General (3)
Susana Barrios
From:Alex Brown <Alex9355b@outlook.com>
Sent:Thursday,
To:Public Comment
Subject:\[EXTERNAL\] city council PUBLIC COMMENT on county ANIMAL SHELTER
Attachments:4th Letter OCAC Volunteers.pdf
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I’m trying to get information to the community, so they can put pressure on their elected officials.
The city council probably already has this information.
Dear fellow citizens, please read the attached letter, which was sent by Orange county animal shelter
volunteers to elected officials.
It’s the fourth letter they sent. If you want to read the previous ones you can find them on ocshelter.com
Scroll down… past a list of recent scathing articles… the Strategic Plan the shelter is NOT following… the
Grand Jury Report the shelter did NOT listen to… to get to the 4 (four) volunteer letters that fell on deaf
ears.
1
August 26,2024
Monica Schmidt,OCAC
Dawn Maestas,OCAC
Sam Blankenship,OCAC
Frank Foran,OCAC
Dylan Wright,OCCR
Cymantha Atkinson,OCCR
Michelle Aguirre,Acting CEO
Orange County Board of Supervisors
Orange County Grand Jury
Voice of OC
OC Register
Ladies and Gentlemen:
This letter is being written on behalf of many loyal volunteers at OC Animal Care (OCAC),many of
whom have worked with the dogs at the shelter for many years.We love the animals and have
established great relationships with many other wonderful volunteers and OCAC stamembers.
We were so disheartened to read the August 14th Voice of OC article regarding staing at the shelter
and the response OCAC intends to give the Grand Jury.
To verify that the Voice of OC got it right,we watched the Board of Supervisors August 13th meeting to
hear exactly what was said about staing at the shelter.We moved from being disheartened to being
angry at the blatant lies told by shelter leadership,specifically by OCAC Director Monica Schmidt.
Allow us to annotate what she said and what the truth is.But first,let’s be clear about what the Grand
Jury is asking (pulled from Attachment A on the BOS website for Agenda Item #26):
To clarify,the Grand Jury's inquiry pertains specifically to the Animal Care Attendant (ACA)position,
not shelter staing as a whole.And let’s be clear about who these ACAs are and what they do:they
are the frontline staproviding direct care to the animals at the shelter (dogs,cats,barnyard animals,
and more.).
Despite the Grand Jury being very specific about who they are asking about,here is what Monica
Schmidt told the Board of Supervisors:
Monica –“I appreciate the opportunity to share a bit more in depth.So we do have a number
of positions that handle animals at the shelter,roughly about 90 out of 137.Animal Care
Attendant is just one of many classifications that assist with the care of animals on our
property.The other thing this report didn’t necessarily have the ability to add in is the robust
volunteer program that we also have with a number of community supporters.We had nearly
400 volunteers the first six months of this year alone.The last quarter,that equated to about
15.7 full time positions in addition to what our stadoes to support the animals.And so we
really have taken a look at it’s a multi-faceted review,not a singular classification review of
where we say we have enough stato care for the animals.”
As concerned volunteers,please allow us to break this down for you:
“So we do have a number of positions that handle animals at the shelter,roughly about 90
out of 137.Animal Care Attendant is just one of many classifications that assist with the care
of animals on our property.”
The Grand Jury wasn’t asking about everyone who “assist[s]with the care of animals”(Animal Control
Oicers,Intake Sta,Vet Sta,Foster Sta,etc.).These stamembers all do important work,but the
Grand Jury is asking about the frontline stawho provide the direct,daily care of the animals.i (which
includes feeding,watering,cleaning,disinfecting,provide enrichment,handling adoption
introductions/visits with potential adopters and the potential adoptable dog(s),stocking the supplies
and bedding,transporting injured or sick dogs to the clinic for treatment,transporting adopted dogs
to the clinic when adopted.)
Monica’s response tries to divert your attention away from the problem at hand:the shelter is
woefully understaed in the ACA position,the only position the Grand Jury is talking about.Here are
the facts:
Despite the Grand Jury’s finding that there were 21 ACAs providing direct care to the animals at the
time of their report in 2023,and despite the shelter’s Strategic Plan consultants saying there should
be 26 per day (which with two shift patterns actually means 52 total),the number has only gone
DOWN since the Grand Jury Report was issued.Here’s a little history (data drawn from Public
Records Act requests):
2017-18:
29 Kennel
Attendants
3 Sr.Kennel
Attendants
2018-19:
23 Kennel
Attendants
5 Sr.Kennel
Attendants
2019-20
19 Kennel
Attendants
6 Sr.Kennel
Attendants
2020-21
15 Kennel
Attendants
4 Sr.Kennel
Attendants
2021-22
13 Kennel
Attendants
4 Sr.Kennel
Attendants
2022-23
20 Kennel
Attendants
4 Sr.Kennel
Attendants
Total:32 Total:28 Total:25 Total:19
pandemic year
Total:17
pandemic year
Total:24
How many ACAs does the shelter employ at present?Approximately 13!Yes,13.How many animals
are they caring for?Hundreds of dogs,cats,kittens,and other animals (rabbits,roosters,and
occasionally reptiles,birds,etc.).
Early 2024:there were approximately 16 to 19 ACAs
Presently:approximately 13
6 new staare promised to be coming on board (2 permanent,4 extra help)
That will bring us to approximately 19
Look at the numbers.We’re gone from 32 in 2017 ---to 21 cited by the Grand Jury ---to not even 19
today (the new people still haven’t come on board,despite the County posting this job MONTHS ago).
And don’t forget,the Strategic Plan consultants call for 26 PER DAY.With two shift pattens (ACAs
work Sunday through Wednesday,and another cohort works Wednesday through Saturday),that
means the shelter needs to employ a minimum of 52 ACAs to comply with the guidelines set forth by
the nationally respected experts in animal sheltering they employed to draft their Strategic Plan.
19 ACAs
vs.
52 ACAs
Despite us saying there will be 19 ACAs once the new staon board,please know there are days
there are just a handful of ACAs at the shelter.In fact,there were a few days within the last two
months where only THREE Animal Care Attendants were working caring for HUNDREDS of dogs.
Monica should be ashamed of her continuing failure to stathis position and also for lying about
staing levels at the shelter.Her failures negatively aect the ability to provide basic care for the
dogs,handle adoption visits,and the myriad other duties performed by the ACAs.
Back to Monica’s (mis)statements to the Board of Supervisors:
So we do have a number of positions that handle animals at the shelter,roughly about 90 out
of 137.Animal Care Attendant is just one of many classifications that assist with the care of
animals on our property.
Fine.But that’s NOT what the Grand Jury is asking for a follow-up response on to their Findings 3 and
4.Board of Supervisors:We know you rely on shelter leadership to provide you with accurate
information.However,it’s bold language to use but you’ve been lied to.Monica has done what she
does best and told you a story about staing that simply isn’t true.We’re sad to say that Monica’s
primary focus is shelter PR,not actually running the shelter and doing what needs to be done.
The consultants who developed the Strategic Plan are national experts.They know full well that
many other stainteract with the animals.They made recommendations about other staing
issues.But know that when these national experts talk about ACAs,they mean ACAs.These
national experts’calculations are based on national standards about basic care provided by ACAs.
To continue with the (mis)information Monica provided to the BOS on August 13th:
…The other thing this report didn’t necessarily have the ability to add in is the robust volunteer
program that we also have with a number of community supporters.We had nearly 400
volunteers the first six months of this year alone.The last quarter,that equated to about 15.7
full time positions in addition to what our stadoes to support the animals.And so we really
have taken a look at it’s a multi-faceted review,not a singular classification review of where
we say we have enough stato care for the animals.
Wow.Let’s clarify:volunteers are not staand we are limited in the tasks we can perform (feeding is
staonly,volunteers are not allowed to run big dog play groups,volunteers are not allowed to handle
adoption visits with members of the public,and we have other restrictions on what we can do at the
shelter).In addition,OC Animal Care is a unionized worksite.Is Monica saying she doesn’t have to
hire people because she can just count volunteers as sta?This suggestion is unacceptable,as the
unions would undoubtedly agree.Further,we can wholeheartedly tell you there are nowhere CLOSE
to 400 volunteers who participate on a regular basis to even consider as daily support.We suspect
she is counting some people who never even touch an animal,such as those volunteers who come
in just to help with laundry or one-time volunteers who show up for a few hours to volunteer at the
monthly Pet Food Pantry and are never seen again.However,Monica has a penchant for making up
numbers.
The consultants that developed the Strategic Plan know full well that the shelter has volunteers.They
gave recommendations about the volunteer program as well.When they arrived at the number of
ACAs (26 present per day,implying 52+positions)they were NOT mixing ACAs and volunteers.They
knew that volunteers would be helping in other ways (walks,yard time).Monica is either utterly
ignorant or knows full well and is choosing to lie to you.