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OC Animal Care, the county shelter in Tustin, has wonderful adoptable animals in need of homes. But who meets the animals’ daily needs until they can be adopted? Who cleans kennels? Who feeds the animals? Who gets dogs out of their kennels for short walks or yard time? Who documents animal behavior? Who handles adoption visits? The dedicated and hard-working Animal Care Attendants (ACAs) try to do all of that, but the OC shelter is woefully understaffed. Shelter managers find money for everything except what matters most: Frontline staff.
I used to volunteer at the OC shelter, and I keep in touch with my volunteer friends. They, too, help the animals as much as they can, working alongside the ACAs. But the understaffing is too severe to bridge with volunteers.
There are roughly 7 attendants on duty on any given day. The animal experts that developed the shelter’s Strategic Plan said there should be 26. This is not an arbitrary number. It reflects the recommendations of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians, the National Animal Care & Control Association, and the Humane Society.
Seven Animal Care Attendants cannot do the work of 26. The Orange County Grand Jury said as much: “Based upon industry standards and best practices, Orange County Animal Care kennel attendants are understaffed to meet the needs of animals under care.” The county animal shelter shouldn’t be ignoring industry standards. Would you go to a hospital that disregards health standards?
An organization’s investments follow its values. If a City Council cares about parks, they’ll put in the resources to maintain beautiful parks. If a School Board cares about science programs, they’ll have laboratories and qualified teachers. The mission of OC Animal Care is to provide good care for shelter animals and help them find their forever homes. The shelter ought to use a slice of its 26-million-dollar budget to hire animal care staff to accomplish this. Sadly, the welfare of the county’s companion animals isn’t a priority for shelter director Monica Schmidt or her bosses in the county bureaucracy, Dylan Wright and Cymantha Atkinson.
There are simply not enough staff to clean, feed, walk, handle visits, counsel potential adopters, and the myriad other duties being asked of them. These employees came to work at the shelter out of a love for animals and they do their best, day in and day out. When there are filthy kennels, dogs shut in for days, or adopters waiting and leaving empty handed, the responsibility lies with county government, which is disregarding the national standards of care put forward by shelter experts.
Last year, an experienced volunteer suffered a life-threatening injury. She called for help, but no-one was around. With just 7 Animal Care Attendants present rather than 26, you might go hours without seeing one. In a well-run shelter, if a safety mishap occurs there are staff nearby to intervene and avert disaster.
The shelter has a Strategic Plan, put together at the county’s behest by nationally recognized experts, including the guidelines of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians. Its goals include streamlined adoptions, animal socialization with people and other animals, and daily opportunities for out-of-kennel activity. Instead, OC has stressed-out, overwhelmed attendants struggling just to do cleaning tasks. They cannot possibly provide a level of care consistent with industry guidelines, and the fault lies squarely with the county managers.
Last year, the Grand Jury recommended that “OC Community Resources and Orange County Animal Care should review their current staffing allocations of Animal Care Attendants to reflect NACA guidelines and to provide appropriate staffing allocations for animal care, feeding and enrichment.” Since then, Animal Care Attendant numbers have worsened. The shelter is failing to deliver proper care and service, and it’s lowering the standards to get away with it. It’s like a schoolchild saying: “I only got one of the four homework assignments done, but requiring all four is just the teacher’s arbitrary standard. I think one is pretty good. I deserve an A.”
We expect the shelter to follow industry standards in animal care and best practices in adoptions. That requires adequate staffing. Shelter management and the Orange County Board of Supervisors neglected their mission. They failed to invest in the key staff needed to look after OC dogs, cats, bunnies, and other companion animals. I see it, shelter volunteers see it, shelter employees see it, the community sees it, the Grand Jury saw it, the press reported it but the supposed leaders of Orange County are either ignorant or uncaring. That’s unacceptable. They can and should do better.
Find out more and sign up for animal shelter updates on OCShelter.com
Jackie Lamirande is a Laguna Beach resident. Since 1992, she has served multiple animal welfare organizations (municipal shelters and non-profits) across the country, including as volunteer services manager, volunteer foster care administrator, and a member of the Board of Directors. She is a former volunteer at Orange County Animal Care (OCAC).
Opinions expressed in community opinion pieces belong to the authors and not Voice of OC.
Voice of OC is interested in hearing different perspectives and voices. If you want to weigh in on this issue or others please email opinions@voiceofoc.org.
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