A Successful
Animal Regulation Program with Dog Licensing Clinics.
CHAPTER 1.
County Animal Regulation Transferred to Livestock Inspector
Veterinary Care for Injured Dogs and Cats
Animal Regulation in North County
Appointment of Dr. Johnstone as County Veterinarian and Department Head
New South County Animal Shelter
Dogs on the Beach and in Parks
Dog Poop on the Lawn
Dead Animal Pick-Up (
Road Kill), "Not My Job!"
Origin of San Diego City Animal Regulation
More History of San Diego City Animal Regulation
Scooter the Paraplegic
Consolidation of City and County Animal Regulation
Comparison of City and County Programs Prior to Consolidation
Euthanasia
High Number of Euthanized Animals
Disposal of Euthanized Bodies
Adoption Policy
Cheaper than Free Adoptions
Home Garaging of Animal Regulation Trucks
Animal Regulation Ordinance
Rabies in San Diego County
At Cost Rabies Vaccinating and
Licensing Clinics
Rate of increase in Licensing Under Veterinary Management
Wellness Clinics (New)
144,270 Dogs Were Licensed
Estimating Licensing and Enforcement Efficiency Compared With Other
Jurisdictions
Mandatory Microchipping of Dogs and Cats
Microchipping is no
substitute. Dog license tags are more effective. They have
"collar" ID.
Problems With Mandatory Rabies Vaccination of Cats
Problems with Licensing Cats
Click Here to Return to Index Page
Original South County Shelter, Spring Valley 1962, Rabies Vaccinating and Licensing Clinic
Veterinary Care for Injured Dogs and Cats
Dr Quortrup's first act was to set up contracts with private
veterinarians for after hours emergency services with his
staff veterinarians providing daytime services. This was the origin of
third party payments for veterinary services and
apparently the first program of its kind in this country. Prior to that
time when a person found an injured dog in the
street he would often deposit it at the nearest veterinarian with no
intention of paying for someone else's dog. The
veterinarian, wanting to maintain a good public image, found it
difficult to refuse service. The new contracts
reimbursed the veterinarian for out-of-pocket costs up to $10 a case
and provided assurance that the animal would be
taken off his hands the next morning, if the owner could not be
located. With licensed dogs the veterinarian would
charge his normal fees to the owner and perhaps gain a new client for
follow up treatment and often for the life of the
animal.
Animal Regulation in North County
Services in north county were provided through a contract with the
Escondido Humane Society. Shortly after the
County Veterinarian acquired animal control, concerns arose over the
amount of reimbursement requested by the
Escondido Humane Society for services in the unincorporated areas of
north county. The Humane Society declined to
allow an independent audit of their books. Both agencies mutually
agreed to end the contract. The Humane Society
continued to provide service within the city of Escondido. Public
Health Nurses continued to quarantine biting dogs
within the city of Escondido. That was until a vicious dog refused to
let a nurse even get out of her vehicle. By that
time every other animal control agency in the county provided this
service within their jurisdiction. The county felt
this service was an integral part of animal regulation / control. The
county would provide the entire program, or the
Escondido Humane Society could provide the entire program, which the
society chose to do. When the patrol officer
does the quarantining, he can recognize the dog, if observed running
loose, and knows who is the owner. The Society
continued, until recently, to provide animal control services for the
city of Escondido. Initially the county purchased a
private animal hospital for use as an animal shelter until the current
facility was built at the Palomar Airport site. Dr.
Quortrup was responsible for the basic design. The North County Animal
Shelter's additional runs were added under
non veterinary administration, and placed too close to existing runs,
creating an undesirable noise level between the
new and old runs.
North County Animal Shelter 1962, Rabies Vaccinating Licensing Clinic
North
County Animal Shelter, 2000, Office edition on the left and office
trailer on the right.
Temporary Portable Dog Runs, North County Animal Shelter,
Designed by Dr. Johnstone as temporary
prototype runs for use at the original south county animal
shelter until the new south shelter could be built.
Still being used after more than 26 years.
Animal Control Truck Used in the 1960's
Appointment of Dr. Johnstone as County Veterinarian and
Department Head
Dr. Johnstone joined the Office of the County Veterinarian as a
pathologist on February 27, 1961. With the retirement
of Dr. Quortrup he became County Veterinarian on July 1, 1968.
Dr. Johnstone was responsible for the basic design
of the veterinary pathology laboratory at the county operations center.
New South County Animal Shelter
Dr. Johnstone was also responsible for the basic design of the new
south county animal shelter. The north county
animal shelter originally housed all dogs in one building with
inside/outside runs. This required cleaning of two
separate areas for each pen, taking time better spent caring for the
animals. This arrangement required the public to
look both inside the building and also in the outside area of the runs
to check for their lost dog. The hard surfaces
inside the building created an echo chamber with a deafening noise
level of barking dogs. In designing the new south
county animal shelter Dr. Johnstone felt that arrangement would not
meet Cal OSHA occupational requirements
without ear plugs for both the public and employees. He designed
outside portable dog runs intended for temporary
use at the old overcrowded south county shelter. Epoxy impregnated
plywood intended for use in concrete forms was
used for the floor and sides of the runs. Twenty six years later they
are still in use, but need epoxy recoating in many
areas. They were the prototype used in designing dog runs for the new
shelter. In viewing animal shelters in Los
Angeles and Orange County with outside housing for dogs the arrangement
in Orange County seemed the most
efficient, but had some limitations. Officers unloading and entering
dogs into the rear of their runs couldn't easily tell
empty from occupied pens. This was overcome with full sized doors on
each end. Officers in Orange County also had
to cross public access areas with incoming dogs. The new design when
incorporated into the new shelter enabled the
unloading of incoming animals free from interaction with the public
trying to adopt or claim animals before proper
fees had been paid.
The permanent runs at the new south county shelter were provided with radiant heating pipes placed over sand. The original plan called for pipes placed over dense Styrofoam sheets. Dry sand had comparable insulating capabilities. This arrangement requires periodic sealing of the covering concrete to keep the sand dry. Planting areas were provided between the runs to allow for trees to shade both the runs and the public. Semi translucent fiberglass panels for the roof of the runs allowed daylight to enter for better viewing of housed animals. A surgery room with a large viewing window was provided for demonstration of spays to school groups. At a previous Chicago AVMA meeting, such a demonstration became an extremely popular public attraction and an excellent public relations method to encourage animal population control. An awning over the viewing window to prevent glare from the sun and an intercom unit for the veterinarian to explain the spay procedure and the need for spaying was to be added. A gas anesthesia machine was purchased to provide fast recovery so the viewing children could pet and relate to the newly spayed puppy. A sit-down front counter for employee comfort was provided with windows behind so other staff could be aware when additional help was needed at the front counter. A separate bathroom was provided for female office employees. At that time there were no female field officers. Civil Service procedures awarded bonus points to veterans placing women at a disadvantage for those better paying positions. How times have changed! The main restrooms were included in a wing of the building that, together with a large multipurpose room, could be locked off from the main shelter. This was to accommodate after hours public meetings and allow for staff use during the work day. The front patio was designed with planters to separate and provide for four lines of owners and their dogs at the annual relicensing time and weekly clinics. A large euthanasia room originally housed four euthanasia chambers. The room was large enough for necropsies of horses and other large animals, and an unloading dock was provided at various levels. At that time a local dead animal hauler was picking up carcasses once a week. His usual procedure was to pick up dead animals at dairies and horse ranches in the morning and top off his load with animals from the three shelters. This meant tossing carcasses one at a time on top of the load. The extra labor raised the cost which could better be spent on live animals. A deep loading pit was provided to allow bulk handling of carcasses being placed directly over the side of the truck. The new shelter was designed to provide outside housing with ample air circulation, an essential for controlling respiratory disease in animals from multiple sources and for shielding animals from the danger of fire. Outside housing was also being used for both dogs and cats at the San Diego Humane Society. With San Diego's mild climate inside housing is not necessary nor desirable, especially not for cats from multiple sources, unless one wishes to provide full employment for veterinarians. Owners claiming their dogs are already unhappy. When the dog goes home with Kennel Cough they are more unhappy. When their Veterinarian gives them a big bill they are even more unhappy and expect the County to pay it. Animal Control has enough headaches without that one. New administration took over the department just weeks before the shelter was opened. Hence, the shelter was never operated to the full advantage of its design potential. Modifications and additions made by subsequent administrators considerably degraded what was originally a beautiful animal shelter in a beautiful setting. The last set of runs look like they were made from ocean going cargo containers, and remind one of steel solitary confinement cells used by North Viet Nam for American prisoners. Steel roofs added to the original runs make them so dark it is difficult to see the animals, and trees were never planted in the spaces provided between the runs. And the list goes on.
South County Animal Shelter, 2000.
Original Dog Runs at South County Animal Shelter, 2000.
The view window into surgery area at far end of isle was reduced in
size, an awning never provided and never used to
demonstrate spaying. Shade trees were never planted between the dog
runs. Metal roofs were added to runs making
them too dark for easily observing dogs for adoption, or for claiming
by owners.
Kennel Cough
New Dog Runs, South County Shelter, November, 2000
The last set of dog runs added at the South County Shelter look like
they were made from ocean going cargo
containers, and remind one of steel solitary confinement cells used by
North Viet Nam for American prisoners.
Dogs on the Beach and in Parks
Dogs are not allowed in restaurants where all food is served on tables.
Dogs are not allowed in grocery stores where no food at all is served.
Why are they are allowed on beaches and in parks where food is consumed
by people lying on the sand or grass upon
which dogs have pooped and urinated? Some owners pick up the poops,
some don't. None pick up the urine. The city
does occasionally sift the sand, and then spread it around just in case
the dogs missed a spot. Separate dog beaches
and dog parks are a good idea, the same as separate hotel rooms for
smokers and non smokers. Since neither smoke
odor nor dog pollution can be removed between users, these facilities
are best kept separate.
Butte Montana Central City Park, September 2004
Watch your step! Dog Poop on your shoe!
Dog Poop on your Lawn
Some dog owners don't pick up after their dogs. Gallon bottles filled
with water placed along the edge of the property
are useful to keep dogs away. The dogs don't know the difference, but
these advise their owners to curtail their pets.
This only works with leashed dogs. Dog poop that ends up on the owner's
front door knob late at night is also said to
"get the message home."
Dead Animal Pick-Up, "Not My Job!"
Origin of San Diego City
Animal
Control
(Reprinted from the San Diego
County Humane Society & S.P.C.A. Newsletter, Vol. 5 No. 10.
Oct. 1970)
Either there weren't many dogs in San Diego from 1869 to 1887, or they
did not rate a great deal of attention from the powers that were.
No one did much of anything about dogs until Ordinance No. 45 was
adopted January 6, 1887. The Board of Trustees of the City of San
Diego ordained that all dogs must be licensed by a tax of $2.00.
Each dog was required to have around its neck a metallic plate issued
by the Tax Collector, having the number of the license issued for said
dog.
The ordinance went on to
decree, sec. 8220; Every dog found within said city in violation
of this ordinance shall be impounded, and if not claimed by the owner
within three days, and the license tax paid, and the costs and charges
of keeping said dog at fifty cents a day, and two dollars for
impounding the same, are not also paid, it shall be the duty of
the Tax Collector to kill or cause to be killed such dog.
Sec. 8221: The Tax Collector was instructed to establish and
maintain a dog pound in San Diego. Sec. 6 of the ordinance
provided that every person violating any provision should be fined in
any sum not exceeding three hundred dollars, or be put in the County
jail not to exceed three months. While business should have
boomed at the Dog Pound, there is no indication until 1888, just who
was to administer this pound. In that year, on the 3rd. of
January, an ordinance was passed creating, among other positions, a
pound keeper. Also created was the job of City Surveyor, Harbor
Master, Chief Engineer of the Fire Dept., and Sewer Inspector. It
was in the same year that the Board of Trustees and its president were
replaced by the City Council and the Mayor. This ordinance stated
that the pound keeper was to be elected by the City Council and to hold
office at the pleasure of said Council. It was further decided to
bond this august public official in the amount of five hundred
dollars. There must have been those persons in the City of San
Diego who felt the pound keeper was quietly sneaking around in hot
pursuit of their animals and, in fact, not making his presence
sufficiently obvious. On August 28, 1888, the City Council passed
an ordinance stating that from that date forth the pound keeper and
each of his deputies were: "...to procure and at all times wear, while
on duty, a circular metallic badge in plain view, with the following
words inscribed thereon, viz.; "Pound Keeper of the City of San
Diego "...said badge to be at least three (3) inches in diameter
and shall be worn on the outside of his coat in plain view."
More History of San Diego City Animal Control
When Dr. J.B.. Askew became out County Health Officer in 1949, City
Animal Control was the Health Officer's responsibility and operated by
his sanitarians, now a separate department, the Department of
Environmental Health. Dr. Askew soon decided he didn't need all
those people coming to his office with their dog complaints and got the
function transferred to the city police department. He continued
to supply a veterinarian to the city shelter to provide the state
mandated "at cost" rabies vaccinations, until city animal control was
transferred to the County
Veterinarian. Under both the health department sanitarians and
the city police, the
officer in charge of animal control experienced a short tenure.
It was a common saying that when the administration wanted to get rid
of someone he would be "promoted" to be in charge of animal control,
and soon he was history.
Scooter the Paraplegic
In the early 1960's San Diego city animal control still had no
provisions for veterinary care of injured dogs. A dog hit
by a car was left unattended in the city shelter until claimed and
taken to a private veterinary hospital. In Scooter's
case the veterinarian diagnosed a spinal injury and remarked that there
was nothing that could be done at that time,
and the dog would remain a paraplegic. Although it was not possible,
the owner assumed that prompt treatment would
have healed the spinal cord. Pictures of the "scooter" scooting along
with his rear on a skate board made good TV
coverage. This was the main impetus to passing the state law requiring
that injured dogs and cats found in a public
place without their owner be taken directly to a veterinarian for
treatment. The low cost to taxpayers of the county's
program was one reason for the laws easy passage. However, once
veterinary treatment became mandatory,
veterinarians statewide expected their customary fees for unclaimed
dogs and cats with them providing "optimum"
care. The problem was obviously the cost with the vast majority of
these animals being unlicensed and unclaimed
only to be euthanized three days later. This was not a problem in the
unincorporated parts of the county as veterinary
contracts were already in effect. The city of San Diego was unable to
negotiate similar contracts. However, since by
this time the County Veterinarian was well advanced in the process of
assuming the animal control functions of the
city and such services would soon be his responsibility, and since he
lived three miles from the city shelter he
personally provided these after hour services at the same price to the
city as the county paid private veterinarians.
These funds went to the county's general fund as added revenue. The
County Veterinarian being a member of the
Executive Service was ineligible for overtime pay. This smoothed the
transfer of the city's animal control to the
county and solved one of the main problems under the city police
department. Needless to say the city police were
more than happy to get rid of the problems of animal regulation /
control.
Consolidation of City and County Animal Regulation / Control
Dr. Johnstone was largely responsible for the consolidation of the city
of San Diego and the county animal regulation /
control functions bringing county efficiency to the city with no
subsidy required by the city. This occurred January
1971. At that time the city provided one hour rabies/licensing clinics
at the city shelter on Mondays, Wednesdays, &
Fridays, for a total of three hours a week at one location for a
population of 721,00 people. That veterinarian was
provided by the Health Department. The County Veterinarian provided a
two-hour clinic Wednesdays at the north
county shelter and Thursdays at the south county shelter, for a total
of two locations and four clinic hours a week for a
population of 340,000 people.
Treatment at the Central County Animal Shelter, October, 1970
Dr. Johnstone, County Veterinarian, and night duty Officer, Martin
Rintala, providing after hours emergency care at
the city shelter during the transition of city animal control to the
Office of the County Veterinarian.
A Comparison of City and County Programs Just Prior to
Consolidation
Rabies\Licensing Clinics Locations
Total
Hours
Human Population Served
County 2 two hour
clinics/wk
2
4
hrs/wk
340,000
City 3 one
hour
clinics/wk
1
3
hrs/wk
721,000
Number of Field Officers Human
Population
Served
Officers per 100,000 people
County
12
340,000
3.5
City
11
721,000
1.5
Dogs Impounded
In the
Field
at
Shelters
Total
Impounds per 100,000 people
County
6,842/yr
3,689/yr
10,531/yr
3,097 dogs
City
7,105/yr
2,051/yr
9,156/yr
1,270 dogs
Direct Revenue Collected
* Human Population
Served
Revenue per 100,000 people
County
$179,000
340,000
$52,647.06/yr
City
$187,671
721,000
$26,029.26/yr
* Dog license and impound fees were the same in
both the county and city.
Euthanasia
Prior to 1984 high altitude chambers were used to euthanize dogs and
cats. These were originally approved by the
American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Humane
Society. This approval was based on
experiences of pilots in high altitude balloons and later airplanes.
Such chambers are still used to train pilots to
recognize oxygen deprivations before becoming unconscious. These were
thought to be an ideal method of painless
euthanasia. Various humane groups, primarily ones without shelters and
without the problem of euthanizing large
numbers of animals, lobbied the state to eliminate their use. The law
was first changed to require separate cages for
each animal and rapid removal of air from the chambers. The intention,
to establish uniform procedures for the use of
these chambers, was good. Large cages were easily divided to
accommodate the individual cage requirement. The use
of smaller satellite chambers was discontinued. These were designed for
single small sized animal use. It was too
difficult to maintain constant vacuum in these chambers because a small
leak of the seal represented a large percent of
the chamber volume, whereas the same size leak was inconsequential in
relation to the larger volume of the standard
chambers. It is of interest that the rapid removal of air requirement
was passed without any scientific study and in
direct opposition to the slow removal used in pilot training and in the
experiences of high altitude pilots. This action
seemed counterproductive.
The American Veterinary Association reversed its earlier position and no longer supported high altitude chambers. This apparently was done to be a more political correct, as no new scientific study was done. The rapid removal of air mandated by state law appeared to cause excessive distress to cats and its discontinuance for use with cats was indicated. The state next passed legislation requiring injectable euthanasia for pets at animal shelters. The state of California legislature had previously passed a measure requiring the state to fund any new procedures or programs mandated on local jurisdictions, which of course they seldom did, at least not in this case. The humane groups that were lobbying for the elimination of these euthanasia chambers presented a study proposing to show a cost savings with injectable euthanasia. The study was flawed in two main ways. It supposed only one chamber was being used and the operator did nothing else during the required holding period. Multiple chambers were the standard, and our shelters operated three to four chambers at each shelter providing plenty of productive work servicing other chambers during the holding period of any one chamber. Even with a one chamber operation it is inconceivable that the operator couldn't find something else to do during the holding period, or that the legislature could actually believe that study that there would be no increase in local costs. In the case of San Diego County, operating three shelters, costs were increased by the expense of hiring three Animal Health Technicians and by $10,000 per year for sodium pentobarbital. This was purchased in bulk as a powder and prepared locally on a monthly basis. Local preparation was not a problem. The elimination of high altitude chambers at least solved the problem of someone inevitably using the chamber to euthanize a skunk. The vacuum sucked the scent glands dry with obvious odorous results.
High Number of Euthanized Animals
Much has been quoted in the press about the high number or percentage
of animals euthanized at animal shelters
implying relatively few are adopted and the rest are "unwanted". This
is not necessarily the case. Many of the animals
are euthanized because of age related health problems, and are
basically the same type of animals that are euthanized
at veterinary hospitals. These figures should not be used to indicate
unwanted animals, as many of these animals have
simply reached their life expectancy where it is more humane to put
them to sleep than to allow them to suffer due to
diseases of age. Mortality in animals has always been and still is 100
%.
Disposal of Euthanized Bodies
Those bodies that were not claimed by their owner or picked up by a pet
cemetery were sent to an animal processing
plant where they become plant food used by flower growers. If you
believe in reincarnation, the pet comes back as a
flower. If you don't believe in reincarnation, he or she still comes
back as a flower. Originally animals at the Gains
Street Shelter were incinerated on site. This was stopped due to the
Clean Air Act. The furnace was preheated and
only one animal at a time loaded into the chamber. Due to the extreme
temperature partially decomposed, gaseous
animals from the streets or elsewhere often exploded before the furnace
door could be closed.
Adoption Policy
Initially the city of San Diego shelter adopted out animals only
through the San Diego Humane Society. Later, during
the rabies outbreak of the 1960's, the health officer stopped all
adoptions from the shelter on the basis that any stray
could have been exposed while running at large. Although this may have
been necessary, it created a "dead end"
shelter for animals and extremely bad public relations. The County
Veterinarian continued to adopt selected animals
from county shelters. The rabies outbreak lasted until February of 1970.
Cheaper Than Free Adoptions, 1974
The number of free adoptions available on supermarket bulletin boards
and over back fences from neighbors, together
with a desire to increase shelter adoptions led Dr. Thackrey to develop
the county's "CHEAPER THAN FREE"
adoption program.
County
puppy
"Free" Neighborhood puppy
Adoption
Cost
$5.25
Free
Initial
Worming
included
$10 & up
Initial DHL
vaccine
included $10
& up
INITIAL
COST: $5.25*
$20 & up
* Includes a free booklet on puppy care, & a referral for a free veterinary health examination. This program predated mandatory spaying and neutering of animals prior to adoption from shelters.
Home Garaging of Animal Regulation TrucksAnimal Regulation Ordinance
In 1973 Dr. Thackrey revised, rewrote, and updated the entire county's
animal regulation / control ordinances using
plain English incorporating changes mandated by state law. This was the
first complete updating of these ordinances
in the history of county animal regulation / control. This became a
model ordinance requested by many other agencies
nation-wide.
Rabies In San Diego County
This disease has been with us for a long time. Prior
to 1954 it was a dog and coyote epidemic with a few cats, cows,
and other livestock being bitten and developing the disease. This was
controlled through strict enforcement of the
lease law, picking up of strays, and of extensive vaccination of dogs.
The drop in cases produced a false sense of
security and a relaxation of rabies control enforcement measures. This
resulted in a recurrence in the early 1960, but
still a dog and coyote epidemic. In 1966 the disease had spread to
other wildlife with 37 foxes, 9 bobcats, and 4
skunks laboratory confirmed as rabid. This became the largest wild
wildlife rabies outbreak in California history.
With wildlife rabies only one case in 10 is ever thought to be caught
and diagnosed. The outbreak was confined to the
west by the ocean and to the east by the desert. The outbreak was
moving north and was predicted to spread up the
Coastal and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges to the rest of the state
unless stopped. An extensive trapping program
aimed at foxes and bobcats was conducted in a band across the northern
part of the county. This was highly successful
and stopped the outbreak from spreading north of Julian. The last case
of this epidemic was a rabid fox caught in
February of 1970. The outbreak resulted in one human death, that of a 2
yr. old boy bitten severely by a bobcat while
playing in the back yard of his father's chicken ranch. Our common
boundary with Mexico and the history of
concurrent rabies occurring both in San Diego and Tijuana make
international rabies control efforts in our area
especially important. Foxes and coyotes move unrestricted across this
border as there is no effective fence in the
mountainous areas. Stray dog crossings have been greatly reduced by the
current border fence in the Tijuana area.
Border Fence, San Diego / Tijuana, 1966
At Cost Rabies Vaccinating and Licensing Clinics
The state of California requires rabies vaccination prior to licensing
of dogs and that rabies vaccinations not exceed
cost, which the state sets from time to time. Initially in the city of
San Diego the health officer provided vaccination
clinics, supplying the vaccine, and using sanitarians to set them up
and sell licenses. These were held around the
Christmas and New Years holidays. He felt it was preferable to have
sanitarians manning clinics than inspecting
restaurants and bars where there was too much temptation for the
possibility of sanitarians to be compromised with a
"gift" bottle of alcohol. In the city of San Diego the veterinary
medical association provided the veterinarians as a
public service, with the health department keeping the revenue from the
rabies vaccination. When county animal
regulation / control was transferred to the County Veterinarian, Dr
Quortrup having no sanitarians, arranged for the
veterinary medical association to provide these annual clinics.They
found the locations, supplied the vaccine, and kept
the fee. County animal regulation / control sold the licenses and kept
the license fees. The veterinary medical
association felt it was easier for them to run both city and county
clinics the same way as in the county keeping the
vaccine revenue. Individual veterinarians donated their services with
the association keeping the revenue. Dr.
Quortrup had staff veterinarians provide year around rabies vaccinating
and licensing clinics at each shelter once a
week. Dr. Johnstone added weekly sites in Poway, Lakeside, and Wing
Park in the south San Diego bay area and
continued a weekly clinic at the city shelter. These clinics provided
easy licensing for new dog owners and added
them to the data base for notifying at relicensing
time. This greatly increased the number of dogs the veterinary
association vaccinated at annual clinics and at member hospitals.
Six departmental provided clinics a week added up
to 312 each year meeting the state's legal requirements for "at cost"
clinics. Since licenses expiring with the calendar
year created a peak workload, the veterinary association provided 70 or
so additional neighborhood clinics. In order to
get sufficient dogs to insure the success of those neighborhood clinics
only those clinics were advertised in the press
and on inserts included with renewal notices mailed directly to dog
owners. Members of the veterinarian association
also provided mobile clinics to serve all the small outlying
communities in the unincorporated areas.At that time
license sales were increasing 6% a year, three times the human
population increase of 2% a year. Although these
clinics enabled the licensing of more dogs per capita without door to
door sales than either LA. City or County with
100% door to door sales they were largely discontinued after animal
control became a separate department. This
followed our county's new management's decision to establish year-round
rather than annual licensing and the
decision to instigate door to door sales. License sales have been flat
or declining ever since. A July 1967 management
audit report of Los Angeles city Animal Regulation practices with door
to door licensing indicated a cost in excess of
$2.40 to issue a dog license. At the time it was $3/year for all dogs.
A similar study in 1997 of San Diego County
Animal Control with door to door licensing indicated a cost of $300,000
to produce $226,000 revenue.
Rate of increase in licensing under veterinary management after combining city and county animal regulation.Dogs licensed per 1,000 citizens served:
Fy.
1971/72
Fy. 1973/74
San Diego
County
129.1
147.25
14.0% increase (7.0% per yr.)
San Diego
City
88.3
101.42
14.8% increase (7.4% per yr.)
LA
County
118.7
118.69
0% non veterinary management
LA
City
90.4
72.63
0% non veterinary management
San Diego Veterinarians have always been very cooperative, and in these last few years have both vaccinated and licensed dogs in their hospitals and clinics.
Until March 1, 1986 California state regulations required rabies vaccinations after the dog was 4 months of age and before it was 5 months of age with revaccination every two years. This proved itself very satisfactory during the San Diego rabies outbreak of the 1960's. That was one of the largest documented rabies outbreak in the history of the state. USDA approved labels on Vaccine bottles began recommending vaccination at 3 months of age and revaccination at one year of age, then every three years. The state's position at the time was that by holding off vaccination for an additional month the vast majority of dogs would have an immune system sufficiently mature to be protected for two years, and it was not necessary to require revaccination a few months later, which would be difficult to enforce. Also that the simpler approach would achieve a higher level of protection in the canine population as a whole. This was the "KISS" approach, (keep it simple stupid). Private veterinarians were more concerned with achieving the highest level of immunity in an individual animal, while public health was more concerned with achieving the highest level of immunity in the canine population. In 1986 the system was changed to conform with the labels on vaccine bottles even though this made licensing forms more complicated and confusing. This probably contributed to the decline in the percent of dogs vaccinated and the resulting current decline in the immunity of the canine population as a whole.
Two minor inconveniences occurred with the annual clinics. Because of the large turnout, parking was initially a problem unless the clinics were started ½ hour prior to the advertised time. That kept the length of the line of dogs to a minimum and solved the parking problem.
Having vaccinating and licensing clinics run by separate organizations required separate cashiers. Only cash was accepted for the rabies vaccinations by the veterinary association. Checks or cash were accepted for the more expensive dog licenses. To satisfy both groups and eliminate the added expense for the veterinary association to provide a separate cashier, two clinics were run to explore the benefits of a single cashier. At that time the association received $2.00 per vaccination. The county provided the only cashier accepting cash or checks.
At the end of the clinics used syringes were weighed to determine
the number of vaccines administered. This was
found to be accurate to within plus or minus one syringe. The
veterinarian representing the veterinary association was
given cash with a receipt being given the county. Having both
organizations verify the count provided the association
with a more accurate accounting of cash than was previously possible.
By the time of the subsequent annual clinics,
county animal control was under new management, and this procedure was
never repeated. New management wanted
to do things their way and didn't want responsibility for another
association's cash. They pretty much gave up the
clinics anyway as the result of year around licensing. Clinics declined
from around 380 per year under the County
Veterinarian to 345 in 1975 and 129 by 1987 and continued to decline
thereafter. "Clinics" conducted at private
veterinary facilities, regardless of the fee charged, were not included
in these figures.
Wellness Clinics
In 2000 county animal regulation / control started competing with the
private practice of veterinary medicine by
offering wellness clinics, which included a variety of vaccines in
addition to rabies vaccine and licenses. The contract
cities had become increasingly unhappy with the increasing cost of
animal control services. These clinics were an
attempt to increase revenue, the profits of which would be used to
offset costs to contract cities. Only one such clinic
was held. Other scheduled clinics were canceled by objections
from veterinarians and other local merchants. They
convinced the contract cities not to permit such direct competition by
tax supported animal regulation / control.
In February of 2004, county animal regulation / control under a new
director again decided to use their tax advantage
to compete with private business by offering pet-identification
microchips inserted for $20 at "low cost" rabies
vaccination and licensing clinics. Although the use of the term
"low cost" is often misleading and usually considered
illegal, it is seldom enforced. Isn't it interesting how
government will do anything, i.e., raise taxes, fees, or use its tax
exempt status to compete with private businesses, rather than reducing
operating and overhead costs?
It should be noted that veterinary services or vaccinations other than
against rabies were never included in veterinary
association or departmental clinics under the County
Veterinarian. To have done so was viewed as unfair competition
with the private practice of veterinary medicine, and proved not
necessary for the purpose of licensing dogs.
144,270 - 144,810 Dogs Were Licensed
The success of the licensing program was due to departmental policies,
the cooperation of the San Diego County
Veterinary Medical Association, and the dedication of Milt Solomon, a
person in charge of licensing with extensive
salesmanship ability and experience. On November 1, 1975, just prior to
the establishing of a separate department of
animal regulation / control, combined San Diego City/County Animal
Control had 144,270 dogs with current licenses.
All licenses expired at the end of a calendar year. On November 1stonly
licenses for the following years were issued.
Records as of November 1st showed the highest number of
licensed dogs for that calendar year. Built in momentum of
the licensing program added 540 additional dogs the following year to a
high of 144,810 licensed dogs. Sales of
licenses, (excluding Escondido which was not served under the County
Veterinarian), dropped thereafter to between
138,000 and 139,000 per year. Even after assuming licensing and
animal regulation / control functions for the city of
Escondido, licensing continued to decline down to 125,753 licensed dogs
in 2001, and 126,324 for calendar 2002 in spite of a greatly
increased human population, verses a previous 7.4% average annual
increase under veterinary management. Just a
3% per year increase in licensing since 1976 to keep ahead of the human
population growth would have doubled the
number of dogs licensed in 24 years, i.e. by the year 2000, even
without counting licensed dogs from the city of
Escondido which was not served under the County Veterinarian.
Current licensing should by now be well over
300,000 dogs. Like I said before, "Everyone knows how to
run animal control, especially those who have never done it."
On July 31st., 2003 the cities of Escondido and San Marcos terminated
their animal control contract with the County
of San Diego as too expensive for the service received.
Mandatory Microchipping of Dogs and Cats
Animals that are licensed don't need it. The ones that aren't
won't get it.
In May 2001 Senate Bill 236 was introduced into the California
legislature to make it a crime for owners not to
microchip their dogs and cats. Only 30% of dogs state-wide are
licensed. Increasing the already high licensing fee by
$12 to $40 (the cost of microchipping) would not increase the number of
dogs licensed. That would be a lot of money
to a lot of people who have very little if any discretionary income.
This has a greater potential to reduce the percent of
licensed/identified dogs than it has to increase the number.
This bill would not increase the number of licensed dogs being reclaimed. They already are being reclaimed. The 70% of owners who don't license their dogs, and are the major source of animal control's costs and problems, are already in violation of the law. They would face double fines (one for not licensing, and one for not microchipping), plus high license fees, impound fees, and board fees. They would be less likely to reclaim their dogs.
As for cats, who owns a cat? It is often impossible to tell. Many are strays who have kind hearted caretakers feeding them but deny ownership. Compliance would be much lower than with dog owners.
Because the results of this proposal are uncertain, it should be tried in a local jurisdiction with other jurisdictions and other programs serving as controls. If it could be shown to be the solution the author envisions "-----to rescue tens of thousands of animals and save millions of tax payer dollars on animal shelter operations," there would be no need for state legislation. All animal control agencies would rush to adopt the program. The state mandating such a procedure makes it illegal to be innovative and to try anything that works better.
This bill could be considered a full employment act for veterinarians. Should they choose to endorse such a bill, creating more enforcement responsibilities for animal control agencies, perhaps veterinarians should share this enforcement responsibility by endorsing a provision making it a crime to treat un-microchipped dogs or cats, and require microchipping at the time of treatment. This would reach at least part of the animals not now identifiable.
The bill's author felt the proposal would have to be phased in and modified the bill to include only dogs sold. While this would apply to breeders, it was unclear how it would apply to humane groups who give dogs away in exchange for a voluntary donation. In the population as a whole the majority of dogs are unlicensed and their offspring are generally given away and the requirement would not apply to them.
Microchipping is no
Substitute. Dog License Tags are More Effective. They have
"Collar" ID.
Microchipping has the potential of allowing many animals to be
returned to their owners without ever having to enter
the animal regulatory system. While this is of obvious benefit to the
owner, the disadvantage is that the finder has to
take the animal to a facility with a scanner. This not only requires
transportation and time, but many finders are either
unaware of this possibility or fear being charged an "office call" fee
for the service, and won't do so.
Dog licenses on the other hand can carry a 24 hr. phone number that
anyone can read without any special equiptment, by which a finder
can find out the owners
name and how to contact the person directly, a much simpler system.
Problems with Mandatory Rabies Vaccination of Cats
Indoor cats don't need it, outdoor cats won't get it. That is a little
overstated to make a point. At least the ones that
need it won't get it.
A California State Department of Health Services report (April 22,
1993) advocating mandatory rabies vaccination
and licensing of cats used the following six cases of rabies occurring
in California cats in 1991:
Sacramento County, One rabid barn cat.
Mendocino County: Two rabid stray cats.
One rabid owned cat, bitten by a fox and rabies vaccinated two years
earlier.
Marin County, one rabid feral cat.
Amador County, one rabid stray cat.
Cats get rabies from wildlife, not other cats. Most all cases
involve feral/stray cats.
The "obvious solution" is to mandate rabies vaccination of all stray
and feral cats (the ones that need it), that is, all
unowned cats. Lots of luck tackling that problem. The cats that need it
won't get it. However, mandating rabies
vaccination for cats is a good idea, if the purpose is to increase the
income of veterinarians, which most of them
support.
Problems with Licensing Cats
The reason cats are not licensed is pretty much a financial one. Most
government programs over the long run are not
self-supporting, especially not animal control. Therefore, the net
result of licensing cats to support a cat control
program would not be an increase in the revenue for animal regulation /
control but merely an increase in the deficit
involved in animal regulation / control.
Nevertheless, communities here and there try to develop cat licensing control programs. So far no one has been able to make such a program work. The main problem is that there is no way to fence in a back yard so as to confine a cat. The public is simply unwilling to accept a requirement of caging for outdoor cats. Also methods and equipment developed to catch unlicensed dogs running at large are simply not satisfactory for cats. Cats can be trapped but owners become infuriated when you trap their cats and there is no way to trap only unlicensed cats. Citizens also tend to be terribly sympathetic toward animals, and destroy or steal the traps, or simply turn the animals loose.
Compliance with cat licensing laws has always been more difficult to enforce and much less than with dogs.
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