09-05-18 Personnel and Finance (#6)

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CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK on improving fast tracking our animals even more. As I touched on the space constraints,we are a very small facility and the number of animals we push through there on an annual basis is overwhelming at times. For example, last Tuesday we took in thirty-three (33) animals in one (1) day. I have eighteen (18) bank cages for cats and approximately fifty (50) kennels in the shelter itself. Doubling up animals, it can get tight in there at times. So the other challenges are holding those costs steady as we are moving animals in and out, whether it is adoptions or moving them out to rescues and things. Offering online licensing is another thing and we look forward to streamlining that so it is very easy for residents. With the new ordinance, one (1) of the major changes is the licensing structure. Because of the old structure in the old ordinance, we couldn't offer online licensing because it was so complicated. There was no online licensing software that could handle the structure of the ordinance. So we are streamlining that,making it a little bit easier and less expensive for animal owners to come into compliance. Councilmember Oliver Davis asked, What led to the rise in adoptions? Ms. Goebel replied, Some of the things I implemented when I took over, we had a volunteer photographer coming in. I actually dedicated a photography studio. We definitely increased our social media presence. When I took over in 2016 we were at about 4,000 likes on Facebook and are well over 11,000 now. So we have a bigger social media footprint and that was the biggest thing. Also,just getting out there and getting into the community so people knew about us. That is one (1) of the challenges we face too is that everybody knows about the Humane Society and then when people think of Animal Care and Control they just think of a dog pound.Half the people don't even realize that we give animals up for adoption. Councilmember Davis followed up,And you said there were twenty-nine (29) collected last week or something? Ms. Goebel replied, We had thirty-three (33) animals that we took in throughout just one (1) day. Councilmember Davis then asked, What is causing that to happen? Ms. Goebel replied, That, I'm not sure. I'd like to say some of it is the increase in enforcement for the month of August. We increased by eighty-three (83) animals compared to August 2017. That is about a thirty percent (30%) increase. Of the three hundred (300) animals that we took in, cats and dogs, seventy-eight (78) of them were owner-surrendered. Some owners can't house their animals, they are moving or they are simply tired of dealing with us. So it is kind of a mixture. One (1) of the things too is surrenders tend to increase right before people go back to school or they leave for college. We see a lot of intake from that, too. It is really a culmination of things, honestly. Councilmember Scott asked, How many volunteers are you using at the shelter right now? Ms. Goebel replied, We average between two hundred (200) and two hundred thirty (230) hours per month as far as our volunteer hours. During the school season we work with Notre Dame and we have a wonderful volunteer that kind of oversees a lot of the Notre Dame students while they are in school. They do some fostering for us for our kittens. We have approximately forty to fifty (40— 50) kittens in foster care right now. Overall, I would say we probably have a strong core of about ten to fifteen(10— 15)volunteers.That is one(1)of the changes for next year.A side project EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 1227 W.Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 466011p 574.235.92211f 574.235.91731TM 574.235.55671 www.southbendin.gov 9