17 (02)Date:3/22/2026 12:50:16 PM
From:"Michael Mavrovouniotis" michaelmavrovouniotis@gmail.com
To:"Public Comment" publiccomment@anaheim.net
Subject:[EXTERNAL] Public comment for city council, March 24, 2026, agenda # 17
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Honorable City Council,
I am a volunteer data scientist for the non-profits Social Compassion in Legislation & Social Compassion. I published four
peer-reviewed research papers on animal sheltering in the last 19 months. You can find explanations of my research for a
general audience here:
https://www.growkudos.com/profile/michael_mavrovouniotis
and the rest of my research profile here:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael-Mavrovouniotis
At the moment, OC Animal Care is your only option. Understandably, you’ll sign the contract. But you can, in addition:
- T ell OC Animal Care that you expect them to follow their 2018 Strategic P lan, approved unanimously by the Board of
Supervisors. T hat’s the performance standard, not whatever a random manager decides from one month to the next.
- T ell city staff to study an alternative: An animal shelter that is community-centered and practices prevention rather than
reaction. Such a shelter would save money for the city, because prevention is more cost-effective, and because the
community would contribute via donations and volunteering. In case you didn’t know it… Any donations currently offset
the county’s cost share for the unincorporated areas, but not the cities. If somebody leaves a $500,000 bequest to the
shelter, it doesn’t change the city’s costs or the services, it only reduces the county’s out-of-pocket cost by $500,000.