Q&A About Animal Services in South Orange County
With Dr. James Gardner
South County Animal Shelter Coalition

What is the purpose of the South County Animal Shelter Coalition?
But didn't South County citizens say they were happy in the annual survey?
What are people unhappy with?
What's the "high kill rate"?
Why are kill rates going down everywhere else, except in Orange County?
What is the problem with the drive?
What are some of the service problems that have been identified?
Can South County afford to have its own shelter?
Will building a shelter take away money for our kids?
Don't South County Cities Pride Themselves on being "Contract" Cities?
Where would a shelter be built? Most people don't want it near their home.
Isn't Building a Shelter a Major Project?
How much land is needed for a shelter?
Who would run the shelter?
Can you summarize the issues?
How many people are part of the South County Animal Shelter Coalition?
How can people contact you?


What is the purpose of the South County Animal Shelter Coalition?

Many cities in South Orange County contract with the County of Orange for all our animal services. But serious questions have been raised about the quality of care, and neighboring cities like Mission Viejo and Irvine have established city shelters that appear to be cost effective and provide a high quality of care.

The South County Animal Shelter (SCAS) Coalition was formed in response to the lack of pro-humane animal shelters serving Aliso Viejo, Lake Forest, Laguna Hills and Rancho Santa Margarita. SCAS is a coalition of four cities that have joined forces to establish a pro-humane animal shelter in their region. SCAS Coalition's goal is to form a pro-humane animal care facility where adoptable animals will not be euthanized because of space constraints.

But didn't South County citizens say they were happy in the annual survey?

The surveys that the cities conduct are flawed with regard to the question about animal services. The question is asked as if animal services are part of police services, which they aren't, and asks only about animal control (i.e., the "dog catcher"), not about the full range of services (e.g., spay and neuter clinics, vaccinations, shelter services, public education, licensing, etc.). The plain fact is that most people in South County have no idea about animal services and what is going on. When they say they are happy, what they are saying is that - "There are no rabid dogs running up and down my street." That's true.

Many people who live in South County believe that "our" shelter is either the Mission Viejo or the Irvine shelter. They have no idea we use the County shelter in the city of Orange. So when they say they're happy with animal services, they are complementing the city leaders of our neighboring cities. Indeed, it's a big problem for those shelters, because people from our city show up there every day trying to drop off animals.

But among people who know what's actually happening, based on surveys that we've conducted, more than 90% of the people are unhappy with the animal services we receive from the County.

BTW - Hundreds of people have shown up at city council meetings, written to the city councils, and posted on Internet forums talking about their unhappiness with our current services, and asking the cities to build a new shelter.

What are people unhappy with?

There are three main areas: (1) the high kill rate at the County shelter, (2) the long drive from South County to the city of Orange (where the shelter is), and (3) the poor quality of services provided to us and to our animals . All of this is a result of the fact that South County doesn't have its own shelter.

What's the "high kill rate"?

40% or more of the animals from South County who go to the Orange County shelter are euthanized. Compare that to city shelters like Mission Viejo and Irvine where the kill rate is less than 10%. Even county shelters in California have lower kill rates than Orange County has (e.g., San Diego = 31%, Merced = 33%, Los Angeles = 36%).

Not only does the OC shelter have a high kill rate, they are doing nothing to lower this rate. Their rate has been between 40% and 50% for the past 10 years. Throughout the United States, on the other hand, kill rates at other shelters have been coming down dramatically. For example :

• In San Diego County from 1998 to 2005, the number of animals killed decreased from 33,199 to 25,248 - a drop of 24%. The kill rate decreased from 56% to 31%.
• In Merced County, the number of animals euthanized decreased from 9,435 to 2,338 - a 75% decrease. On a percent basis, the decrease was from 76% (1999) to 33% (2006).
• In Santa Cruz County, dogs and cats killed decreased from 4,240 to 1316 from 1993 to 2004 - a 69% decrease. The percent euthanized fell from 50% to 36%.
• In the City of Los Angeles, the number of animals euthanized decreased from 38,501 to 18,668 from 2001 to 2007 - a 52% decrease. The percent euthanized decreased from 58% to 34%.
• Statewide, the number of dogs and cats euthanized decreased from 603,806 in 1995 to 430,240 in 2005 - a 29% decrease.
• In New York City, dogs and cats euthanized decreased from 28,434 to 17,536 from 2002 to 2007 - a 38% decrease. The kill rate decreased from 69% to 44%.
• In New Jersey, the number of dogs killed decreased from 47,703 to 15,294 - a 68% decrease. The kill rate decreased from 57.1% in 1984 to 45.7% in 1997.
• In the State of Connecticut, the number of animals euthanized decreased from 3,227 to 2,264 from 1990 to 2005 - a drop of 30%. The percent euthanized decreased from 26% to 11%.

Almost everywhere else, the numbers are decreasing, while here in Orange County the number of dogs and cats euthanized has hovered around 13,000 and the total number of animals euthanized at 14,000.

	01 to 02	02 to 03	03 to 04	04 to 05	05 to 06	06 to 07
Dogs and Cats Euthanized	12,944	12,347	13,747	13,739	13,095	12,463
All Animals Euthanized	14,512	14,109	15,554	15,857	14,753	13,929

Technically speaking, the rate for dogs and cats has been variable, with increases as high as 10% (2004 vs. 2003), but comparing 2001 with 2007 shows a decrease of 3% for dogs and cats and 4% for all animals. Compare that with the 24% (San Diego County) to 75% (Merced County) decreases shown in other areas.

Why are kill rates going down everywhere else, except in Orange County?

Because the OC shelter tries to serve too many people and animals in too small a space. The OC shelter serves more than two million people. No other single shelter in the United States serves as many people. And it serves 22 different cities plus 12 unincorporated areas. No other shelter in the United States serves so large a number of different municipalities . And it does this on a measly three acres of land. In Mission Viejo they have more land to serve less than one tenth the population. In Irvine, they have five acres and serve only 200,000 people. The result is that the people at the OC shelter are completely overwhelmed, and unable to do a good job.

We see this same phenomenon in another statistic - the fact that almost everywhere else the admissions to animal shelters are declining, while at OC the admissions are actually rising. For example :

• Statewide admissions of cats and dogs have dropped from 941,207 in 1995 to 841,750 in 2005 - an 11% decrease.
• In New Jersey, admissions of dogs went from 95,813 to 50,779 from 1984 to 1997 - a 47% decrease.
• In Las Vegas, admissions decreased from 20,530 (1992) to 12,800 (2000) - a 38% decrease.
• In the City of Los Angeles, intakes for dogs and cats decreased from 57,809 in 2001 to 45,798 in 2006 - a 21% decrease.
• In San Diego County, from 1998 to 2005, intakes of all animals decreased from 35,501 to 26,775 - a 25% decrease.
• In Merced County, from 1999 to 2006, animals impounded decreased from 12,336 to 7,009 - a drop of 43%.
• In Santa Cruz County, admissions for dogs and cats fell from 8538 to 3668 from 1993 to 2004 - a 57% decrease.
• Admissions in the State of Connecticut decreased from 22,424 to 19,210 from 1990 to 2005 - a 14% decrease.

Against these decreases of 11% (California) to 57% (Santa Cruz County) in recent years, let's look at the admissions at the OC shelter for dogs and cats combined from 2001 to 2007:

	01 to 02	02 to 03	03 to 04	04 to 05	05 to 06	06 to 07
Admissions	30,102	29,508	31,051	30,926	30,614	30,652

Not only is there no decrease, there is actually an increase, although a mere 2%. Nonetheless one has to compare a 2% gain against decreases of between 11% and 57%.

One reason for this is that many other shelters put a lot of effort into spay and neutering clinics, while at the OC shelter this is not emphasized. For example, go to the OC shelter web site and look for spay and neutering services. It's hard to find. Now go to the LA City animal services web site - it's hard to miss. The same is true for San Diego, Riverside, LA County, etc. Everyone else is promoting spay and neuter clinics, except for Orange County. Why? Because you can't serve 2,100,000+ people in 22 different cities across 1000 square miles and do a good job. And by neglecting such critical areas as spay and neutering clinics, the OC shelter dooms us to ever increasing admissions and a kill rate that won't go down.

What is the problem with the drive?

The OC shelter is 22 miles away from South County, through some of the busiest intersections in California. On average, people in cities in Southern California have a drive of only 9 miles from their home to their local shelter. So we have to travel more than twice as far as everyone else, and through worse traffic .

What are some of the service problems that have been identified?

We already discussed the lack of aggressive spay and neutering services. In addition, the county has a poor web site, when compared to web sites used by Mission Viejo and Irvine. It isn't user friendly. The other web sites allow you to sort the data when you are looking for a lost pet or trying to adopt. OC doesn't allow you to do this. That makes it much more difficult and time consuming. Plus the other web sites have attractive photos of the animals right on the same page, while on the OC web site you find unattractive pictures hidden away on a different page.

Another problem is that it can often take a day or more for an animal control officer to respond to a call from a South County resident. That's because the OC shelter serves more than 300 square miles across an area of 1000 square miles. The average shelter in Southern California serves a 24 square mile area. That's a huge difference.

In addition, things at the OC shelter have been so bad that the Orange County Grand Jury has launched two investigations in the past decade. They criticized the shelter for poor medical care, inadequate training, and questionable adoption practices, among many other things .

Can South County afford to have its own shelter?

South County is composed of very wealthy cities. Our annual household income is one of the largest in the county and our tax base is enormous.

Right now we pay the county approximately $2.00 per capita for services. If we had our own service, we could probably operate it for $4.00 per capita, the figure for Mission Viejo . That's less than two cents a day per person. But Mission Viejo collects only one third of the licensing fees it's entitled to collect. So it's possible that South County could operate a shelter at no cost to the cities. It might even produce profits if the cities built a shelter in cooperation with other pet related businesses (e.g., veterinarian, pet supply store, groomer, boarding and day care).

Will building a shelter take away money for our kids?

No. The money to build a shelter would undoubtedly come from the issuance of a bond. Operating costs for a shelter would, worst case scenario, involve spending just slightly more money than we are spending now, and in all probability, we could end up spending even less.

If any additional money was spent on a shelter, it would be miniscule next to the money we are spending on other services. We're not saying that taking care of our pets is more important than all these other activities, or even that it is equally as important. But at some point you have to talk about priorities. Right now hundreds of dogs and cats are being killed because we don't have our own shelter. Surely the lives of hundreds of pets and the emotional turmoil for thousands of our citizens can be weighed against the need for another park?

Don't South County Cities Pride Themselves on being "Contract" Cities?

It's true that many of the cities in South County contract with the County for their services. For example, Police and Fire services are both contract services. But the analogy with animal control is not valid. When a city contracts with the county for sheriff services, we have an on site presence. Officers are here in our community and we have local substations. When there's a problem, local officers respond. Animal control is completely different. They are in the City of Orange. There is no local accountability. We have no animal control officer in South County in the same way that cities have a local chief of police. Imagine if every time you needed a fire engine, they sent one from the city of Orange, or you needed police assistance, a squad car left from Orange to help you out? Imagine if you wanted to make a police report and you had to go up to Orange? So the idea of animal control; as just another "contract" service is not a valid idea. If the County were to build a shelter in South County, that would be an analogous situation. But the County, as recently as a few months ago, refused to build a shelter in South County.

Where would a shelter be built? Most people don't want it near their home.

There is plenty of open space in South County for a shelter. The opportunity study involves 800 acres in the eastern part of Lake Forest. There are 100 open acres next to the Great Park that the county has been anxious to give to the city. And there are pockets along Lake Forest Drive (near Dimension) and El Toro (near the 241) where a shelter could be built.

Isn't Building a Shelter a Major Project?

Yes and no. It's a major project, just like any other building project. But, no, it's not any more complicated than any comparable project. Indeed, new shelters are being built in California all the time. Recent shelters include: Lake Elsinore (multi-city), Silicon Valley (multi-city), Amador County, and the City of San Jose, The City of Los Angeles will open two new shelters this year, as will Lake County. Sacramento is breaking ground on a new shelter scheduled to open in 2009. Alameda County is planning a new shelter. etc.

How much land is needed for a shelter?

It depends on what kind of a shelter we build, and what amenities we plan to have next to it. It also depends on whether we build an "open" shelter or an "enclosed" shelter.

All things considered, the minimum size is probably four acres and the maximum size is about ten acres .

Who would run the shelter?

There are 28 shelters in Southern California right now that serve populations of 200,000 or less. These shelters serve an average of 40,000 people and an area of about 24 square miles. Here in South County we have about 200,000 people and an area of about 50 square miles. So there is ample precedence for the people of South County to run a shelter.

Our neighbors in Mission Viejo, Irvine, Laguna Beach, San Clemente, and Newport Beach all run their own shelters. If they can do it, South County can. And you'll note that many of these cities have been operating their own shelter for decades, and not a single one ever decided to close its doors and go back to the County.

Can you summarize the issues?

• Cities in South County contract with the County for animal care services, and the County only has one shelter - in the City of Orange. That means our citizens in South County have to drive more than twice as far to the shelter in Orange (22 miles) when compared to everyone else in Southern California (average 9 miles).
• The County shelter is overwhelmed. It tries to provide services to more than 2,100,000 people in 22 cities and 12 unincorporated areas across 1,000 square miles. That's the largest service area for any shelter in the United States. And they do this on a mere 3 acres.
• As a result of an impossible situation, the quality of care at the County shelter is deplorable. They have increasing admissions while most shelters have decreasing admissions, and they have high stable euthanasia rates when these rates are declining everywhere else. The kill rate at the County shelter is in excess of 40% while at city shelters like Mission Viejo and Irvine the rate is less than 10%. The OC shelter has a high kill rate even when compared to other county shelters, like San Diego, Merced, Santa Cruz, and Los Angeles.
• Not only are these outcomes unacceptable, the County shelter provides poor service, with a deficient web site, inadequate spay and neutering services, etc. Two Grand Jury investigations in the past decade attest to the terrible conditions there.
• Therefore South County needs to establish its own shelter, just like our neighbors in Mission Viejo, Irvine, Laguna Beach, San Clemente, Newport Beach, and 28 other cities in Southern California who provide a shelter for their own citizens. Not a single city that established its own shelter has ever gone back to the County.
• South County is a wealthy with sufficient land to build a shelter. The operating costs of a shelter would be, at most, a little more than a penny a day, per capita, more than we currently spend - and if done properly, South County animal services could produce a profit for the city.

How many people are part of the South County Animal Shelter Coalition?

In the South County area, we have about 5,000 people. We've had meetings in Laguna Hills and Lake Forest where more than 100 people showed up.

The important point is that we are growing every day. A year ago, we had fewer than 500 people involved. Now there are thousands. People really care about their animals. Once they learn what's going on, they join our efforts.

How can people contact you?

Our web site is www.socoanimalshelter.org

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^{1 , 2, 5}   Based on 2005 figures

³  Based on 2006 figures

⁴  A copy of the Grand Jury report is available at http://www.socoanimalshelter.org Based on 2005 figures.

⁶  Population figures from 2005. Average household income figures from 2000 census data.