Gimme Shelter and a Pound of Advice*

Management has limited flexibility utilizing personnel within Orange County Animal Care across departments due to structured work rules, volunteer work restrictions, and employees working in departmental silos. Response: Disagrees partially with the finding. Orange County Animal Care (OCAC) follows all County, state and federal workplace regulations to provide a safe and discrimination free work environment. Abiding by working classification requirements in accordance with state labor laws and union contracts is not unique to OCAC and is required in all County departments. While the County of Orange utilizes Classification Specifications for its positions, they are intended to capture general duties and responsibilities performed that distinguish a given classification from others and is not intended to specifically identify every duty performed by an employee. The classification specifications also outline the minimum qualifications required for each classification. As such, certain job duties/tasks are limited based on knowledge, skills, abilities, education, and certification.

Low staff morale exists within Orange County Animal Care. Disagrees wholly with the finding. Response: OCAC monitors morale closely. Although staff is affected by external factors including protests, social media campaigns and organized efforts to destabilize OCAC, ironically staff morale is generally steady. Employee engagement activities are ongoing and proactive steps are being taken to safeguard staff and promote team cohesion.

Orange County Animal Care staffing is negatively impacted by vacant positions remaining unfilled for greater than six months due to burdensome hiring processes. This delay in recruitment and completion of hiring has resulted in qualified candidates declining job offers. Disagrees Partially with the finding. Response: The County does not have any data to show that the vacancy rate has a substantiated negative impact on OCAC; however, it does acknowledge that the vacancy rate at OCAC needs to be reduced. Vacant positions are not a unique concern limited to OCAC, but rather one experienced throughout the County and beyond as Pandemic related shifts to the job market have impacted recruitments and hiring processes. OC Human Resource Services (OCHRS) is a department within the County Executive Office that follows the County of Orange Recruitment Rules and Policies and the legal requirements outlined in the State Local Agency Personnel Standards as it pertains to recruiting for vacant positions. There is a current Human Resource Services County work group tasked with updating existing recruitment strategies related to all County recruitments with the goal of increasing timeliness and streamlining processes. OCHRS, OC Community Resources and OCAC have added resources to increase the speed of recruitment.

Based upon industry standards and best practices, Orange County Animal Care kennel attendants are understaffed to meet the needs of animals under care. Response: Disagrees partially with the finding. OCAC prioritizes meeting the needs of animals in its care to meet or exceed industry standards and legal requirements. OCAC is working to fill all vacancies and will further evaluate staffing levels once fully staffed. Staffing levels are part of ongoing assessment and evaluation. Due to seasonal fluctuations in shelter animal population coupled with the varying needs of animals based on species and other qualifiers, generic industry guidelines are valuable points of reference in the evaluation process but are simply one of many factors to consider. OCHRS, OCCR and OCAC have added resources to increase the speed of recruitment.

Orange County Animal Care's operating policies and procedures manual is out of date. Response: Disagrees Partially with the finding. Operating policies and procedures are living documents and require review and update on a continual basis. Updating OCAC's operating policies and procedures manual is an undertaking that OCAC takes seriously. It should be noted that recently a significant amount of resources has been focused on litigation response and unprecedented levels of PRAs which has diverted staff resources from the importance of a current P&P Manual. Staff resources are now being assigned with potential contractor assistance to prioritize review and updating efforts.

The Orange County Animal Care Volunteer program was stopped during COVID-19 and restarting the program has been slow, resulting in decreased animal socialization and enrichment. Response: Disagrees wholly with the finding. The COVID-19 State of Emergency in California did not end until February 23, 2023. Throughout this time, OCAC suspended volunteer recruitment and selectively used volunteers as able given safety restrictions The restart of the program has been careful and measured in light of COVID public health restrictions but in the last year has hosted monthly volunteer trainings to recruit and train new recruits.

Orange County Animal Care's Behavior Evaluation Committee evaluates dogs for euthanasia without written guidelines, policies, or procedures, resulting in inconsistent outcomes over time. Behavior evaluated euthanasia outcomes are dependent on the experience and personal considerations of the individual committee members and management rather than written objective standards. Disagrees partially with the finding. Response: It is inaccurate to suggest that the OCAC Behavior Evaluation Committee (BEC) operates without structure or consistency. The OCAC BEC evaluates dogs per euthanasia guidelines to ensure consistency in the decision evaluation process. Behavior evaluated outcomes are dependent on each individual animal and, since OCAC cannot directly control its intake, the percentage of outcome results vary based on the condition and the circumstances surrounding the animal being evaluated rather than a consistent pattern over time. The County does agree, however, that the experience and training of the individuals on the BEC is critical to an accurate and well-rounded evaluation of the animal, and the BEC positions are structured to provide experience and knowledge across all areas of the shelter that interact with the animals.

The rate of behavioral euthanasia of dogs has increased significantly over the last 2 years. Response: Disagrees partially with the finding. The increase can be correlated to the significant increase in the population of unsocialized dogs with behavior/aggression issues that have been abandoned or surrendered by their owners in the last two years in the wake of the pandemic. This tragic trend is occurring across the region, state and nation. Although data from the report indicates dog behavior related euthanasia increased, the OCAC dog save rate has remained stable over the past 2 years and well above the 90% called out in the Strategic Plan. Euthanasia is driven by the type and condition of animals that come into the shelter. OCAC cannot directly control the types of animals needing intake and in fact has focused specifically on prioritizing sick, injured, aggressive, and stray intake.

Orange County Animal Care does not employ a professional or trained and certified animal behaviorist to oversee the shelter's dog enrichment program, resulting in dogs with declining behavior being placed at greater risk of being euthanized. Response: Disagrees wholly with the finding. It is shortsighted to suggest that training and evaluation should be restricted to a single member of staff when it is intentionally designed that animals have numerous critical interfaces with multiple members of staff during their pathway through the shelter. All OCAC employees working with animals are hired based on their experience and training. Ongoing training and certifications are a critical part of employee development and provide consistent evaluation of animals at the shelter. With this approach OCAC has been able to adapt to the changing demographic of dogs coming to the shelter and has expanded programming to provide more pathways for positive outcomes such as the TLC program and our rescues partner placement program.

While many county and city animal shelters throughout the state have active Trap, Neuter, and Return programs, Orange County Animal Care stopped its Trap, Neuter, and Return program, reportedly on the basis of the County Counsel's legal opinion that the program violates a California statute related to willful animal abandonment. The County will not respond to this finding based on the Attorney-Client privilege. Response: The Office of County Counsel is prohibited from responding to the Grand Jury's findings and recommendations due to the attorney-client privilege.

The termination of the Trap, Neuter, and Return program is correlated with an increase in adult cat euthanasia rate at the shelter. Response: Disagrees wholly with the finding. No direct correlation has been established between Trap, Neuter, and Return (TNR) and adult cat euthanasia at OCAC. TNR reduces reproduction in adult cats but has not been demonstrated to directly correlate to adult cat euthanasia. Euthanasia is driven by the type and condition of animals that come into the shelter. OCAC cannot directly control the types of animals needing intake and in fact has focused specifically on prioritizing sick, injured and aggressive.

There have been public concerns and requests expressed over the years for public programs to include a spay/neuter program by Orange County Animal Care. Response: Disagrees with the finding. Members of the public have requested free spay/neuter services of privately owned pets, but shelter resources and city funding are scoped to only support shelter animals. Cities are free to allocate funds to provide vouchers to local veterinarians for this service. To assist the public, OCAC partners with HEART for low cost spay/neuter clinic once per month.

The current adoption appointment system restricts public access to the dog kennels, thereby limiting potential adopters' access to all available animals. er e Response: Disagrees wholly with the finding. The adoption model has restricted unescorted access, but all adoptable animals have always been accessible to the public through online viewing and in-person visits. Furthermore, in 2022, OCAC provided 10,457 adoption visits for an average of nearly 30 visits per day. There is consistently an average of 58 appointments available per day for public access clearly demonstrating the shelter has not met its threshold for adoption visit availability and is currently able to meet the needs of the Community. OCAC uses industry best practices and continues to find ways to serve the public and our animals such as a pilot project that is under development for kennel viewing later this summer.

Orange County Animal Care's engagement with some animal rescue partners is negatively impacted due to differences of opinion in appropriate animal care policy. Response: Respondent agrees with the finding. OCAC is a large scale, municipal shelter tasked with balancing public safety and animal welfare. As a way-station for animals, OCAC seeks positive placements for animals in its care when appropriate to do so by, in part, partnering with over 250 sister shelters, rescue partners and networkers. While interested in input and collaboration, animal care at OCAC cannot be tailored to or directed by individual personal opinions. In this highly charged industry, it is not unusual for there to be differences of opinion, but OCAC is guided by state laws and regulations and its Strategic Plan.

Internal and community engagement does not adequately communicate the shelter's mission and operating strategy. Response: Disagrees wholly with the finding. OCAC hired a full-time Public Information Officer in October 2022 to focus on external communication; prior to October 2022, this position did not exist but instead held other responsibilities as well. This is an example of OCAC's prioritization of external communication to the public. OCAC's goal is to participate in at least 200 community events in 2023, whether it be adoption events or public outreach. Despite consistent messaging to stakeholders and focused attention on program communication, OCAC cannot control print news coverage and social media efforts designed to incite controversy.

The information currently on the Orange County Animal Care website for low- cost spay/neuter is not up to date with regard to referrals and prices for spay/neuter procedures. Response: Disagrees wholly with the finding. 7 7 Prices have never been posted on the OCAC website as they are set by independent practices and are outside the purview of OCAC. The low cost spay/neuter information posted on the OCAC website is supplied solely for informational purposes, and OCAC has no responsibility or obligation to provide this content. The website is updated annually for the community's benefit, but it should be noted that the information is subject to change at any time as local, privately owned clinics routinely update services and hours.

The OC County Counsel's office misstated to the Grand Jury the scope of its commitment to serving and assisting the Grand Jury in its investigations into County governance respecting managing conflicts between the Board of Supervisors, OC departments and agency clients, and the Grand Jury. Response: Disagrees wholly with this finding.