Morro Bay aligns with county ordinance but wrestles with calls for longer stray animal holding periods and ‘No Kill’ shelter goals
The Morro Bay City Council was expected to adopt the county’s new animal control ordinance at its April 22 meeting, but will not require an extension of the waiting period for stray pets before being available for adoption or death.
The City Council was to vote on adopting the county’s ordinance (Title 9 of the County Codes) at a previous meeting, and got a presentation from the county’s Director of Animal Services Dr. Eric Anderson. But citizens had lobbied the council before that meeting, asking for changes to the contract, including an extension of the wait period from three days to seven days.
The council instructed the police chief, who administers the contract for the city, to change the city’s ordinance (Title 7 of the Muni Code), to reflect the added grace period for strays found in Morro Bay.
Despite a motion to that effect being made, the Interim City Attorney Rob Schultz said the City Council can’t make changes to the County Codes, so they flipped back but asked for more information.
Police Chief Amy Watkins’ April 22 report said she, City Manager Yvonne Kimball, and Schultz met with Anderson about the issue.
“Animal Services maintains Title 9 of the County Code has been adopted by the Board of Supervisors after staff and legal review of the code,” Watkins said. “The code is in line with state law and industries’ best practices. Title 9 of the County Code cannot be changed without direction from County Board of Supervisors. Further, a city municipal code is unenforceable with County Animal Services.”
Taking it a step further, Kimball reportedly met with other city managers to argue the City Council’s position, but Watkins said “five of the seven cities have adopted Title 9 of the County Code with no similar issues or concerns regarding the holding period. Since this is a regional agreement, city managers were concerned that a longer holding period would increase costs for all cities.”
Watkins explained that Schultz concluded that “the main concern being the legal liability if the City of Morro Bay chose to adopt a substantively different holding period from the County Code.”
The City pays the county some $60,000 a year for a specific list of animal regulation services. The county uses a certain formula when determining how much each contracted city must pay for its services, based on how much the town uses the services.
Simply put, the more animal control calls they get from a town, the more they charge. Morro Bay’s contract is paid out of the Police Department’s budget.
Still, the city has said doing things this way is much cheaper than trying to enforce animal control laws themselves. Moreover, the County DAS also deals with livestock issues, including horses and exotic wild animals that some people illegally try to keep as pets.
So what is a holding period? Under the County Code, for an animal picked up as a stray with identification, the county must contact the apparent owner within 24 hours. The person then has three days to come get the pet or it can be adopted out to someone else, or put down.
Under Section 9.04.010, Euthanasia of animals, “(a) Any impounded animal which, upon the conclusion of its holding period, has not been redeemed by its owner or which has not been adopted may be humanely euthanized by the division in its discretion.”
This provision is what local animal welfare groups and activists have been trying to change for many years, seeking to turn the county’s Animal Shelter into a “no kill” shelter, meaning that none of the animals would be put down unless it’s vicious or diseased.
Volunteers at the Animal Shelter work hard with impounded animals to make them adoptable for new owners. That includes shots, medical treatment if needed, and mandatory spay/neutering. They also get micro-chipped before being adopted out for a fee.
If readers are interested in possibly adopting a shelter animal, they can see photos and descriptions of every animal — dogs, cats, and more — currently housed at the shelter, visit 24petconnect.com/SLOCAdopt
