Item 13 - OC Grand Jury's Investigative Report, Findings, and Recommendations Regarding Group Homes and the Orange County Animal Care Shelter

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Gimme Shelter and a Pound of Advice guidelines and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) guidelines (which is the current standard). The allocation of Animal Care Attendants at OCAC is insufficient for the shelter to meet industry standards for level of care. NACA and HSUS recommend a minimum of 15 minutes of care per day per animal for feeding and cleaning each animal housed in the shelter; 9 minutes for cleaning and 6 minutes for feeding and watering. There are currently 21 Animal Care Attendant positions allocated at the shelter. Three positions were vacant as of May 1, 2023. A normal Animal Care Attendant daily shift at the shelter is 10 hours, of which the attendants are expected to spend half their time cleaning, feeding, and watering the animals and half their time attending to other - responsibilities, including those responsibilities noted above. Half the Animal Care Attendants work from Wednesday through Saturday and the others work Sunday through Wednesday. Animal Care Attendants spend about 4'/2 hours cleaning and feeding the animals each day. The Grand Jury evaluated the Animal Care Attendant's workload during the four -month period between December 4, 2022 and April 10, 2023. Individual Animal Care Attendants cared for 48 animals per shift on average and in some cases up to 90 animals per shift. Conservatively, Animal Care Attendants at the shelter spend less than 6 minutes on average per animal attending to cleaning and feeding, which is much less than the 15 minutes recommended by the NACA and HSUS guidelines. Of note, the four -month period reviewed by the Grand Jury is not the shelter's busy season. During kitten season, the cats and kittens alone can number up to 500 to 600 cats and kittens. per day. -The Grand Jury could not evaluate daily census records prior to December 4, 2022 because OCAC did not keep daily animal census records prior to that date. There are still other needs the animals have, such as time for animal enrichment which is required daily. The other half of the Animal Attendant's shift is devoted to picking up animals from intake, showing animals for potential adoptions, walking dogs, stocking supplies, washing dishes or other non -direct animal care tasks. - - --ASV-Guidelines stress enrichment should be given the same significance as feeding, _watering, and veterinary care. Successful enrichment programs prevent the development - and display of abnormal behavior and provide for the well-being of the animal. Regular positive daily social interaction with humans is essential for both dogs and cats. Animals need daily walking, playing, grooming, petting, etc. OCAC's 2018 Strategic Plan called _ for all sheltered dogs and cats to receive appropriate daily enrichment tailored to their needs. The Grand Jury found that other shelters in Orange County walk their dogs _ several times per day and provide numerous opportunities for enrichment. At the OCAC shelter,.dogs -are -not always _walked daily. Instead, animal care attendants only walk dogs every other day, as time permits. The Grand Jury recognizes that resources are limited, but the shelter must prioritize the welfare of the animals over other shelter operation considerations. This puts pressure on management to operate the shelter efficiently. Other animal care facilities report 50% of ORANGE COUNTY GRAND JURY 2022 12023 . PAGE 15 OF 51