In spite of the “secret” huddling of some city county councilors with a small representation from the animal welfare community with/and at the Humane Society of Indianapolis to express to city officials their displeasure for Administrator Doug Rae (see preceding post), …improvements continue at the city shelter.
What are some of the improvements?
• Negative signage at the front entrance and lobby has been removed
• Volunteer hours have been extended to 7AM – 10PM / 7 days a week
• Improved cleaning and sanitation protocols have been instituted
• Isolation areas are established: 27 cat isolation cages and 10 dog isolation cages (at no expense to the taxpayer)
• Replacement of 30 missing stainless steel cat cage doors (at no expense to the tax payer)
• New management team in place
• Evening shift of kennel staff added for extended hours, 7 AM – 12 MN
• Volunteer veterinary medical personnel have been welcomed
• Friendly, bully-breed dogs are no longer automatically killed
• Adoptions are up 267 from this time last year 1,492 (09) vs 1225 (08)
• Deaths down by 1312
• Field response times improved
• Animal control officers have responded to 11 percent more calls so far this year than they did in the same period last year
• Enrollment in the mayor’s six sigma program to improve response times even more.
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Indianapolis STAR August 13, 2009
Residents and officials worried that eliminating dogcatchers has hurt animal control service might take some comfort from numbers released at a city shelter meeting Wednesday.
Operations manager Lt. Jerry Bippus said animal control officers have responded to 11 percent more calls so far this year than they did in the same period last year despite the fact that incoming shelter director Douglas Rae cut two of the 21 officer positions there.
In the first seven months of last year, officers answered 19,968 calls, Bippus said. In the first seven months of this year, they responded to 22,191. Rae said the shelter is using workers’ time more efficiently.
Rae was placed on probation last week. Acting Public Safety Director Mark Renner declined to comment on the move but said one of his concerns was Rae’s decision to cut animal control officers.
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Why are Animal Care/Control Officers (ACO’s) who risk their lives dailey, referred to by the STAR as “dog catchers?”
Would progress expect an absence of resistance (ie: “secret” meetings / media-reporting snippets) moving through the status quo?
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