This is a long post, but important, so please read:
Dear Megan,
Thank you for taking the time to express your support for a humane community.
When we had a study session on animal control in December, we discovered that the County handled only 24 animals for Oro Valley last year. We can reuinite 24 lost animals with their families without a dedicated shelter until the economy improves.
By Arizona state law, stray dogs and cats only need to be held for 72 hours. However, state law also allows the County pound (PACC) to kill animals sooner if they are sick (even sneezing) or dangerous (even hissing). And PACC often does this. Virtually every cat that hisses is deemed feral and killed immediately, even if it turns out to be someone's beloved pet who got out of the house and is hissing because it is scared.
When we had a study session on animal control in December, we discovered that the County handled only 24 animals for Oro Valley last year. We can reuinite 24 lost animals with their families without a dedicated shelter until the economy improves.
By Arizona state law, stray dogs and cats only need to be held for 72 hours. However, state law also allows the County pound (PACC) to kill animals sooner if they are sick (even sneezing) or dangerous (even hissing). And PACC often does this. Virtually every cat that hisses is deemed feral and killed immediately, even if it turns out to be someone's beloved pet who got out of the house and is hissing because it is scared.
Because we have only a handful of animals who end up in the County pound, we could easily contract with a local kennel to take those animals for the state-mandated three days. If the owner claimed the animal directly from the contract kennel, the owner would pay all the kennel fees plus (possibly) Town-imposed fines. If the animal was not claimed in 3 days, the Town would pay for the 3 days of kenneling, and turn the animal over to a no-kill rescue group for adoption. So it is possible to start this program without a shelter initially.
Many constituents have told me that they have called PACC and nobody answers the phone. Others have told me that they are told to call the Oro Valley police. The Oro Valley police have told me that when they do find an animal that they can't reunite with its owner, they are told that they must drive the animal down to the pound on Silverbell, that none of the 77 tax-paid employees of the County pound will use a tax-paid County vehicle to come get the animal. We must send one of our Oro Valley tax-paid police officers in one of our tax-paid vehicles. I would much rather have that officer performing public safety services in Oro Valley, instead of driving a dog all the way down to 4000 N. Silverbell.
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, towns of 45,000 people have an estimated 11,376 dogs. According to the American Pet Products Manufacturing Association, 28% of owned dogs are not spayed or neutered. Therefore, Oro Valley has an estimated 8,191 altered dogs and 3,185 unaltered dogs. Pima County currently charges $11 to license an altered dog and $45 to license an unaltered dog. The County claims to have licensed only 2,854 of those estimated 11,376 owned dogs, indicating that compliance is probably low for Oro Valley.
And in fact, a fellow Council member told me that he had never licensed a dog in Pima County until he adopted one from the pound itself and they forced him to pay for the license. An Oro Valley police officer told me that they never ticket anyone for license violations, because the fine would go to the County and they're doing all the work anyway. If we charge what the County charges for licenses, and we got closer to 100% compliance, Oro Valley could collect $233,436 in license fees alone. I think that we would be able to educate people towards that higher compliance rate if they knew that their animal would be safer. I think that we could also institute a differential fee for animals who are microchipped to help guarantee that every animal will find its way home, with or without a collar.
I'm also in touch with the Second Chance Canine program to possibly have young offenders and at-risk youth train shelter dogs to assist people with disabilities:
The picture on that page is of my neighbor with her Second Chance dog who was trained by prisoners in Florence.
You may wish to attend tonight's Council meeting at 6:00 p.m. at 11000 N. La Cañada Drive, and address this issue during the Call to the Audience that happens at the begining and end of each meeting. To speak, please complete a blue speaker card located on the small table to your right as you enter the Council Chambers, and hand the card to the Town Clerk, who is seated immediately to the Council's left. For "item number" you can write "CTA" for "Call to Audience." You can thank the Council for considering a progressive, humane approach to animal control. You can bet that the special interest groups will be there and will want to lobby to get taxpayer dollars for their own causes. When your name is called, go up to the podium, and speak into the microphone. You have 3 minutes, as indicated by the green, yellow, and red lights on the podium.
Whether or not you can attend, you may want to express your opinions as a letter to the editor of the Star (http://www.azstarnet.com/opinion/64475) or the Explorer (http://www.explorernews.com/shared-content/perform/?domain_name=explorernews.com&form_template=letter). The deadline for the Explorer is Monday at noon for the following Wednesday.
Thank you for caring about our animal companions.
Whether or not you can attend, you may want to express your opinions as a letter to the editor of the Star (http://www.azstarnet.com/opinion/64475) or the Explorer (http://www.explorernews.com/shared-content/perform/?domain_name=explorernews.com&form_template=letter). The deadline for the Explorer is Monday at noon for the following Wednesday.
Thank you for caring about our animal companions.
With best wishes,
Salette Latas
Salette Latas
Councilmember
Town of Oro Valley
11000 N. La Cañada Drive
Oro Valley, Arizona 85737
Oro Valley, Arizona 85737
Phone: (520) 229-4992
Fax: (520) 297-0428
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