foreign
[Music]
talking of the Animal Services Board to
to order and if you all would rise and
join me in the Pledge of Allegiance
please
thank you Becky I'm hoping you can help
us determine that we have a quorum yes
Madam chair board member award
present former Enriquez is absent
Barbara Macias is absent or remember
Flores is absent but remember Ellens
I really need you on the microphone for
that please sir
here thank you very much board member
Gandara here board member Sanchez
president chair corn here we do have a
quorum thank you Becky I would entertain
a motion to approve the agenda for today
this is Sanchez so moved
second Gandara it's been moved by
commissioner Sanchez and seconded by
mayor Pro tem Gandara
um any edits or comments
on the agenda okay hearing none uh Becky
if we could approve the agenda board
member Ellen
yes
thank you board member Gandara yes board
member Sanchez yes chair Quran yes thank
you thank you next up I'll entertain a
motion to approve the minutes I'm not
sure if you've had a chance to look over
them I'll give you a minute or two
I'll move approval
it's been moved by commissioner board
member Sanchez
second Gandara
is there are there any amendments or no
things to note in the minutes that you
all saw
none for me okay thank you thank you
hearing none uh Becky if we could go
through the roll call please board
member Ellen
foreign
yes remember Sanchez yes chair Quran yes
um thank you for getting through those
quick because I think we have on the
phone Sarah Kurtz from from doniana
County Humane Society I think
um
yes hello yes thanks for joining us this
morning Sarah
thank you I apologize that I couldn't be
present as planned
I hope you're doing all right thanks for
being happy on the phone
of course I'm definitely feeling feeling
better hanging in there great
go ahead when you're ready I think
Clint's helping you with the with the
slides so um please go ahead
we can see them
I I couldn't be present I had my animal
ugly sweater and everything
[Music]
so we were established in 1955 as the
counties
um as a shelter
um which was then taken over in 2008 to
run by the the county and the city we
continued on as a 501c3 organization and
currently won three Community programs
which helped to run hand in hand with
um with the Animal Services Center of
Mesilla Valley as well our largest
program uh is the animal Relief Fund
this is a voucher uh based program that
issues Veterinary K vouchers for
financially under-resourced residents of
doniana County
whose pets need care they have to
qualify with us through an application
we use the HUD income guidelines
and to qualify they complete our
application they have to submit proof of
income and there is a fifty dollar copay
as well as a photo of their of their
pets in order to help as many people as
possible
clients can almost only qualify with one
pet a year based on the last date of of
service
um we issue three different vouchers
under the animal Relief Fund uh the
most common one being the Veterinary
Care voucher which is good up for to 250
towards Veterinary treatment costs uh
they can also receive a vaccination
voucher that is good for fifty dollars
towards the vaccination costs and then
depending on
the issue that they're having with their
pets they can also qualify for a
long-term medication voucher that is
good for up to 750 dollars in medication
costs over a six-month period we see
this commonly with Doc that have
diabetes or arthritis thyroid issues
allergies
those those types of of issues
qualify for the long-term medication
voucher
currently all the veterinarians in
donana County partner with the Humane
Society for the ARF program
um
it's it's one of the the biggest things
that we do
all right
um animal Relief Fund 2021 2020. so in
our last fiscal year
2021-2022 we issued 569 vouchers
totaling almost 90 thousand dollars in
veterinary assistant
it is continued to grow so far in our
fiscal year for
2022-2023 we have already issued 455
vouchers totaling a little over sixty
one thousand dollars in in our
assistance as of December 1st so we will
definitely surpass this fiscal year what
we did last fiscal year
as far as the Veterinary assistance
through the animal Relief Fund
uh
uh the next program that we do which
goes hand in hand with the Animal
Service Center in the sea Valley and
just recently action programs for
Animals is the rough to ready program
um that is offered to to dogs who are
having difficulty adapting to their new
home after being recently adopted
we pay for our clients to receive two
complementary trainings through our
trainer uh health monstersian
the training can be done in home she can
do them through Zoom Community settings
and the costs are covered by The Humane
Society
the goal of the program is to ensure
that the dogs and the owners have tools
and resources needed so that the dogs
aren't returned to the shelter for not
being able to adapt in in their new home
last fiscal year there was 32
dogs that went through the rough to
ready program just from the Animal
Service Center of the Messiah Valley and
so far as of the month of November there
have been 18. we've had several calls
just in in this month so that will
definitely go up
um in January for the month of of
December
and I believe a few of them already have
been from the home from the holidays
um
adoption partnership that we just did
with the animal service center of the
Mesilla Valley we paid for the first 88
adoptions of this month and that was all
used by the 12th we didn't even get two
weeks into December before the those
were all done so
that is is a wonderful thing and we've
received lots of positive feedback from
the rough to ready program of how from
Hope to to how helpful she was and and
then keeping the pets in their home
instead of taking them back
I love that program
uh then last program that we have that
is exclusively with the Animal Service
Center the Mesilla Valley is our pets
for seniors program we provide a 25
discount for uh residence age of 60
enough who adopt from the Animal Service
Center
um he will send us a monthly reporting
on this program for reimbursement and of
course the goal is to help seniors find
companionship but also to keep pets out
of the shelter and into loving homes
last fiscal year
um
adoptions happened under the pets for
seniors program and so far as of
November uh 24 adoptions have happened
through this program
as well
excuse me
how are we funded the animal Relief Fund
our biggest program is funded through
plant gifts and bequests
um recently Lucinda Foundation has
become a partner with us at grantor the
pets for the elderly Foundation rant as
well as individual donors and private
family foundations
the pets for seniors and rough to ready
funded uh as funded by dots and
individual donors
roughly the rough to ready per pet is
156 dollars per animal and the pets for
seniors is the 25 per adoption
okay
and that's the last slide any any
questions
thank you so much Sarah this is really
really helpful I think to see another
part of the really big network of folks
that are trying to keep pets out of the
shelter addressing Community needs and
and giving us a place to donate also
over the holidays especially for folks
thinking about seniors and I love the
idea of seniors plus pets
um so of course we really appreciate
your presentation and and I don't know
if there are any questions from the
board
board member Ellen's
no okay
um so Sarah thank you so much for
presenting again and thank you you for
all that you all do at docs and and
within our community we look forward to
to the Future
um
for our ongoing Partnerships I hope that
you have a great Christmas holiday
season and the new year and we'll we'll
see you then oh thank you you too happy
holidays to to all of you thank you
again for having me take care bye
all right
thank you next up I think sorry I've
left my agenda behind I think next up is
our our city and county ACL reports so
uh
who I'll let you guys fight it out to
who would like to present first thank
you thank you
good morning Madam chair board members
my name is Brian Hulsey I'm the
caseworker for donana County Animal
Control here to present the November
um
uh County Animal Control
our reported stray animals we had 262
reported stray animals for the month of
November
we had 206 stray animals picked up
the animals that were picked up for the
month of November we had 99 stray cats
and 107 stray dogs
we had three sick or injured animals we
had one cat and two dogs and for the
month of November we had 17 owners
surrendered and all of them were dogs
this is our reported stray animal calls
for the four-year comparison
and for this is our four-year return to
owner comparison that we had for
November we had 30.
our additional animals that we picked up
again we had 17 dogs we had no cats we
had three sick and injured we had four
welfare hold animals again that's if
that counts as something as if a sheriff
unit or border patrol ends up getting
someone and they're going to take him
into custody and they have dogs or cats
in their vehicles we go and pick them up
and do a welfare hold we had one shelter
quarantine we had three home quarantines
we had one Court old case for us for the
county we currently have seven animals
in our live evidence awaiting
court and then we had zero rabies
submissions for the month of November
so this is broken down for the month of
November for how many cats and dogs for
district one
we had zero cats two dogs District Two
we had 44 cats and 21 dogs that one was
pretty high um
for November because we had people
coming in to pick up traps for feral
cats in that district and that's why it
was a little higher this month
um District three we had 19 cats and 27
dogs District Four we had 24 cats and 17
dogs
District Five we had eight cats and four
dogs District Six we had three cats and
14 dogs and District Seven
um and we had one cat and 22 dogs
this is just our month comparison for
the Stray Cats
this is our monthly comparison for the
stray dogs
and then our reasons for owner release
through us we had 11 animals where
people were just unable to care for them
anymore that was pretty high for us in
November usually we don't get that many
for just they weren't able to take care
of them we had three that just had
lifestyle changes that they couldn't
keep the animals we had one that was
vicious we're a livestock attack we had
one that was injured that was also
involved in a cruelty case that we ended
up picking up and then we had one that
was an aggressive animal
and then as requested by the board we
have our changes to our ordinances that
you guys were wanting so this is just a
quick overview of the ordinances changes
we had one for General care and
ownership responsibilities it used to be
under that 134-4 that was repealed we
added the idea of microchipping
requirements that way we could still
cite people under that if they don't
provide microchipping for their dogs
we had
134-6.1 that was for dogs killing
ranging livestock we used to have to do
that under the state statute but since
we're not certified law enforcement that
was a hard thing for us to go through so
now we have it in our ordinances so it's
easier and more streamlined for us to go
through that
um
134-7.4 abandonment prohibited that was
with the TNR program
added to the ordinance to allow for a
reduced number of animals euthanized at
the Animal Service Center in Mesilla
Valley by providing a strict guideline
for trap neuter and return of cats which
are returned by the Animal Service
Center of Messiah Valley
and these were more for Public Safety
and for protection of wildlife around
the river Arroyo's things of that nature
the next one was dogfighting and
cockfighting we added it to our
ordinance to allow more enforcement by
our officers
the next one was a nuisance prohibition
and that was for Public Safety that was
one we added for difficult areas that we
had for officers that they would spend
weeks and weeks going to the same house
same house same house for the same dogs
this is allowance for us to have a
little bit more Public Safety for that
neighborhood to be able to pick up the
dogs and go from there and go through
the court system
um
the next one was another nuisance for
barking or howling we just streamlined
that process and changed it to where it
made it more easier for us to enforce it
the next one was dangerous or
potentially dangerous dogs that was just
a stylistic change
enforcement Authority and process same
thing just stylistic and minor changes
reclamation
we added for Public Safety and to allow
for a follow-up on dangerous dog act
for animals killing and entering
livestock and for the request of the
owner
and then Reclamation
impoundment fees that one again didn't
have very many changes
and I stand for questions
thank you
um
any questions from the board
I have heard from folks I think that you
all of them might be hearing more at
your next County Commission meeting
about uh in particular the river
prohibition and so how that affects the
rate of TNR or not TNR that you all are
facing so
uh but I don't have any questions thank
you but Brian as always please
I think Madam chair and if you I think
one of the discussions we had was around
some of the issues with that and I'm
sure we can probably I think I've
already started getting a couple of
emails so
um The Hope is I guess is people come up
and ask the question there is some
thought behind why that was done and I
know that was part of the discussion we
had with Mary Lou and the team was to
understand why you know that it wasn't
it wasn't just arbitrarily made but you
know hopefully we can work on the
education and seeing if there's you know
if there's something major that was
missed you know that can be brought to
our attention
so but yeah we're definitely starting to
get some discussion on that hopefully
thank you and thank
you oh wait did you sorry go ahead and
Marilyn yes I would just like to add too
that when we did and
um go through and look at the especially
the TNR portion of this ordinance
um trying to incorporate
um allowing TNR and reducing the number
of animals going into the Animal
Services Center that had to be
euthanized and in allowing and
and and going in and providing Public
Safety and constituent services to the
community
incorporating all of those needs to the
public we tried to put all of those
together and see what would work best
especially in county and rural areas
that doesn't always work as it does in
the city setting so we tried to
incorporate that and like you know areas
like where you have the river you have
the bird sanctuaries you have different
types of things and settings like that
um for Public Safety and whatnot those
were all taken into consideration
thank you
thank you I anticipate that that will
mean a higher number of euthanizations
at the shelter as a result of not being
able to return the cats
just so that we know when we see that in
the in the data that that will be one of
the results so
thanks thank you
good morning Madam chair members of the
board
hello good morning
here we go
for the record my name is Gino Jimenez
I'm the animal control supervisor for
the city of Las Cruces and I will
present to you our November numbers for
2020. so we had a total of 530 reported
Strays of those 277 were Goa meaning the
officer had no contact with that animal
we were able to apprehend 205
uh 224 of those were apprehended at the
or impounded I should say at the Animal
Service Center 121 of them were dogs 103
of them were cats we were successful and
filled our touring 29 animals meaning
that those animals never crossed the
threshold of the Animal Service Center
and return to their owners 17 we had uh
17 unsuccessful unsuccessful attempts to
return those animals out in the field so
that gave us a total of 46 identifiable
animals
here is our three-year comparison again
we had 530 Strays bring this to a grand
total of 52.97 for the year and if you
look at the yellow we dipload and come
back up but
across the board that number is
consistent and stays low
here is our three-year field RTO again
uh comparison we had 29 for the month
bringing us to a grand total of
457 for the year
we look at September October and
November historically they all do the
same thing dip down go up and then come
back down and like Clint said in many
meetings ago this is due to the cold
weather that we experience so that
number is always going to dip
here is a graph where our community cap
program
we were able to we captured 73 animals
cats in traps 10 of those were released
in the area where they came from because
they were already earmarked or ear
tipped and had all the requirements for
a community cat so
we have a grand total of 529 that we
were able to capture and 98 of those
were released
reasons for owner releasing animals we
had five for aggression uh five for the
owner could no longer afford three uh
sick and injured one of the injuries the
owner could not afford to take it to the
El Paso vet which is from what they were
told is the only emergency after our vet
right now
um two for dogs fighting each other and
the owner did not did no longer feel
safe with them in the household one for
a bite one for old age a euthanasia
request and one cat for aggression
towards the owner's son
the reasons we were unable to fill our
to 11 there was no contact by phone or
at the residence and one had a El Paso
address
two the owner moved out of town and the
owner asked the brother to meet with
animal control however after an hour
wait we couldn't the officer could no
longer wait anymore and went ahead and
impounded those two dogs
two the owner moved to Germany and never
updated that that information the only
way we found out was through a phone
call
uh one tip was not registered and one
the owner was unable to meet the ACO to
take the dog
with that I will stand for any questions
thank you you're welcome Jenny questions
from the board
no seeing none thank you very much very
good thank you and have a Merry
Christmas
have a great Christmas and holidays
break
all right next up uh Clint please
thank you
Geno just let me know what I won the
ugly sweater contest
sorry it's the way it works
good morning my name is Clint Thacker
the executive director at the Animal
Service Center Mississauga Valley here
to talk to you today about our November
numbers
I would like to again thank Bernice
Navarro for preparing this presentation
for me she is actually gone today and
tomorrow on vacation
so she says she's getting back to me for
the times that I have done it as well to
her I appreciate all the hard work that
she does
and I hope I don't need her today
all right so 2022 the current as of
yesterday population at the center was
428.
as we look at November it's the highest
intake in the past three years
786 animals came into the center
462 cats 300 and I'm sorry 462 dogs 313
cats and 11 others
I fear that we're just going to continue
to see this trend continue to grow
and it may stabilize but as you're going
to see in the next are the slides that
are coming after this of our euthanasia
rates continue to be a little bit higher
because we are we're keeping our
population at a number that we can
control and give good quality of care to
and you'll see that
so the returns or the animals came back
after adoptions dogs there were seven of
them several reasons there and also for
cats there's only two
these animals of course are always given
the opportunities for what donian county
Humane Society presented on we also have
food resources that we can help them out
with
so we always hit them up for those
I want to go back to that just for a
second we do not
whenever an animal is returned we don't
do shaming or anything like that because
we always ask questions because whenever
an animal leaves even if it's for
overnight we get a lot of information
from that individual about the dog and
about the cat and we can put that
information on the dog's profile
separation anxiety or likes to chew any
any of those behavior issues
so it's very nice to have that
information
the diverted intakes 271 and for those
that are watching the first time a
diverted intake is when the front
counter talks to the individual you know
asks why they're here what what do you
need do you want to keep your animal if
the answer is yes then we say what will
it take and we help them out with those
reasons whether it's with the behavior
or if it's food vet care you know we've
done vaccines for a person that can't
afford vaccines it's okay we can help
you out with that we've sent them on to
snap all other reasons and then also
another one is is if they come in to
surrender their animal because they just
don't want it we always ask that you
make contact with other places first
before you come and use the center as
the last resort
so they may stay out in the parking lot
and make those phone calls and come back
in and say okay I called they're all
full then we take the animal or if they
say absolutely not I don't have time for
this I'm just going to go dump it we
take the animal right then so it's not a
mandatory requirement that they make
those calls but it does help because 271
animals were diverted in those cases I
don't care
board member Ellen's please
um
how many uh
dry elsewhere and then come back to see
you
generally speaking that's so what you're
asking is if I understand is how many
come in and then come back and give us
the animal well have you you send them
out to deal with other organizations
they come back and say they have they're
all filled you take the animal back how
frequently does this happen
well I don't have an exact number from
you but I can tell you that owner's
surrender is the third largest intake
type that we have
and so being that third largest it's
over 18 percent of our intake in
November was and you can see that in the
next slide I believe was owner
surrenders
so if you take that and then you look at
271 we're diverted from that you still
see quite a few coming back in
so that's the best answer I can give you
at this time okay thank you thank you
board member else I actually just I
don't know I had I hadn't known of the
home to home network too which I don't
know if it's new or if it's just gotten
on my radar but I'm wondering if you can
talk about that or if you're going to
talk about that later but that's also
something that I think is really
interesting yeah that's one of our
diverted intake methods is we tell them
you need to post on home to home and
what this is is a website where people
can go and look for an animal that other
people need to relocate it's a great
service a great resource to use not only
for shelters but also for somebody
looking for a pet
uh so those are places too yeah
I had never I hadn't seen it before so
it's and I know that you guys have even
have a link to it and everything on your
website so thank you for that okay
thanks
so this is the intake method so as I
said before the first highest percentage
is Strays come in by acos over half of
our total November intake was that next
was Strays by the public so people who
found animals and on those we also asked
them would you be able to hold on to
this animal can you go for a walk around
your neighborhood can you anything to do
to keep the animal out and try to find
the owner and for the most part people
are pretty reasonable about it they say
yeah I can go and let's go for a walk
this afternoon and if I don't find
anything then I'll come back anything to
delay that animal income in coming into
the center for amount of time helps our
population so it's like a managed intake
program that's what it is uh the next
highest is owner surrender at 17 and
then things drop significantly with the
Seas well for hold returns and Wildlife
[Music]
so here's our outcomes we had 18.6
percent where adoptions 11 were reclaims
20 rescued Community cats was almost 19
percent
euthanasia was at 32.6 percent for our
live release rate is 68 and this is the
lowest as you can see in the last two
years for that
our transfers continues to be a great
success we had a really good November of
159 animals that went to rescue special
thank you to the The Big Numbers there
that you see Cruise Crusaders Animal
Humane New Mexico
Halo herding dog rescues the big Network
anything I'm truly trying to see
anything over nine or ten that really
helped us out
and as always a special thank you to the
local ones action program for Animals is
a big one with dogs and cats they take
more of the harder ones that are that
are harder to move the injured the
kittens you know ringworm so we
appreciate how much they do for us as
always as all of our local rescues do
so as I as you remember said we talked
about keeping our population to a level
that we can sustain and have high
quality of care for so we are
euthanizing for medical science
as you see there the respiratory signs
for cats is the fixed one that's a URI
or upper respiratory infection is the
main reason
and then the biggest reason for dogs is
parvo and a lot of those are or most of
them are coming from the public we'll
get a litter of puppies that come in and
the next day they just they blow with
parvo uh in other words they show
clinical signs of parvo and we do our
best to treat with fluids as you know
Parvo is one that's highly contagious
and it's also it's hard to treat in an
area that doesn't have the room like we
don't
so we are we do our best you know we
might have some out in Fosters that we
can work really well with but other than
that we do have to euthanize those
animals those dogs could come in through
parvo
Madam chair
board member Ellen's police when the new
Center opens you're going to use this
building for medical purposes primarily
how will this affect your ability to
treat parvo
so you're going to be segregating these
animals from the general population
which we
sort of do now but it's risky
the so the old Center will be the
medical facility for the ascmv currently
how it stands right now though is it's
still large Kennels
uh and so you can't having parvo in a
large kennel is really bad because it's
passed through the feces or it's a
really high highly contagious virus so
you don't want to put animals with
non-parval animals in a kennel so if we
were to put animals in a kennel by
kennel I mean the large rooms that we
have full of Kennels
so that would just spread parvo
throughout the entire large kennel
so the redesign of the of the center
tackles that with individual treatment
rooms that we put in
and so that's really what we want as
individual rooms that we could put
animals that are under that highly
contagious treatment
that we can look for so while yes it
will be our medical facility for the
time being it's still considered a large
shelter that's not adequate for treating
animals correctly and that's what the
remodel would address are those items
does that ask your question
so the fact that this is a medical
building has minimal consequence
I wouldn't say minimal I mean we would
be able to house animals like if you see
the number one treatment or the number
one reason for euthanasia is
non-treatment or respiratory signs for
cats this will give us more room that
maybe we can hold on to those animals
that have non-treatment to treat them
and same thing possibly with the parvo
that it's a non-treatment there is the
highest reason maybe it would give us
some room where we can treat something
like that but with URI for cats and
parvo for dogs it's highly contagious
and it's a hard one to treat
what's your success ratio in treating
and curing parvo
when we actually have the room like back
in 2020 we had quite a bit of room where
we could sanction off like kennels on
each side and we could treat the parvo
it was fairly good
I mean we had a high success rate the
the thing with Parable is it has to take
its course
so you just you pump fluids into the
animal so they don't get dehydrated
that's usually how they die is from
dehydration
because they get severe diarrhea and
they lose all their fluids
so that is
that's the best way that we have to do
it with what we have but I would say
that back then we were doing it was
fairly good
thank you
thank you any other questions
no Okay police is gone
our surgery team continues to do amazing
work trap neuter returns they did 143
surgeries adoptions was 93 shelter
Foster 11 surgeries and then other is 89
other could be anything but the three
you see there so go in if there's a
complication they can fix it if there's
an amputation they can fix it I mean any
anything other than TNR adoption and
shelter Foster animals but in the month
of November 336 a year today over 4 000
surgeries are occurring in that little
room so that is amazing
our visitors kind of leveled out at 1
674 for November
now this next one I believe is the
Facebook one oh this isn't my
appointment okay
so uh we continue to have great success
with animals by appointment if you see
this here that uh 54 of the appointments
made ended in adoption it's still our
best way to have people come in our
highest most effective way
to do an adoption is by appointment
and it's pretty steady there in in the
50s and 60s the walk-ins continue to be
an up-down adventure and so people are
just coming in and walking through so we
do the total number of groups not
individuals because there might be a
husband and wife or a boyfriend
girlfriend just or a family of six that
come in so we just do groups 321 groups
came in and ended up with 59 adoptions
from that so 18.4 percent
rscme volunteers continue to do amazing
work they gave us 645 hours
most of these are from walk days that
they do they just come in and they walk
all the available animals in the center
the cat care team comes and they help
clean cats so it's it's they just do
amazing work things that would never
occur without our volunteers and we
appreciate them very much
here's our web page our web page views
36 339 again I say it every time but
just in case you're watching for the
first time web page views is the views
of the web pages not original hits on
the web page so if you look at a dog
that's one you go back to the original
page just look at another dog that's two
and you click on another dog that's
three so
um
thirty six thousand three hundred thirty
nine
here's the Facebook views
uh it shot up more than we've ever had
twice as much as it was in October
October we were really excited we we
felt like if you remember the
firefighter calendar may have had
something to do with that but in
November we the only thing we can think
of is is that that's when we did the
dinner for the firefighter we were doing
a lot of posts for that calendar and it
got shared a lot
also we had our
announced our drive-through clinic and
so people could have been coming for
more information from that and then we
had to cancel our drive-through Clinic
due to the high number of covid cases at
the center
where people were just out and we did
not it takes so much to do those clinics
and we were not able to to have that so
we canceled it and that
that's the only thing we could really
think of with the 11
595 Facebook views that's phenomenal
so we'd like to continue to maybe we
should do a firefighter calendar every
single month
actually we did right maybe we could
post the picture that month
for that I still get comments on that
calendar and how great it was
um
so we appreciate the iaf and all of
their support for that
and that is my presentation we have
Penelope and Bernie that are here
available for adoption I do want to do
or just highlight one fun program we
have going right now and that is we call
it home for the holidays so you can come
and get an animal from us
and just do sleepover and then bring it
back on the 26th so this does several
things for us one it gets an animal out
of the center so we're able to euthanize
less animals for the animals that are
coming in and it gets the animal
de-stressed and we're able to find out a
lot about that animal in those four days
do you know do they walk well on a leash
do they they like to chewed are they a
runner do they like to exercise with you
or in cats cases do they just lay around
and sleep or are they active
so if you're interested in having a many
people are treating it like as a an
adoption period
or an adoption tryout kind of thing and
that's perfectly fine we talked about it
we're like if that's because we do it
because it's still serving the same
purposes
for the program so we're excited for
that program today is the day you need
to come and get them so if you want to
move forward and try out a dog or a cat
you need to make contact with our foster
coordinator Vanessa today she's on the
website and also on Facebook or just
call the center and say I want some more
information on the holiday sleepover so
any questions any questions
board member Sanchez please thank you
madam chair uh Clint and I know this is
probably not the most important question
but what were the two others
from dogs and cats that were on the uh
in on the shelter count
uh probably guinea pigs is what I'm
going to say because I don't have it
right in front of me but we we've got a
lot of guinea pigs in November and I
think it's because
they were they looked fun
when first got them and then they
discovered how much work they are and
that they're nocturnal there's another
big one so we get a lot of of those uh
there are another ones that we commonly
get are chickens and we also get
hamsters a lot too
okay that just like you said it's not
very often we get the in the other
category so I'm always curious as to
what came in and I think especially
after we had that one snake that uh
made its way through the center just
curious so thank you for that yeah
thank you I find it a little when I go
to Petco and I see that they're selling
guinea pigs I I feel a little like oh
I make a face but you know and if I see
children looking at them I'm like you
know there's a shelter we have guinea
pigs there at the shelter you could I
try to intervene you know another one
like a crazy person years ago early
2000s with sugar gliders I was working
at a center in Utah we just got tons of
sugar gliders and that's people thought
they were really neat and they saw fun
videos online but they are so nocturnal
and they make funny noises and they're
so active at night that we were just
getting them by by 10 15 a month they
were coming in so yeah it's a fad it's a
thing that happens
you know uh
in high school my high school job was
working at PetSmart and it was
interesting because the corporate policy
at the time for PetSmart was that they
wouldn't sell any
furry animals so or or Lizards so it was
like dogs and cats were all going to be
working with local animal rescues and
having adoptions and they just sold
birds and fish and that was it and the
intent was is exactly that is that too
often you know kids come in people come
in see the cute little furry animal and
buy them and then turn them in because
they don't realize the amount of work
and it's just interesting because I know
obviously at some point in in the in the
in the 25 years since I worked at
PetSmart that that has changed you know
they went they went full circle you go
to PetSmart Petco you'll find everything
there now including reptiles small furry
animals Etc so I don't know what changed
but I thought it was interesting because
I thought that was a good corporate
policy to kind of minimize the amount of
animals that can be brought in you know
that are purchased then end up you know
with they into the into the shelters but
I just wanted to share that I thought it
was interesting that that corporate
policy changed but there was very they
were very specific when when I was an
employee either that they would not get
involved in the OR with the sale of
those we'd sell plenty of supplies for
them but not
the actual animals themselves so thank
you for allowing me to share Madam chair
I just want to be clear we're not trying
to rag on or a Petco on PetSmart I they
support us especially the local ones
here amazing fifty thousand dollars we
got from Petco and a grant then PetSmart
does they've given us thousands and
thousands of dollars so
um I understand and I agree with you
that that was the policy then and that
it was a good policy
so yeah they still support us really
well yeah
board member Ward did you have a
question yeah can you go back to the the
percentages slide
uh which one intake or outcome I think
it's right that one right there when you
go into
the Seas welfare hold
is that by quarantines
um I would probably say no
because seized animals and Welfare holds
are are two very distinct categories
okay all right that was just a question
I had thank you
thank you any other questions
hearing none thank you Clint thank you
all right next up
um committee reports and we'll have to
make a note Eric uh assistant city
manager and I guess has retired so um we
will we will make a note and figure out
how that fits into our jpa and who will
follow up on that from now on but I
think there is a presentation so good
morning
good morning Madam chair members of the
board my name is Josh saffell and on
behalf of the finance department of the
city of Las Cruces I would like to
present the unaudited financials as of
November 30th 2022.
our first paychecker is the statement of
net position for the general fund we see
cash of 875 405 dollars and the
receivables of a hundred and thirty two
thousand eight hundred and eighteen
which gave us total assets of one
million eight thousand two hundred and
twenty three dollars
we had liabilities of a hundred and
fourteen thousand five hundred and sixty
three dollars and revenue collected in
advance of 249 280 so this left us an
unassigned fund balance in the general
fund of six hundred forty four thousand
three hundred and eighty dollars
moving on to our change in net position
we see total revenues for the period are
one million eight hundred forty nine
thousand six hundred and twenty
excuse me 628 dollars and total
expenditures for the period are one
million four hundred ninety eight
thousand one hundred and seventy two
dollars then after a transfer out of
eight thousand seven hundred fifty
dollars we see a net change to the fund
balance of three hundred forty two
thousand seven hundred and six dollars
looking at our budget to actual for the
change in net position the total
revenues of 1.8 million are at 44.6
percent and the total expenditures of
1.5 million are at 34.9 percent I want
to point out I do apologize
um I just was reviewing this this
morning after it had already been
uploaded and that budget parameter
number should be 41.7 percent not 33.3 I
apologize for not having caught that
sooner
so looking at revenues and expenditures
per month we see that this month the
expenditures were slightly more than the
revenues and so that would explain the
that there was a slight drop in our fund
balance for this month
looking at our total expenditures again
the amount of expenditures were one
million four hundred ninety eight
thousand one hundred and seventy two
dollars of that amount 54 percent was
salaries 19 was benefits
16 was in Services five percent was in
supplies three percent insurance and
then one percent in other one percent in
temporary services and then point nine
percent in capital and point five
percent in repairs and maintenance
manager
board member Ellens uh refresh my
recollection what this Services include
Services includes again things such as
things that are provided to the center
again that would not be like a supply or
anything else so Services would be such
as telephone services things of that
nature even the administrative fee
charge to the service by the city all
those things go into that if you want a
more detailed breakdown I can provide it
next time if you would like no it's okay
okay
thank you
thank you Josh
and so that will conclude my
presentation if there are any questions
I Stand For That
any other questions
no hearing none thank you
happy holidays
next up the executive committee uh we
met on December 6th I believe Clint and
I for the executive committee meeting we
talked about what the including the two
resolutions you're about to hear about
um
the plans for preparing sort of
budget related things for the upcoming
year I think sort of making a plan for
how we're going how
Clint and the team are planning for
those things and how we're going to
present them and and making sure that
those are on track for a presentation
early in the new year and we also talked
briefly about the holiday party which I
think you all received to note about so
I think that's it any any other things
that I'm missing all right that's it for
the executive committee for facilities
mayor Burton
I was super sick during the day during
that week like for 14 15 days so we
didn't meet
um but we did get a presentation when I
say we city council
um they presented on the Geo bond status
for each of the
for each of the projects and gave an
update and so if I recall things are
moving along and still having issues
with the kennels and whatever but I
think there
[Music]
um
um pretty close to I thought 90
something percent complete
um and so I'll look to Clint to give any
updates thank you very much
uh
so there was a article that went out on
in the bulletin stating that we're going
to be open to the public on the 27th
so we have contacted the bulletin they
will be making a correction that
actually came from an interview I did in
October and I told them the completion
date was the 27th which at the time it
was it wasn't until I think it was late
November early early December where the
contractor moved the substantial
completion date to the 31st of December
how it got confused that it's going to
be open to the public on the day we get
it I'm not sure but anyways the the we
appreciate all the Bolton does for us it
was just a mix-up of information
so we are not open on the 27th to the
public nor will be will be open on the
31st to the public it's a reminder that
this is a city building so the city will
be scheduling and handling the ribbon
cutting uh the you know the grand
opening times
so it's still planned that we'll get the
building on the 31st so on Monday they
were finally after a lot of bugging
we're able to get the gas meter
installed that made us so they were able
to turn the heat on and start doing the
tests and balances so now when you go in
there it's nice and toasty and we got
um
everything completed on that and then
yesterday they had the fire marshal come
in and do the inspection which they
passed with no issues and so we're
excited for that we're just one good
step after another now with the holiday
uh with Christmas holiday coming up
there's a lot of people that are gone on
vacation so their tests and balance
people are and that's testing and
balancing the airflow of so you don't
want negative pressure all that you know
that they do so
they can't come in until the 28th of
December as soon as they can get a tech
out there so they'll be out on the 28th
to complete that process once they're in
and gone then we can install Furniture
the furniture is in El Paso it's waiting
for the go-ahead and I if I remember
correctly we are going to have it
delivered into the garage or the sally
port area
so when the test and balance is done
then we can install it the reason why we
don't want to do it now is test and
balance requires a lot of ladders and
room that you need to make to access the
airflow
so we don't want them walking on
countertops or table tops using chairs
things like that
and that was per the contractor's advice
to do this so
that's why the it's going to be a little
bit delayed
but they're saying 95 completed
yesterday we walked through and did the
final punch list or checklist of the
interior and on Wednesday the 28th we're
going to be doing the exterior punch
lists
uh the building is beautiful we already
have people coming up to it and knocking
on Windows you know needing needing
something from their animals so people
are excited for it to be open as well
and we're looking forward to it we are
actually having our we got special
permission from the contractor to have
our end of year party for the employees
in the new building
so this will be the first time for some
of them
to see the center see where they're
going to be working processes the new
things that are in there and it's just a
great opportunity for them to be there
so we're excited for it
um I do want to make a note on
financials you'll continue to see that
Financial going up as we are making some
major purchases for the new center I
know we have at least Thirty one
thousand dollars in computers that was
just done I approved the request earlier
this week and then we have phones that I
also approved of and that's I think
that's around five thousand dollars
um and just so just large items we have
vet tables we need to purchase exam
tables we have shelving
all these things that we've been on hold
for we're now making purchases for so
you might see that increase we're going
to take assistant city manager Enriquez
former retired after that his word that
the city would be able to help us out
when we look at that and when we start
making the purchases and we look at our
Trend and everything for meeting budget
that the city will be able to help us
out and possibly something from the
county as well but I expect that we will
need some help because of the funds that
we're expending for that how much that
is at this point I don't know but we are
keeping that in mind we're trying to be
as Thrift as we can but we don't want to
put subpar items in the center
you know a stainless steel exam table is
eleven hundred dollars
and we're gonna need three of them so
it's it's that kind of stuff that we're
looking at that isn't cheap that we want
to lust
so but that's all I have for that thank
you
thank you any questions I'm here go
ahead board member Ellens
we've always had a problem getting cat
cages
is that still a problem
uh cat cages or cat traps or no the
cages I thought we were always
behind an installation because
they manufacture couldn't deliver yes
and so there's I'm sorry that's one
thing I forgot to mention so while we're
going to be getting the center on the
31st and there might be a ribbon cutting
in January we the puppy cages that are
in the dog pods are not available
uh the
um the dog kennels and all the dog pods
are expected in March or back ordered
until March and then the cat towers that
are inside the main building
they will not be available until March
as well
so you've really answered the question
that I was going to follow up with is
When Willy animals be moved
well we can still do quite a bit with
cats we have if you remember the design
of the center the middle of the building
is where the cat towers go but we have
along both sides of the center are the
cat rooms so it's a possibility that we
could put cats in those areas
and we can also do adoptions out but
then you start thinking well are we
going to send people up to walk through
a parking lot you know all the way up to
the old Center to walk through the dogs
that are available do we just keep
operations there at the old Center and
wait for those items to come
we might be doing animal intake from the
Animal Control Officers through the
sally port and then move the animals
back up to the old one so there's a lot
of of ifs and things that we need to
talk about with the managers and make
that decision
when he said some of the cages I think
puppy cages wouldn't be available until
March correct so you wouldn't see any
transport
until then
transporter well transported the animals
from one building to the other
yeah we would have to wait until the
puppy cages come in to put them into the
into the new center
yeah okay
all right thank you any other questions
thank you
all right hearing none thank you thank
you
next moving on to the action items for
today resolution
2022-10 reasonable notice for the
meetings for 2023 per our jpa we must
communicate this at the beginning of the
year and set up these our planned
meeting times
for the following year
um
so hopefully you've had a chance to look
over those I would entertain a motion to
to approve so moved second
thank you it's been moved and seconded
uh any discussion
and I would note this is in with our
existing jpa I do think that the jpa
conversations are ongoing so that may
that may be something that shifts
slightly in the future but for the
moment
um
hearing no further discussion I would uh
ask Becky if you could call the
vote please board member Ellen yes board
member Gandara yes former Sanchez yes
chair Quran yes thank you
next up is uh resolution 2022-11
adoption of the holiday closure schedule
um that's that's also in your packet so
um
I would entertain a motion so moved
second moved by board member ellenson
seconded by board member Sanchez any
discussion
hearing none Becky please board member
Allens yes former magandra yes former
Sanchez yes chair Quran
yes thank you thank you
okay next up is public input I will
start as we do on the left and go back
if they're Tina no
okay I'll start over here looking for
public input any public input on the
right
seeing none last call for anyone who
wants to speak
okay hearing none
next up are the chair and board comments
I I will start to actually I would just
like to thank you all for your for your
efforts this year acos ascmv staff and
and Leadership
it's been a I know it's been a really
difficult year and I hope that my
colleagues will Express we'll we'll read
through the the note about the holiday
party and and consider that thank you
for the presentations today I appreciate
this this time and then I just want to
have one brief moment I'm going to take
a little chair's privilege to thank
board member Ellen's we know that you're
off and and we got you a little
something for to appreciate all that
you've done for for the board and really
specifically for the animals in the
county I know that you ask questions
that make us all think and and you have
helped to move a number of animal
related causes through the years and so
uh
we just want to share this with you and
give give you our gratitude for the time
that you've spent here with us so it's a
very uh
Jermaine gift
[Applause]
so thank you we really appreciate you
it's a Chihuahua for you to to drink
that's usually it's plaque but this is
much more satisfying considerably more
more practical I think I debated giving
you a real Chihuahua which would also
fit in that bag but I think I just want
to say that it's been my
great pleasure to have been on this
board for four years
I consider it one of the most important
no actually the most important board
aside from the commission
that I sit on
and by my account I have missed only one
meeting and that was
last month because of a doctor's
appointment but
um
I'll be moving to Colorado
next year to be with my family
and I have to find something to do
and I will probably look for something
that's animal related to do
because I've really
gotten immersed in the culture
and the
the needs
that the community has
been more important the needs that the
animals have
and I want to thank everybody on this
board it's been a pleasure to work with
you
and you too
so I'm out of here thank you
thank you sir we really appreciate you
and I hope that you do find some some
exciting volunteer opportunities or or
advocacy opportunities in Colorado
Okay placement so I'm sure he'll steer
me somewhere
that's great thank you thank you very
much
any further comments from the from the
board
please board member Gandara thank you
chair Karen
um yes thank you commissioner Ellens for
your service
[Music]
um
here on the board but also in for the
county it's much appreciated I always
appreciate you and your comments
um
and I'd like to thank Clint and staff
for their work to include our acos and
all that you do with such um
diff just a difficult thing to to be
doing especially now we've seen
increases and different kinds of things
due to the pandemic and
and
it's hard I'm sure especially to have
the direct service so I just want to say
I thank you and thank the board for all
that you do as well thank you
thank you board member Canada please
support member Sanchez thank you madam
chairman and commissioner Owens I know
this is I know we said goodbye on our
last County Commission meeting but I
know this will be our last meeting
together and so I want to say again
thank you for
allowing me to observe watch for these
past for me it's been you know almost
almost four years
but you know what you with you sharing
with you I think has been brought up the
points of view you bring to each meeting
are it's appreciated because it
definitely can bring up different areas
or a point of view that I may not have
considered so I appreciate it and so I
wish you the best of luck in Colorado
and I know that Clint you send
I think we send some animals up to
Colorado so perhaps that might be
another Avenue to participate in and
both to the city Geno
and to our County staff our acos thank
you for everything that you do I know
it's been kind of a
productive year with the update of
our animal ordinances there's been a lot
going on and so we thank you every year
I know you guys have been stressed with
and stretched stressed stretched
everything trying to serve the public
and so
as a elected official thank you for all
that you do for the communities here in
Las Cruces as well as donana County and
to Clint to your staff
thank you
and it's much appreciated I know we had
a conversation about the numbers you're
seeing at the Animal Service Center I
mean they've been huge numbers it's been
a trying time I know it's not easy to
have the euthanasia rates as they are
but your staff perseveres tries to find
ways to save as many animals you can
working with the rescues and all the
community members to try to find a way
to save every animal so thank you for
all that you do
and Josh for you and the and the rest of
the the financial staff
Amaze you know I think you guys do an
amazing job each and every month each
and every year trying to keep up with
everything and so thank you all for all
the efforts to make sure the Animal
Service Center and the board have all
the information we need to be educated
uh every at every meeting so thank you
all again and to my board members Merry
Christmas or to everybody Merry
Christmas and have a happy holiday
thank you very much any other comments
from the board
hearing none thank you I would entertain
a motion to adjourn two moved second
all right I'm often seconded Becky
please
remember Ellen yes
yes former Sanchez yes chair Quran yes
thank you we are adjourned thank you
happy holidays
thank you