A special MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

september 1, 2021

The Lake County Board of County Commissioners met in special session on Wednesday, September 1, 2021 at 5:30 p.m., at the Lake County Agricultural Center, Tavares, Florida. Commissioners present at the meeting were: Sean Parks, Chairman; Kirby Smith, Vice Chairman; Douglas B. Shields; and Leslie Campione. Others present were: Jennifer Barker, Interim County Manager; Melanie Marsh, County Attorney; Niki Booth, Executive Office Manager, County Manager’s Office; Kristy Mullane, Chief Financial Officer; and Stephanie Cash and Josh Pearson, Deputy Clerks.

INVOCATION and pledge

Commr. Parks welcomed everyone to the workshop, stating that it would be solely devoted to animal services and animal welfare. He expressed that they were pleased that everyone came out to join them that day and that he thought it would be a productive workshop. He then led the Pledge of Allegiance. He indicated that there were representatives from the Lake County Animal Shelter and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office in attendance that day, as well as local partners who cared about the animal population in Lake County. He noted that with the support of staff and the community, the Animal Shelter had had a tremendous impact since 2017 when they officially obtained the “no-kill” status. He mentioned that the goal of this meeting was to have some constructive discussion to help them further advance their commitment to the animal welfare in Lake County; furthermore, he said that they would begin with a review of their policies and procedures, show a video, and then there would be public comment.

animal services presentation

Ms. Whitney Boylston, Director for the Office of Animal Services, explained that she would discuss their mission statement, how they developed their policies, where the animals came from, how they cared for the animals, how the animals left their care, and how they engaged with the community. She indicated that their mission was to shelter and reunite or rehome the lost, abandoned, neglected, and surrendered pets of Lake County; to protect the safety of the community; to provide temporary shelter to the displaced and abandoned, and to give safety to the abused and neglected domestic animals of Lake County; to achieve a positive and appropriate outcome for all animals; and to support and provide education to the community on the importance of responsible pet ownership and care. She mentioned that their policies were derived from the best practices outlined by leading animal care and welfare organizations including the following: the Humane Society of the United States, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the Best Friends Animal Society, Maddie’s Fund of the University of Florida, the Million Cat Challenge, the National Animal Control Association (NACA), and Team Shelter USA. She noted that their policies were also aligned with local ordinances and state law. She displayed a chart showing the breakdown of how animals were admitted into the shelter, noting the following: 48 percent came as strays, 23 percent were surrendered by their owner, 14 percent came through their Operation Community Caturday, seven percent were impounded by the Sheriff’s Office, five percent came through in the “other” category, two percent came for quarantining, and one percent came as confiscations. She related that in fiscal year (FY) 2020 they took in around 5,000 animals; however, they usually took in around 6,000 animals in a normal year, which meant they admitted between 10 and 20 animals every day. She indicated that a large portion of the stray intakes came from the animal enforcement officers, which was handled by the Sheriff’s Office, and that code allowed them to hold a stray dog for 120 hours; however, they held them for an additional day. She related that they only took in stray cats that were sick or injured and would hold them for six days if they were identified by a microchip or tag and for 72 hours if they were unidentified; however, she noted that most stray cats that came to the shelter required more than 72 hours for care and would usually stay longer for treatment. She pointed out that community cats could be immediately returned to their home location following sterilization and vaccination. She remarked that cats get special treatment because the national best practice was that cats should not be removed from their home to go to a shelter simply because they were outside, noting that a lot of people had indoor/outdoor cats and outdoor only cats and it was not appropriate to take them from their neighborhoods and put them into a shelter sometimes miles away from where they lived. She related that the NACA made a statement that indiscriminate pick up or admission of healthy, free-roaming cats, regardless of temperament, for any purpose other than Trap-Neuter-Return or Shelter-Neuter-Return, failed to serve commonly held goals of community animal management and protection programs and, as such, was a misuse of time and public funds and should be avoided. She elaborated that they were focusing their energy on helping cats who were in need and noted that they participated in the Million Cat Challenge and were recognized as a top performer for their drastic lifesaving efforts in their cat department. She reported that an unidentified cat had less than a three percent chance of going back to its home once it had been admitted to a shelter; therefore, 97 percent of cats that entered shelters were never returned to their owner, which she opined was not good practice for their mission. She indicated that they also took in other animals, such as goats, cows, and rabbits, and that they partnered with exotic pet rescues to get the exotic pets out of the shelter as fast as they could since staff did not have the expertise or resources to care for those pets; additionally, she said that those rescues took them immediately with the understanding that they could be returned to their owner within the 120 hour hold time. She stated that state statute dictated how they handled stray livestock and that they did not handle wildlife unless it was at the specific direction of the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) for rabies testing exposure. She mentioned that about a quarter of the animals that were admitted were because the owner could no longer care for them and that they adhered to the managed admission procedure for the owner surrender program; furthermore, she said that the owners must reside in Lake County and only dogs and cats were allowed, unless there was an animal cruelty investigation for a different kind of animal. She related that emergency and non-emergency situations were handled differently, and explained that an emergency situation was typically due to homelessness, the owner moving into an assisted living facility, a house fire, etc., and that those were handled the same day with the fees typically waived. She stated that a non-emergency situation was where the owner did not want the animal anymore and that those were handled by appointment so that they could collect as much information about the animal for future matchmaking. She mentioned that they launched the Operation Community Caturday program a few years ago, which started out as a once a month activity and then became a daily activity after they realized the additional need for it after COVID-19; furthermore, she said that since they believed so strongly in Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (TNVR) that they wanted to make sure it was accessible to the public. She pointed out that it had been very well received, that they had served over 2,000 cats since the program launched, and that it was a proactive and humane approach in not only reducing the outdoor cat population but in making happier and healthier cats. She indicated that COVID-19 impacted pet sterilization as well, noting that the Surgeon General made a statement that elective procedures needed to stop in order to reserve those resources for medical emergencies, which included veterinary medicine; additionally, she said that currently most clinics were booking months out for owned pet sterilizations. She read quotes from leaders in the industry about spay/neuter no longer being an essential service and mentioned that Lake County never stopped sterilizing their adoptable pets; however, in order to maintain that commitment they had to step back from Operation Community Caturday and as such there were several months where they did not offer that program. She pointed out that they also received some of their pets from impoundments from the Sheriff’s Office due to code violations, abandonment, and evictions, as well as the owner was put in the hospital, jail or passed away. She noted that all impounded animals were subject to the 120 hour hold time and that they almost always knew who the owner was; therefore, they were able to contact the owner or family members. She commented that the “other” category included transfers of animals from other organizations, animals that were born in their care, and ones that were returned due to incompatibility. She related that they typically did not have a lot of transfers; however, they were proud that they could offer assistance to their neighbors in their time of need. She gave the example that during Hurricane Michael in 2018 they had accepted a large number of cats from the Florida Panhandle due to shelter closings and that they took in some cats from the Leesburg Humane Society the day before. She mentioned that they handled rabies investigations and quarantined owned and stray animals, as well as wildlife for 10 days, and that they handled confiscations due to cruelty and public safety; furthermore, she said that for animal cruelty they held the animals until released by the State Attorney’s Office and for dangerous dogs they held them for a few months since they usually required intensive care and resources. She indicated that the shelter strived to achieve the best practices in the industry, noting that they were Fear Free certified and that all staff went through the Fear Free Shelter program to learn how to handle the animals in the least stressful way possible. She related that this helped reduce illness and that the two leading causes of illness in animal shelters were stress and overcrowding; additionally, she said that they took advantage of pharmaceutical support for the animals that were experiencing kennel and shelter stress as they found that was very helpful in the adjustment period. She remarked that they had to adhere to specific guidelines requiring vaccinations on intake, noting that in addition to vaccinations the dogs were dewormed and given a flea treatment. She mentioned that the cats were also given vaccinations, deworming, and screened for feline leukemia, as well as a microchip. She indicated that cats were required to have 18 square feet of space for every cat, and that there could be no more than six cats in any room. She stated that they also had to cap the number of cats regardless of the number of square feet of space, and then manage how and when those animals were added to the population. She pointed out that the medical team at the shelter included a veterinarian, one veterinary technician II position, and two veterinary technician I positions, and that they performed sterilizations and surgeries to help get pets into their new homes. She indicated that since 10 to 20 animals came into the shelter each day, the same amount must leave each day to avoid overcrowding, noting that 58 percent left by adoption, 26 percent were returned to their owner, 14 percent were returned to their caregiver, eight percent were transferred to rescue partners, and four percent were euthanized or died in their care. She explained that they followed the “adopters welcome” policy of the Humane Society of the United States for the adoption program, which was a conversational approach that reduced barriers to adoption and helped make the best match possible by having open ended conversations about the families’ expectations for their new pet and gaining knowledge about the pets they had in their care; additionally, she said that the shelter staff did an amazing job getting to know their pets and that they pride themselves in their matchmaking ability. She related that all of the adoptions included sterilization, microchipping, vaccines, and personalized identification tags, which helped get lost pets back to their owners faster, and that they marketed that they included a lifetime of love. She also noted that they offered free dog training classes twice each week to their adopters, as well as for individuals who were wanting to surrender their dog due to behavioral problems as the classes could help them work through that. She mentioned that they had two staff members who did a tremendous amount of research to find owners of pets to help get them back home, specifying that that included calling funeral homes to see who made the arrangements, speaking with the chaplain at the jail to make contact with an inmate, searching property appraiser records, messaging relatives on social media, and even calling the Lost Pet Detective to do research to find the families; additionally, she said that reunification efforts were most successful in the first 72 hours and that they took that very seriously. She related that there were fees associated with reclaiming a pet; however, owners could apply for hardship and have the fees waived. She also noted that they worked with the owners too, such as if the pet was not sterilized they would offer a return to owner voucher package where the pet adoption fee was paid, but additional things were included without having to pay the impound fees. She indicated that mandatory sterilization was required if a pet was caught loose for a second time; however, owners had the opportunity to request a hearing to contest that if they wanted. She said that they worked with the Sheriff’s Office to perform cruelty investigations if they were ever concerned about returning a pet to its owner and that they did a great job in checking up on that pet to make sure it was receiving the care it needed. She pointed out that they partnered with various rescue organizations and in 2020 they transferred over 500 animals to 61 separate organizations as far away as Maine. She mentioned that they offered a public priority to adoption which meant that a highly adoptable animal would be offered to the public for adoption for 24 hours before a rescue partner could take it; furthermore, she said that the rescue partners were committed to saving animals that needed help and that most often those were pets with medical concerns and behavioral issues, and were sometimes due to shelter capacity issues. She stated that during a state of emergency they would waive public priority just to get those pets out as soon as they could and that there were situations where a pet had been adopted from an organization, became a stray, came back to the shelter with no luck in reuniting with its family, and then returned to the adopting organization. She indicated that community cats were most often returned directly to the caregiver and that very infrequently shelter staff or the Sheriff’s Office would return cats to their neighborhood. She related that euthanasia was used when it was the most humane, compassionate, and appropriate medical decision to end the suffering of an animal and that it was reserved for true public safety concerns such as those dogs that they were unable to safely place in a home or with a rescue organization. She said that they would euthanize an animal at the request of the owner in very rare situations; however, they usually suggested that the pet owner seek out their veterinarian for that service. She explained that they engaged with the community in the following ways: with a foster class; a trap and return class; by partnering with the libraries; with their pet adoption trailer; with their Hurricane Expo at the Lake Square Mall; by participating in the Open Arms Challenge, which was to help make services accessible to everyone in the community; and with the Clear the Shelters event which ran from August 23, 2021 through September 19, 2021, noting that they had processed 120 adoptions since the event started and that every year it was successful.

Commr. Smith mentioned that he had heard that the Animal Shelter was partnering with Lake Technical College to train students to become veterinary assistants, and asked if she could explain that.

Ms. Boylston explained that the partnership launched in January 2021 and that Lake Tech used the educational room at the shelter four days per week during the school year for the veterinary assistant class. She noted that a certified veterinary assistant or veterinary technician taught the class and that the first group of students would finish within the next couple of weeks. She related that the class allowed for hands on learning opportunities with the shelter animals, noting that Lake Tech purchased blood analyzer machines for the students to assist with drawing blood; furthermore, she opined that it was a wonderful partnership.

Commr. Smith thanked Ms. Boylston for starting that program as he believed it was very important.

Commr. Campione asked if there were ever any situations where owners wanted to surrender their animal but were upset they had to make an appointment and staff was concerned that those owners would not do the best thing for their pet.

Ms. Boylston explained that with the managed admission procedure they could keep track of situations like that since the appointment was a phone call and the first step in making an appointment was to complete an online form and provide a picture of the pet. She elaborated that there had been times where there was a surrender request and then that animal came into the shelter as a stray, and after speaking with the owner they found out that they rehomed the pet instead and then it ran away. She stated that some people did not want to wait for an appointment; however, she said that they explained to everyone that it was better for the pet to bring them into the shelter since every animal received vaccinations, noting that they have not had a spread of parvovirus since doing this. She also mentioned that managed admission was the gold standard and was backed by a lot of research from national organizations.

Commr. Campione commented that Ms. Boylston had an interesting point, noting that the owners had to weigh out their decision of the appointment being an inconvenience which could lead to an unfortunate situation, but by doing so the rest of the animals in the shelter were being protected from diseases.

Ms. Boylston opined that preadmission vaccines were a life saver, noting that when a dog first came into the shelter they stayed in one kennel for the first three days since it took that long for the Bordetella vaccine to work, and because that was the typical timeframe of reuniting animals with their owners. She related that they would work with the owners, especially during emergency situations since most people wanted what was best for their pet.

Commr. Campione asked for her to address how she and staff handled the complaints that had been received in regards to cats that were supposedly wreaking havoc on people’s yards or businesses.

Ms. Boylston explained that they recently had a situation at the Fox Run community in the City of Tavares where many of the homeowners were very upset about the cats in their community; therefore, staff offered to teach their Caturday school program to the residents with the help of their partners from LEASH, Inc. She related that the residents were excited because they felt empowered to be able to do something and that they were trapping cats immediately. She pointed out that they talked about how TNVR resulted in fewer, happier, and healthier cats, and that typically the problem was not the cats themselves, but their behavior. She expressed that they had different strategies for different situations, such as providing sterilization appointments and waiving fees; however, they loved getting involved in the community and educating them.

Commr. Smith pointed out that the Caturday school program was very enlightening and had helped out tremendously in the Fox Run community; additionally, he said that if anyone had problems with cats to call the Animal Shelter and they would do the Caturday program.

Commr. Campione mentioned that she had a situation in her district not long ago where an animal was not being cared for to the point that it was cruelty, and asked why in those situations that animal could not be immediately picked up if based on the appearance it looked as though the owner was not being a good owner.

Ms. Boylston answered that the animal shelter did not do any field service as that was the responsibility of the Sheriff’s Office. She indicated that there was a difference between an impound and a confiscation, noting that an impound was when the Sheriff’s Office went out to investigate and then ended up impounding the pet. She added that the owners could get their pet back with certain conditions, such as receiving vet care within 48 hours, and then if those conditions were not met the pet would then be confiscated. She related that with confiscations the pet had to be released and that the shelter typically coordinated with the Sheriff’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office. She noted that the Animal Shelter did not make the decisions and that every case would be different. She then asked if the Sheriff’s Office could speak on this as well.

Officer Wallen, Cruelty Investigator with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, stated that if they received a complaint of a stray animal they would go pick up the animal, but it could not be considered animal cruelty towards the owner if it had been running loose for months; furthermore, she said that if they received a report concerning the appearance of an animal, then they would initiate an investigation and if they had probable cause to believe the animal was cruelly treated then they could petition for custody for the shelter.

Commr. Campione asked if the animal would stay at the shelter while the Sheriff’s Office was petitioning for custody.

Officer Wallen confirmed this, adding that it would not return to the owner.

Commr. Campione asked who decided on the conditions, such as whether it would need veterinary care or treatment before being released back to the owner.

Ms. Boylston answered that they gave the owners the option of either surrendering to the Animal Shelter so they could provide the necessary care or the owners must take the animal to the vet; furthermore, she said that every case was different, especially if the animal was wild or had been taken from the owner, and that oftentimes the suspected cruelty was the result of a legitimate medical issue.

Officer Wallen agreed, adding that they took the vet’s recommendation of whether the animal had a medical issue or was actually being cruelly treated and in that case they petitioned for custody of the animal for it to stay at the shelter.

Commr. Campione gave an example of a situation where a dog was repeatedly running loose through a neighborhood, and asked if that would be considered animal cruelty since the owner allowed that to happen.

Officer Wallen answered that that would be considered a nuisance animal, noting that they worked with the Animal Shelter to explain to the owners the dangers of allowing their dog to run loose, and would ask if they would sign their dog over to the shelter. She noted that a first offense was a $150 fine, but a repeated offense was a $500 fine and would have to go through the special master process; additionally, she said that most of the time the issue was corrected.

Commr. Campione asked if the owner was required to pay the fine in order to get the pet back.

Officer Wallen replied that the owner would have to pay a fine if they had been cited and had to go through the special master process to reclaim the pet.

Ms. Boylston clarified that the owner was required to pay the fine at the special master hearing.

Commr. Campione asked if the animal stayed at the shelter during that time.

Ms. Boylston said that they did not. She then mentioned that they have had situations where larger dogs were running loose, looked aggressive, and considered a nuisance, but were actually not bad dogs; therefore, they would try to convince the owners to surrender the pet so it could be rehomed. She related that there were many situations where the Animal Shelter and Sheriff’s Office worked together on a case by case basis through reinforcement and sheltering.

citizen question and comment period

Commr. Parks encouraged everyone to participate by speaking on the policies and procedures or by asking questions; furthermore, he said that they wanted those who had experienced any atypical incidents to provide those details so Animal Services could get that information.

Ms. Cheryl Brown, a City of Leesburg resident, stated that she had been a volunteer at the Animal Shelter for several years and was currently a volunteer for Hoffmeyer Animal Rescue in the City of Tavares. She thanked the Board for having a workshop; however, she opined that this was not what those who requested it had expected, noting that they wanted to be able to have open discussions about issues. She opined that those who volunteered at rescues should have been given more time to discuss best practices and what they believed were the problems of the animals in Lake County rather than hearing what happened at the Animal Shelter. She expressed that they needed to help the sick and injured animals as she believed they were not being cared for. She remarked that they also needed to teach their vision of success as she believed that the percentage of no-kill was not a clear measure of success. She indicated that Hoffmeyer Animal Rescue had taken in over 2,000 animals just this year and that they ran their shelter on donations only.

Mr. Matthew Frey, former resident of Lake County, relayed some positive experiences that he had had with the Animal Shelter in regards to fostering kittens and noted that there would most likely be stories from others with similar experiences.

Ms. Brooke Smith, a City of Tavares resident, commented that her family had moved to Lake County in 2018 and started fostering during COVID-19 as a way to give back to the community, noting that they have had great experiences living in Lake County, especially with fostering with the Animal Shelter. She indicated that her family specialized in a lot of the critical cases and every two weeks they brought the kittens in to the Animal Shelter where they received the support and care they needed to make a positive outcome. She related that about half of the kittens they fostered were adopted to families outside of Lake County, because their kittens were healthy, happy, and well-adjusted due to living on a farm. She expressed that she felt blessed to be a part of Animal Services and provide affordable adoption options for families that might not be able to afford or comply with certain rescues’ financial or adoption requirements.

Ms. Erica Esterson, a concerned citizen, mentioned that she was a kindergarten teacher and also became involved with the T-N-R program for cats in December 2020, noting that she had her own traps and helped people who could not do that themselves. She then submitted written statements from Lake County residents regarding animal control issues and stated that documenting all of the issues had taken a tremendous amount of time for her. She showed various pictures of animals in need, noting that the people who found the animals called the shelter and were told they could not take them; additionally, she specified that in one particular case the person was informed to take the animal to Sumter County as they would take it in. She related that people told her their stories and that they were frustrated that these animals were not receiving the care they needed; furthermore, she said that she wished there was better synergy in working to get the cats spayed and neutered, and that she was hoping to get some answers.

Ms. Brenda Weber, a Lake County resident, shared her experience with wanting to adopt a dog nine years ago and how she found out that 15 dogs and countless kittens were euthanized daily. She stated that she then formed Misfit Animal Rescue and Misfit Spay and Neuter Clinic to help stop the euthanasia of adoptable animals, and that they had spayed and neutered over 30,000 animals in Lake County. She indicated that she volunteered as much as she could and that she understood everyone’s frustrations; however, she noted that it took a lot of work and needed everyone working together to come up with solutions that were in the best interest of the animals. She expressed her gratitude for the Caturday program, stating that most shelters did not offer that and euthanized often. She also expressed how thankful she was for Ms. Boylston and how the county was continuing to make things better.

Commr. Parks thanked Ms. Weber, stating that she had been with them since day zero.

Mr. Oren Miller, Sumter County Commissioner, mentioned that their animal shelter only had room for 58 dogs and 45 cats; however, they currently had over 90 dogs and about 97 cats. He opined that they had a problem and that he would trade their animal shelter for Lake County’s animal shelter any day. He related that they came to Ms. Boylston monthly asking for advice on how to handle their shelter issues, noting that they had spent five years trying to get Sumter County to make their shelter a no-kill shelter since 30 to 40 percent of the animals were euthanized monthly. He indicated that they recently passed an ordinance stating that the animals would only be killed if they were aggressive or could not be medically saved; however, they were still trying to make it a no-kill shelter. He then praised Ms. Boylston for all she had done for them and pointed out that the Lake County Animal Shelter was rated number five in the nation and that they should be proud of that.

Commr. Campione pointed out that like Ms. Weber, she and Commissioner Parks had been there since the beginning of the shelter issues, and noted that they did not know how bad it really was until people like Ms. Weber made them aware of what was going on. She opined that it was astounding to see the progress they had made and how that was due to volunteers, rescue groups, Ms. Boylston, and legal staff, specifying that it had been a team effort and that although they aspired to be perfect, nothing ever was. She expressed that it was hard not to be defensive to those in the audience who believed that the shelter was bad, that Ms. Boylston was not doing a good job, and that all they cared about were the no-kill numbers, because the Commissioners knew how hard they had worked to get to this point and how they had achieved so much success as compared to where they came from. She stated that it was difficult to see graphic pictures of animals in need as no one wanted to see an animal suffer and that they wanted to try to be a part of the solution. She wondered if some of the breakdown happened because the person making the phone call was upset or angry; therefore, it may be hard for the person receiving the call to try to be observant and keep their demeanor as well which possibly created tension and difficulty when trying to work together. She then asked if there were ways that they could do more to connect and provide care when they received those types of calls, noting that maybe there were rescues who could help with the medical side of it.

Ms. Boylston explained that the shelter had not been full since 2019; therefore, staff would not inform anyone that they were at capacity. She indicated that staff followed up with every incident that was brought to their attention, and gave the example of an instance when an animal enforcement officer was called out into the field regarding a cat; however, she said that the shelter thought the situation had been handled correctly as medical diagnoses did not happen in the field. She also mentioned that they had a flowchart in the office for cat calls on how to proceed if the cat was sick or injured, and if so, the call was transferred. She noted that the Commissioners had information in their packets with a breakdown of the condition of the cats that came into the shelter, such as normal, minor, or severe, and noted that the majority came in as minor or severe and that they provided the care they needed. She mentioned that on a regular basis they called the Sheriff’s Office to look up a phone number and see how the call came in and how it was handled, noting that they generally found that the information did not match and what was being portrayed on social media was different. She also stated that the Animal Shelter could find out when phone calls came into the shelter and that they could see who was answering the phone at that specific time to address a possible training issue; however, she said that she was not convinced that was in fact what was going on. She pointed out that Animal Control had some very caring staff members and that they went above and beyond in many instances to help animals.

Commr. Campione asked what had happened in the instance she just mentioned.

Ms. Boylston answered that she was unsure; however, she said that they did have a phone number they could trace in their system to see if the call ever came into the shelter. She indicated that many times people confused the Lake County Humane Society with the Lake County Animal Shelter; therefore, some people did not always understand who they were talking to. She stated that they have documented instances of conversations that did not even happen with them, and suggested they push the branding and phone number out better, noting that when searching on Google for Lake County Animal Shelter they were not the only thing that came up. She then mentioned that she was not aware of any specific instances where injured cats were called into animal control and they were not picked up.

Commr. Campione stated that it was her impression that the staff members that were in the field were caring and compassionate as this was their career and mission in life, and that they would not leave a distressed animal out there that could very easily be brought in to the shelter to receive medical care. She expressed that there seemed to be a disconnect with the stories they heard where the county would not help; however, she said that she could not imagine that Animal Services would not help if they saw an animal in need.

Ms. Boylston pointed out that there was another instance where someone brought in a cat and had written on the form that they called, but did not receive any help; therefore, she said that they had the Sheriff’s Office search their system through dispatch to find out the phone number, name, and address of the person, and found that what happened was not the same as what was presented. She encouraged everyone to provide as much information as possible so that they could look into anything that may be of concern.

Commr. Campione asked if she had any ideas on how to address the situations where people were confusing the Lake County Humane Society with the Lake County Animal Shelter, being told they would not help, and then posting the issue on social media.

Ms. Boylston suggested that those who knew to call the Sheriff’s Office encourage others to do the same, noting that she was almost always on-call and that the officers were always busy bringing animals into the shelter in varying conditions.

Ms. Esterson pointed out that Lake County was one of the only counties where animal control was under the Sheriff’s Office and the animal shelter was under the direction of the County; therefore, most people did not understand that. She related that most people thought they were calling animal control when they were actually calling the shelter. She then suggested that they either inform people to call animal control or forward those phone calls directly. She also mentioned recording the phone calls, logging them, and documenting what people were calling about and what the outcome was.

Commr. Parks spoke to his own personal experience, noting that he had had nothing but positive experiences and that he had fostered in the past and thought it was wonderful. He expressed that there were so many people who cared about animal welfare, including the ones in the room, the people that the County had worked with over the years, and Ms. Boylston. He stated that he was pleased with what staff was doing and that there was no doubt that sometimes things did not go as planned as it was not a perfect system.

Ms. Boylston stated that she believed in continuous improvement and that was the reason for the flow chart at the front desk; additionally, she said that they also had some light duty staff members from other departments that worked at the shelter. She indicated that they could look at the language of the auto attendant recording to make sure it was clear which number the person needed to press, noting that it specifically said to press number two for animal enforcement.

Commr. Parks relayed his understanding and his appreciation for what the Sheriff’s Office did.

Commr. Campione commented that there were 67 counties in Florida and that each county probably handled things slightly different. She opined out that having uniformed officers rather than someone on the civilian side made a big difference for enforcement since many times they had to handle very tense situations and were trained to do so. She related that they needed to make sure that the calls for sick or injured animals went to the right place; however, she thought they had a good model based on everything she had seen. She said that she liked the constructive feedback they had received as they could start to hone in on things they needed to work on, adding that she hoped the people who were upset at them and their program could step back and realize that they were all trying to achieve the same thing, which was animal welfare, and try to work through some of that. She noted that sometimes they lose the ability to communicate in a constructive way when angry, and she asked everyone to have an open mind and consider that there were ways they could work together to accomplish their mission.

Commr. Parks asked how the citizens could provide feedback.

Ms. Boylston replied that they could trace and track specific details through their telephone system, as well as through the Sheriff’s Office if they were provided with a name, phone number, and address; however, she said that they could not trace back to conversations that happened in 2019. She indicated that the Sheriff’s Office had been very accommodating every time she had asked for help in looking into a situation, adding that she believed that everyone wanted to do the best they could for the animals and the community.

Commr. Campione inquired if she had any ideas on how to prevent situations where complaints ended up on social media before it had been addressed, and whether there was a specific email someone could send complaints or issues to.

Ms. Boylston explained that the general shelter email address was [email protected] and that the “contact us” button on the website went directly to her and the Animal Shelter supervisor.

Commr. Campione asked for clarification if they should direct people to use that email after they had heard information second or third hand so they could gather accurate information, and Ms. Boylston confirmed this.

Commr. Campione suggested also using that email for suggestions that could be helpful for staff to look into implementing to hopefully improve things.

Ms. Boylston pointed out that they had been looking at different ways to expand their T-N-R program, noting that there was a progressive program being implemented in other areas regarding kittens where an investigation was launched for every orphan kitten that came into the shelter to find out where the mom and the rest of the family were. She related that if they just kept taking in a kitten here and there, then they would never solve that problem. She also mentioned that about half of the people who signed up for the Caturday school program indicated that they wanted to help volunteer with the T-N-V-R program.

Commr. Parks thanked everyone for attending.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to be brought to the attention of the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 7:15 p.m.

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SEAN PARKS, chairman

ATTEST:

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GARY J COONEY, CLERK