letter sent after the Craigslist confusion All "Letters to the Editor" published to date in the Flint Journal concerning the article "Dead End" and the Shelter	Update Nov 24th, 2007 We have had our big meeting with 2 members of the Board of Directors, 4 members from Genesee County Animal Control, a representative from Risk Management and Legal Counsel for the County and 4 FGCAS volunteers. The meeting was held Friday, September 28th, 2007. All volunteers left disheartened, we did not get a chance to present many ideas or ways we could help the shelter. We did, however, have a chance to hear what we can and can not do and present our desire to have the O.R. at the Shelter used to spay/neuter the animals owned by the County before they're adopted to the public. This room has never been used, due to a misinterpretation of a (now 30 year old) opinion of former State Attorney General Frank Kelley. Chief Gerhardt has asked FGCAS to look into the clarification of this, so perhaps that O.R. will be finally used for something other than a storeroom! One of the Animal Control Officers has been assigned to be a sort of "liaison" for the volunteers. We are very excited about this as it shows management's desire to work with us. She will be having an orientation for all members, and all new members, to explain the rules and regulations. It's unclear when the orientations will start but we look forward to learning exactly what the rules are, so we can obey them as we were told anyone not following the rules will be asked to leave and not return. All questions are to be referred to the front desk however, we now can help get an adoptable animal out of a cage for someone, help them take it to the Quiet Room, explain that if someone is interested in a stray, they need to let the front desk staff know and mention that if their license is left at the front desk, a person can take an adoptable animal outside for a walk. A few of our requests have seen progress and even if it's indirectly related to us, we're very happy to see it. A sign for the Quiet Adoption Room has been hung, as well as two larger "Strays" signs. The animals are being put up on Petfinder, complete with pictures, on a regular basis. This is a fantastic thing and we appreciate the Shelter for working hard to get the information out there. The staff is working hard to keep the place in better shape, something we believe is indirectly related to the amount of people coming in to see the animals or search for a lost pet. It's easy to not want to clean house when no one comes over. With all the traffic from pet lovers interested in adopting, the staff has something to be proud of, their shelter and it's animals, rather than just be known as someone who is a "dog catcher". Thank you from FGCAS to everyone for their efforts. The flyer we designed for the Shelter, to help guide people through the confusing adoption process, was critiqued by Animal Control and deemed to have a few errors. However, Chief Gerhardt said it was very workable and they will make the corrections and have it printed at the County print shop. It has been published and is available at the shelter. Looking back FGCAS has made remarkable progress in several areas that weren't originally considered. Areas such as our relationship with most of the Shelter staff, our visibility in the community and at the Shelter and our understanding of the processes and policies there have all shown great improvement. We have started the process of becoming a non profit 501(c)(3) organization. This means we will be able to accept donations directly to help further our goals. While at PetFest 2007, our volunteers were approached by both PetSmart and Petco about donations their organizations would like to contribute to us for the Shelter after our 501 is official. Donations of food, medicines, toys, treats, flea control and more will be available. This will be a Godsend for so many of the animals there. There is even a possibility of money being raised from fundraisers held for FGCAS by these stores that we could use to assist with the spaying/neutering, medical treatment, adoption fees etc. Collars, blankets, hand made and purchased kitty and puppy beds, treats and more have been donated for the animals from our group. Several people are stepping up to walk and play with the animals, but we still fall short of having someone there every day. Our goal is to have 2 people a day, it's always nicer to work in pairs because whoever is at the Shelter is always busy! One member is assisting with the unadopted "critters" such as rabbits and is helping to place them with Rescues after she adopts them from the Shelter. She is also starting to help with the task of contacting qualified, reputable Rescues about some of the dogs at the Shelter. Two members are focusing on the adoption of the cats and kittens, writing and updating the lists to help encourage people and rescues to adopt them. While it's our hope that eventually Rescues will be welcomed at the Shelter and have incentives to register and adopt, for now, we're treading carefully and trying to keep controversy to a minimum. Because of this, we ask that just the members who are currently working within the system to help Rescues do so.

Paper Trails (links to letters, goals, statistics)

June 3rd, 2007 Flint Journal front page article, "Dead End" about the Shelter by Ron Fonger

Agenda for First Meeting FGCAS & Animal Control June 7th, 2007

Summary of First Meeting June 7th

Requirements for Rescues to work with Genesee County Animal Shelter

Statistics for the Shelter Jan- April 2007 & the full year of 2006

List of Goals submitted June 14th

July 5th Letter sent in response to complaints that our lists were causing people to repeatedly call the Shelter staff.

July 17th letter to Lloyd Gerhardt, asking for a meeting and listing everything we're still waiting to hear upon.

Letter sent after the Craigslist confusion

All "Letters to the Editor" published to date in the Flint Journal concerning the article "Dead End" and the Shelter

Update Nov 24th, 2007

We have had our big meeting with 2 members of the Board of Directors, 4 members from Genesee County Animal Control, a representative from Risk Management and Legal Counsel for the County and 4 FGCAS volunteers. The meeting was held Friday, September 28th, 2007.

All volunteers left disheartened, we did not get a chance to present many ideas or ways we could help the shelter. We did, however, have a chance to hear what we can and can not do and present our desire to have the O.R. at the Shelter used to spay/neuter the animals owned by the County before they're adopted to the public. This room has never been used, due to a misinterpretation of a (now 30 year old) opinion of former State Attorney General Frank Kelley. Chief Gerhardt has asked FGCAS to look into the clarification of this, so perhaps that O.R. will be finally used for something other than a storeroom!

One of the Animal Control Officers has been assigned to be a sort of "liaison" for the volunteers. We are very excited about this as it shows management's desire to work with us. She will be having an orientation for all members, and all new members, to explain the rules and regulations. It's unclear when the orientations will start but we look forward to learning exactly what the rules are, so we can obey them as we were told anyone not following the rules will be asked to leave and not return.

All questions are to be referred to the front desk however, we now can help get an adoptable animal out of a cage for someone, help them take it to the Quiet Room, explain that if someone is interested in a stray, they need to let the front desk staff know and mention that if their license is left at the front desk, a person can take an adoptable animal outside for a walk.

A few of our requests have seen progress and even if it's indirectly related to us, we're very happy to see it. A sign for the Quiet Adoption Room has been hung, as well as two larger "Strays" signs. The animals are being put up on Petfinder, complete with pictures, on a regular basis. This is a fantastic thing and we appreciate the Shelter for working hard to get the information out there.

The staff is working hard to keep the place in better shape, something we believe is indirectly related to the amount of people coming in to see the animals or search for a lost pet. It's easy to not want to clean house when no one comes over. With all the traffic from pet lovers interested in adopting, the staff has something to be proud of, their shelter and it's animals, rather than just be known as someone who is a "dog catcher". Thank you from FGCAS to everyone for their efforts.

The flyer we designed for the Shelter, to help guide people through the confusing adoption process, was critiqued by Animal Control and deemed to have a few errors. However, Chief Gerhardt said it was very workable and they will make the corrections and have it printed at the County print shop. It has been published and is available at the shelter.

Looking back FGCAS has made remarkable progress in several areas that weren't originally considered. Areas such as our relationship with most of the Shelter staff, our visibility in the community and at the Shelter and our understanding of the processes and policies there have all shown great improvement.

We have started the process of becoming a non profit 501(c)(3) organization. This means we will be able to accept donations directly to help further our goals.

While at PetFest 2007, our volunteers were approached by both PetSmart and Petco about donations their organizations would like to contribute to us for the Shelter after our 501 is official. Donations of food, medicines, toys, treats, flea control and more will be available. This will be a Godsend for so many of the animals there. There is even a possibility of money being raised from fundraisers held for FGCAS by these stores that we could use to assist with the spaying/neutering, medical treatment, adoption fees etc.

Collars, blankets, hand made and purchased kitty and puppy beds, treats and more have been donated for the animals from our group. Several people are stepping up to walk and play with the animals, but we still fall short of having someone there every day. Our goal is to have 2 people a day, it's always nicer to work in pairs because whoever is at the Shelter is always busy!

One member is assisting with the unadopted "critters" such as rabbits and is helping to place them with Rescues after she adopts them from the Shelter. She is also starting to help with the task of contacting qualified, reputable Rescues about some of the dogs at the Shelter.

Two members are focusing on the adoption of the cats and kittens, writing and updating the lists to help encourage people and rescues to adopt them.

While it's our hope that eventually Rescues will be welcomed at the Shelter and have incentives to register and adopt, for now, we're treading carefully and trying to keep controversy to a minimum. Because of this, we ask that just the members who are currently working within the system to help Rescues do so.

November 24th, 2007:

Our big meeting with Animal Control and the County was held the end of September 2007. Attending were Becki Williams, Lisa Boyd, Howard Farley, Tiffany Smith of FGCAS. Animal Control was represented by 4 employees. Chairman of the Board Archie Bailey and County Commissioner Miles Gadola were there for part of the meeting. Risk Management and Legal Consul for the County were also in attendance.

The meeting was not very productive but was informative and a first step. We received answers to our questions which will be posted on our website shortly, some will be covered here. We were asked to limit the amount of volunteers at the shelter to 2 or 3 at a time. We did not agree to this as we feel that there is more than enough work to be done by several volunteers at a time. Walking dogs, playing with cats, grooming dogs, bathing dogs, grooming/flea combing cats, cleaning our "Grooming Room" base, cleaning Adoption Room cages, cleaning kitty litter, watering the cats and Adoption Room dogs, helping the public take animals out or put animals back in the Adoption Room cages, telling the public where the strays are and about the Quiet Room are all duties we can now do. Sometimes we have an assembly line going for puppies who need bathing and socializing.

It was said that we interfere with the employees being able to do their jobs and also interfere with the public being assisted. Since the meeting, we have made a great effort to not congregate in the hallways or rooms in more than groups of 2 or 3. We only approach the front desk when no one else is there or step back to let the public be served first.

We were told not to answer any questions from the public about the animals but to refer all questions to the front desk. We have since been authorized to tell people where the bathrooms, Quiet and Stray rooms are. We can also assist people in taking out animals from the Adoption Rooms. We also can tell them about the Quiet Room and mention that if they leave their license at the front desk they can take a dog outside for a walk.

Howard F. asked about FGCAS providing a Universal Microchip scanner to the shelter at no cost. Two of the Shelter representatives said that they do not need a scanner.

Since the meeting, we've had a few more things clarified, such as where we are to walk the dogs and what door we are to use. We now know that we're supposed to clean up any messes an animal makes on the way to/from their walk or bath/grooming. We offer free baths for adopted animals if the new family will wait til they're dried and several of the AC staff send people and their new pet back to us for the bathing.

FGCAS is still sending out weekly "Dog and Cat Lists" to local Vets and posting the "mini-posters" around Genesee County.

Animals who must remain at the Shelter after being adopted and paid for are having their cages marked with an "Adopted, please choose another" sign. This is in response to a volunteer's adopted and paid for cat being euthanized while waiting for the County required rabies shot. Please read the excerpts from a letter sent June 21st above. Please note: We do not, nor did not blame the employees for this error. FGCAS firmly believes there is great need for Shelter reform in policies and recordkeeping. Consistent, clear, updated guidelines need to be developed and the focus needs to be on Adoption and Rescue rather than Euthanasia.