An OC Grand Jury’s look at the county’s animal control and shelter operations released a report supporting many of the concerns animal advocates have been raising about management and animal welfare practices.
The jury said its investigation was prompted by recent public criticism of OC Animal Care as well as more than a dozen complaints it received last year. It is not the first time a grand jury has looked at the agency’s operations, five previous reports detailed similar concerns with excessive euthanasia rates, poor leadership, limited staffing, lack of proper assessment of animals chosen for euthanasia and low morale, the newest report released this week said.
The grand jury is recommending OC Animal Care reopen its shelter to the public for walk throughs to maximize opportunities for pet adoption and also reconsider its opinion about the shelter’s former Trap, Neuter and Return program, which took in cats to be spayed or neutered and vaccinated and then them returned to the outdoors.
It is a method used by some agencies to manage populations of feral and stray cats, including by OC Animal Care until it received a cease-and-desist letter a few years ago from an attorney for several cat rescue groups. Department officials said previously they are concerned resuming the program would court lawsuits.
Closing the shelter’s interior to visitors began as a pandemic precaution, but officials have said they are keeping the system where interested adopters can choose animals from an online database to have brought up from the kennels to meet because it has helped prevent visitors from getting bitten and reduces stress on the animals from a flurry of visitors.
“The current appointment system is restrictive and does not provide prospective adopters viewing access to all available adoptable animals,” the grand jury said in its final report. “Public safety is important, however, dogs representing bite risks can be segregated, and supervised viewing is a…
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