The Hollister City Council passed a resolution Nov. 20 to authorize the city manager to sign and submit on behalf of the city council a response letter to the San Benito County Civil Grand Jury report. City Manager Bill Avera told the council the Hollister Police Department and the Animal Control Department responded to the grand jury’s findings.
When none of the council members had comments, resident Elia Salinas commented that she was saddened when she read the report concerning Animal Control’s euthanasia practices. She mentioned a program started by the founder of the software company PeopleSoft, David Duffield, to establish non-kill facilities through a foundation called Maddie’s Fund that attempts to find homes for pets by providing live video feeds of animals so people can see them from anywhere in the country. It also provides grants to graduates or veterinary students.
Salinas encouraged the city to look into applying for Maddie’s Fund grants. David Duffield, whose net worth is $6.5 billion, set up a foundation named after his dog, Maddie with a $300 million endowment and has awarded $172 million to animal welfare organizations and universities.
“I would like to see our staff or someone at Animal Control reach out to them and file for some type of grant,” Salinas said. “Hopefully, we can get full-time staff and maybe it could become a facility where they’re not going to euthanize any animals. Some of this funding could help so they could have adoption day once a month or every six months.”
(According to the Maddie’s Fund website, it no longer funds no-kill facilities, but continues to fund veterinary schools.) Salinas said from reading the Grand Jury report that when Animal Control goes out into the community using its mobile pet trailer they are more successful in getting animals adopted. BenitoLink Story: Mobile Pet Trailer.
“If we got some funding we would be able to offer those services more often,” she said. “I’m going to reach out to the industry (cannabis) that I represent and ask them about donating money to these nonprofits to try to stop all these innocent animals from being killed.”
The Grand Jury report indicated that in 2016 Animal Control had purchased 26 bottles of Fatal Plus Solution for $1,565.87, which is capable of euthanizing animals with a body weight totaling 65,000 lbs. In 2016, Animal Control officers euthanized 1,411 animals, averaging 118 a month. The Grand Jury stated it was concerned about the emotional toll this was inflicting on the five officers tasked to euthanize the animals. The Grand Jury was told that there are mental health services available to the officer; even so, the report stated there is a high turnover of officers. The Grand Jury investigation reported that the majority of the dogs and cats euthanized were feral or had behavioral issues.
One of the Grand Jury’s findings was that adoptions are incredibly low, with only 274 animals being adopted, compared to the 1,411 that were euthanized, and that the high number of officer turnovers is directly attributable to them having to carry out the euthanizations. And because the shelter does not hold adoption fairs, 48 percent of the animals brought in are euthanized.
Councilman Karson Klauer commented about one of the Grand Jury’s findings: No information can be found on behavioral tests because no records are kept about any tests conducted. He wondered about this compared to the statement that the Hollister PD keeps records of behavioral tests only to prove a test was, in fact, conducted, and it’s unclear if it’s worth the effort or staff time to do so.
“I think, at least in certain cases, it’s going to be absolutely worth the staff time to keep those records, so I’d like to see us continue that at least with animals that are considered dangerous,” he said. “I think that’s a big thing because when people who have animals taken to the shelter because they may be dangerous, they need to see a paper trail of what happened.”
Councilwoman Mickie Luna agreed with Salinas’ earlier recommendation to search for grants and suggested the city manager or some other staff member follow-up.
“I read the report and am somewhat concerned at times that we need the report, but I don’t know how many of us are taking the time to go out there and walk in and visit the shelter,” she said. “You kind of want to walk out of there with all kinds of dogs and cats. I think just before the holidays a lot of people tend to think about adopting a pet, so maybe it would be wise to open the doors to the public on a Saturday or an afternoon.”
Klauer added it was obvious that both the Grand Jury and the city expected volunteers to do most of the work at the shelter. He said he doesn’t know of any other department that depends on volunteers to this extent.
“We don’t expect volunteers to deal with the water or the waste water or policing or code enforcement,” he said. “I pick up trash when I see it, but don’t think the city expects me to do that. We’re essentially expecting the volunteers are going to come out because of the goodness in their hearts and do a lot of this stuff that isn’t very fun.”
He said it’s a matter of committing resources and staffing, and the city needs to consider these more than relying on volunteers.
“When you read the Grand Jury report and it says that the people expect volunteers are going to do it, and we don’t have enough volunteers, we probably shouldn’t be leaning on volunteers that much that they’re an integral part of what we’re trying to do,” he said.
Without changing or adding anything to its response to the Grand Jury, the council voted 4-0 to pass the resolution, with Councilman Jim Gillio being absent.
Other News
Cannabis Approvals
The city council approved without comment three more cannabis-related regulatory permits for:
- Pacific Organics and Wellness Inc. to operate a medical cannabis distribution facility at 1802 Shelton Drive.
- Agripharma Extraction LLC to operate a medical cannabis manufacturing facility at 1851 Airway Drive.
- Agripharma Nursery LLC to operate a medical cannabis cultivation facility at 1851 Airway Drive.
A fourth resolution to approve a cannabis use permit and development agreement for Euphoric Life Inc. to operate a medical cannabis cultivation and manufacturing facility at 807 Industrial Drive was moved to December.
Airport Improvements
The council approved three resolutions pertaining to the Hollister Airport. The first was an airport improvement program project list and authorized city staff to apply for and use FAA and Caltrans airport capital improvement program grant monies to accomplish those projects at the airport. The second resolution was to approve a supplemental appropriation of $260,000 from airport funds for 2018 airport capital improvement projects, including repairs to the main runway and for the design and engineering of the taxiway. The third resolution was to approve a $20,000 supplemental appropriation for participation in a 2018 management services program.
Marketing Campaign to Change Residents’ Behavior
The city council also approved a resolution for a supplemental appropriation of $20,000 from the storm water fund to pay for the preparation and deployment of a community-based social marketing campaign by Action Research Inc. The purpose of the campaign will be to change resident behaviors to mitigate a pollutant, fecal coliform, and impact on local receiving water bodies. (The presence of fecal coliform in aquatic environments may indicate that the water has been contaminated with the fecal material of humans or animals. It can enter rivers through direct discharge of waste from mammals and birds from agriculture and storm runoff, and human sewage. Its presence can also be from plant material.)