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Questions and Answers from the February 7, 2022, Animal Services Strategic Planning Community Meeting

1) Does CCAS spay/neuter prior to adopters taking possession of animals?

PetFix is the local spay/neuter clinic that performs surgeries on our adopted animals. They are associated with the Humane Society of Greater Savannah. CCAS has been providing spay/neuter vouchers upon adoption. Recently PetFix added a 2nd veterinarian to their staff increasing surgical capacity. This will allow CCAS to modify its practices and ensure that all animals adopted from the shelter are altered prior to going to their new home. We are also working with the owners of previously adopted animals to schedule spay/neuter appointments.

2) Recordkeeping of citizen's calls into CCAS and the corresponding ACO visits to addresses in question as well as follow ups to specific cases has been a problem for residents for years trying to follow up on particular cases/animals especially with addresses with repeat situations.
Is CCAS now keeping a record database to track calls and cases? Is it in electronic format? If not, when will it be?

CCAS currently uses ARS through the Savannah Police Department for call reporting. This is the same system used by law enforcement officers (LEO). Over the next 3 months, we will be moving to PetPoint for our record keeping system.
However, CCAS does not report back to the caller the outcome of the interaction, decisions, or investigations. Many cases are passed along to local law enforcement units for further investigation. Persons interested in obtaining CCAS reports can request them via an open records request.

3) What are CCAS specific strategic goals for the next 1 to 5 years? What performance metrics will CCAS be incorporating into the Annual Budget process?

CCAS is developing strategic goals based on the results of the outreach meetings such as the one we held on February 7, 2022. We plan on holding additional meetings over the next few months.
One of our on-going goals has been to decrease euthanasia rates at the shelter. We track intake of animals, reasons for intake, and all outcomes. To accomplish this goal, we work with rescue groups and have enhanced our adoption efforts by adding additional staff.

4) What continuing professional education is planned for ACOs this year?

  • New officers attend National Animal Control Association (NACA) ACO1 training.
  • Existing officers attend Animal Law Conference in Atlanta in the fall
  • Other training is scheduled as staffing allows.

5) What training does a new ACO go through? Does it include Georgia state code education?

  • New officers undergo a 4-6 week ride along training and start NACA certification.
  • They are given state codes and discuss them while training, but we require LEO from local police departments for enforcement of those codes.

6) Has CCAS formalized a TNR program?

CCAS has a shelter diversion program. We do not intake healthy stray cats. Complaints about cats are received and evaluated by staff. Most complaints are resolved by diverting the cats to Petfix for TNVR. The caretakers of the cats receive vouchers to cover the cost of the surgery and rabies vaccination.

7) Has CCAS used its Pet Point software to identify where most strays are picked up?

CCAS can track intakes by address and this allows us to focus patrols as well as work with local rescues to help citizens that may need assistance.

8) Does CCAS have any Community Education programs such as elementary school or high school field trips or school visits?

  • Pre-Covid, CCSA officers would visit schools for job fairs/awareness events.
  • As Covid restrictions relax, we hope to be able to pursue more formal involvement.
  • CCAS routinely has booths at local animal welfare events.

9) Has CCAS had a Best Friends Shelter Assessment done? If not, why? If so, what were the results and what is the timeline to clear all deficiencies?

CCAS has not had a Best Friends Shelter Assessment done. We worked very closely with Best Friends in instituting the shelter diversion program for cats, which they funded, initially. Our staff was trained by their cat program specialists with regular training meetings. We follow many of their best practices.

10) Does CCAS offer discounted microchipping and vaccine clinics?

Pre-Covid, we tried to have at least 2 clinics a year. We are working on restarting these by focusing on those areas where we see higher intake numbers.