Animal Care in Lake Forest - Part 3 (Problems)

Last time we discussed the plight of animals from Lake Forest who go to the County animal shelter, more than a third of whom will die or be killed within days of entering. For that service, and the pleasure of driving more than 30 minutes one way, we typically pay more than $600,000 per year.

The serious faults and deficiencies in the County Shelter have been chronicled over the years by the OC Grand Jury and others. The latest report, released two weeks ago, will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the past reports. Click here to view the Grand Jury report.

Here are some direct quotes from the latest Grand Jury report –

PHYSICAL CONDITION

“The Orange County Animal Shelter (Animal Shelter) was built seven decades ago. Today, the 74-year-old facility is rundown, overcrowded, and unable to sustain the primary responsibility of OCAC: compassionate care of the County’s companion animals. The old, dilapidated, inadequate facility fails to provide a safe, clean environment for staff, volunteers, and the public, and it is unable to provide adequate care of the animals.”

“The Animal Shelter facility …is in utter disrepair. Over time, the shelter’s expansion has been limited to the piecemeal placement of sheds, gazebos, lean-tos, trailers, and miscellaneous pre-fabricated units. Structural integrity, cleanliness, and sanitation continue to be compromised and pose serious risks to human as well as animal health…”

“The 74-year-old main structure is built of unreinforced brick, and it seems doubtful the structure would survive any seismic event. One member of the BOS has explained to the Grand Jury that the County is unable to inspect the roof of the main structure for fear of its collapse.”

ABILITY TO SERVE

“In 1941, the County built the Orange County Animal Shelter (Animal Shelter) on County-owned property in the City of Orange to serve a County human population of 200,000. Today, the combined population of the 18 contract cities plus the unincorporated areas of the County served by the Animal Shelter is ten times larger: 2,100,000…”

“Every California county with a population exceeding 500,000 has more than one animal shelter facility. Orange County is the exception, having one shelter facility despite the geographic and demographic need for multiple shelters.”

BIGGER IS NOT BETTER

What the Grand Jury report neglects to say is that by having a single large animal shelter, the County’s Board of Supervisors dooms us to poor service and a high kill rate. In the world of animal shelters, bigger is not better. When animal shelters handle less than 500 animals per year, the service is usually excellent. At 1,000 we begin to get mixed results, and at 5,000 per year you begin to see higher kill rates. Beyond 10,000 animals per year no shelter is able to provide excellent service and a low kill rate. At more than 30,000 animals per year, building yet another single shelter is a policy doomed to failure.

Of course, animals don’t vote, which is why the Board of Supervisors has continued to avoid dealing with this problem. And few people think of the poor conditions at the County shelter when they go to vote – otherwise Supervisors Bates and Moorlach would not have won so easily their recent elections.

At the end of the day, we have only our humanity to give us the determination to require that the County do a better job. Next time we’ll look at the Grand Jury’s recommendations.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 3 pm to 5 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a mini town meeting quarter. The next meeting will be on August 15 at 2 pm at the El Toro Public Library.