Central Missouri Humane Society

Board of Directors Open Meeting

June 27, 2005

Minutes

1. Call to order by Connie at 6:01

2. Board members present: Chris Bouchard, Tiffany McBee, Connie Sullivan, Dale Roberts, Zim Schwartze, Rhonda Carlson, Denny O’Brien, John Lane, and John Howe

3. Board members absent: Darren Hellwege,

4. Staff members present: Jason Ramsey, Julie Aber, Shannon de Leon, Lauren Kintz, Dr. McCoy, Laura Sullivan, Erin Smith, Kim Livengood

5. Approval of May, 2005 meeting minutes; moved to accept Rhonda, second John Howe, approved.

6. Approval of agenda: move to approve John Howe, second Zim, approved

7. Progress reports

a. Equipment and building:

i. Shannon - personnel files and checks are not locked: we need a locking filing cabinet and combination to the safe.

ii. Chris - Shannon will be arranging painting of client area.

iii. Zim - we will be cleaning the garage and need help

b. Governance - no report

c. Fundraising -

i. Jason – he had proposed buying live traps because waiting list for AC traps. Private company has approached us about placing his cards in lobby. Chris expressed concern that we be open about relationship.

ii. Jason - We have been named beneficiary of 4% Atkins trust (estimated 15k). Car Fax employee died and we received donation in their name. Jason asked if we should waive reports for Atkins trust, Connie advised not to ever waive rights. Dining out has raised $8200 with one restaurant outstanding. Chris asked if we are proactive in that area.

iii. County fair - staffing Boone county fair. Leave for closed meeting

d. Staff Development - Zim has been helping staff with paying outstanding bills. Shannon reported that Julie and Lauren have been helpful in getting through transition and she’s more comfortable but still challenged. Lauren and Jason felt the transition was going well.

e. Marketing

i. Jason - did KBIA interview regarding pitbull issue. Policy from 2002 suggests that we would adopt and follow up with home visit, but the policy would be difficult to execute. Tiffany commented that it would require careful coordination with rescue groups to be able to be able to do as the policy specifies. Dale wanted to table discussions for later date. Chris asked what the staff does now. Shannon handles it now and basically most pit bulls are euthanized. Dale raised questions of how we identified the breed. John Lane asked if we have anyone who can do temperment evaluations. We don’t. Tiffany is the rescue person currently. She answers calls if there is a good dog and does a temperament evaluation. Chris asked if the rescue groups adopt the dog from the CMHS and Tiffany said they do. Chris pointed out that fosters are still our property so we maintain liability. Tiffany shared that the rescue groups are developing a code of ethics.

ii. Jason said that we have an advertisement on the Chamber of Commerce community map.

iii. Jason circulated letter from the Bio Company that wants to buy euthanized adult cat cadavers. Denny said he has no trouble with utilizing cadavers for education and research except for the potential public relations consequences. Dale raised questions of perception that we may be euthanizing cats just for profit. Zim suggested that if we enter a relationship with the company, it should be a donation to the shelter regardless of number we euthanize to eliminate any perception that we were motivated by profits and there appeared to be consensus on that approach. Chris suggested that we need to be above board in our policy.

iv. Euthanasia policy and information provided. Jason recounted the current policy of letting the owner’s call back to check on status and suggested changes to prevent the Darla situation. Forms are explicit that the person presenting an animal to the CMHS relinquishes all rights. He proposed that we no longer allow people to check on the status of the animal. Connie said that would be unfriendly and sounds like we’re hiding things. Staff said it is not a time crunch and not all people are upset to learn we were unable to adopt out their animal. Rhonda suggested that we need to provide copy of the surrender agreement. Question of should we call people was discussed. Laura felt it was more an issue of how we communicated. Rhonda felt we need to give a copy of the agreement when the pet is relinquished. Connie suggested that a written request be required for information on the disposition of an animal, and that we call people back. Denny suggested that we should not allow people to second guess their decision. Costs for copying forms would be an issue. Shannon asked why we will be sending a copy if we don’t change our policy, Dale recounted that it would reinforce the policy to the client. Lauren said we just need to explain why we need to do what we do and most clients are understanding. In response to a question, the staff replied that those at the front desk receive adoption counseling. Connie suggested that staff produce a form and circulate it for everyone’s input. John Lane suggested a notebook that people can be given to read when they relinquish the animal. Dale suggested we just lay it out on the form that they will be given. John Lane suggested staff come up with a solution and bring it to the board. Shannon asked that they bring suggestions to her.

v. Chris asked how often the Petfinders website gets updated. Laura and Julie update it daily although it does get behind. Site receives 6000 hits per week. Dustin works on computer system at the shelter, but does not do things like update Petfinders.

vi. Dale asked what was happening with the Harley Davidson fundraiser: Jason said he hadn’t heard any more since he provided them with information.

vii. Advertising. Jason. KMIZ has proposed discount advertising. Idea is to spread our message prior to any fundraising campaign. Cost would be $3800 this year, $12,000 from next year. Chris asked what the message will be. Jason said it would be that we do more than the city pound and we do things like rescues and cruelty investigations. Rhonda asked if cost included production. It did. Rhonda suggested cable advertising, which covers a different demographic. Dale asked if KMIZ included sister stations: Jason said it did. John Lane said you get guaranteed ads for the fee and free ads when space available. Zim said we have the budget in advertising this year. Zim moved that we proceed with the package Rhonda second. Dale questioned whether we have the money. Zim said we’re on target on spending but we’re 80k down on revenue. Dale asked if we have the money. Zim said we have the money. Julie commented that if we promote some of these thing we would need more investment of staff time and resources in these activities. Approved.

f. Education and Programs - no report

8. Questions on staff reports -

a. John Howe asked if we want to do something to honor Paul Pepper’s deceased dog Sparky. Consensus was to put plaque in lobby.

b. John Lane asked if the adoption report could be less convoluted. Chris sent a suggestion to Lindsee about what a better format would be. The information should be in the access database, Shannon asked that we provide her with what information we would want. Info is on the server and it is backed up once a month. Dale suggested we backup more frequently.

c. Laurie asked if adopted dogs are getting sick and question about whether we could give AC dogs bordetella vaccines. That is in next years contract. Dale suggested staff get it figured out. Zim suggested it could be a supplemental budget item with AC for this year. Lauren and Julie will institute the vaccination. Question was raised whether we have the authority to vaccinate AC dogs. Zim will discuss the situation with Gerry Whorley.

d. Problems with parvovirus infections were discussed. Question of whether rotating cleaners will help was discussed. Major problem appears to be lack of isolation facilities which will be difficult to rectify in current facilities.

9. Old business

a. Denny - second veterinarian. Denny discussed the applications we had to date and requested that we proceed with hiring second veterinarian. Dale moved to authorize Denny, Shannon and Dr. McCoy to proceed with interviews Chris second. Approved

b. Zim – budget for fundraising. We need to transfer money to cover outstanding bills. She is working on cutting expenses.

10. New business

a. Denny - compliance with USDA for cat holding facilities. Due to the volume of cats this time of year we exceed our capacity and utilize cages that are not in USDA compliance though not in danger of citation. Julie said we could euthanize “feral” kittens, but we need a policy to that effect.

b. Denny - proposal from veterinary school regarding surgery skills testing (see memo from Dr. Mann). Staff suggested that low cost/spay day animals would be easier to schedule, but we would need to get informed consent. Questions of infectious disease control and post op recovery were discussed. Board had no objections to the proposal. Denny will ask Dr. Mann to discuss details with Shannon.

c. Dale - pit bull adoption policy: tabled.

d. Zim - maternity leave. Referred to closed session.

11. Public comment: Betty Sue Sullivan from Arrowrock, Missouri addressed the board. She has taken in feral cats, has sterilized many of them, and cares for the rest. A small handful of neighbors have objected to the feral cats. She felt the town was opposed to an animal oridnance, but one was passed by the town board limiting ownership to 2 dogs and 4 cats which must be indoors or in yard, bans feeding stations, shelters, etc. She did not feel that sufficient notice was given of the final meeting when the ordinance was passed. She asked for our help and provided contact information.

12. Chris thanked staff for coming to the meeting.

13. Adjourned at 8:13