421 N. COUNTY FARM ROAD

WHEATON, IL 60187

DU PAGE COUNTY

Animal Services Committee

Final Summary

www.dupagecounty.gov

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

7:30 AM

Room 3500A

CALL TO ORDER

7:30 AM meeting was called to order by Chair Brian Krajewski at 7:30 AM.

ROLL CALL

Cynthia Cronin Cahill, District 5 Dawn DeSart, Paula Garcia,

Krajewski and Sheila Rutledge

PRESENT:

Grant Eckhoff

ABSENT:

PUBLIC COMMENT

No public comments were offered.

CHAIRMAN'S REMARKS - CHAIR KRAJEWSKI

Chair Krajewski remarked that budget season is here. Animal Services budget will look a bit

different for FY25 since by that time the new building will be in operation. Laura is pulling

together figures that will take into account the larger footprint, greater opportunities for public

outreach, etc. One of the biggest needs now and as we move into the new facility is for veterinary

staff - veterinarians and veterinary technicians. Staff are also looking into additional revenue

streams including renting space for special events in the new facility.

MINUTES APPROVAL

5.A.

24-1800

Animal Services Committee - Regular Meeting - Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Summary Minutes May-2024.pdf

Attachments:

APPROVED

Sheila Rutledge

Paula Garcia

RESULT:

MOVER:

SECONDER:

GRANTS

6.A.

FI-R-0099-24

Acceptance and appropriation of interest earned on investment for the DuPage Animal

Friends Phase II Capital Project Grant, Company 5000, Accounting Unit 1310, $142,082.

(Animal Services)

Attachment I - Budget Attachment

Attachments:

APPROVED AND SENT TO FINANCE

Cynthia Cronin Cahill

RESULT:

MOVER:

Paula Garcia

SECONDER:

ADMINISTRATIVE UPDATE

The current shelter population is 225 animals including: 116 cats, 4 chickens, 51 dogs, 25 guinea

pigs, 29 rabbits.

Out of county owner surrender requests are on the rise. All shelters in the area and around the

county are experiencing higher demand, higher intake and longer lengths of stay. While in the

past DCAS has accommodated out of county requests, staff are currently turning away out of

county surrenders due to construction, while providing resources, surrender counseling, and

contact lists of other area shelters and rescue organizations.

Staff are working with the Chicagoland Humane Coalition to plan a weekend long mega

adoption event September 28-29th at the Lake County Fairgrounds.

An urgent plea for fosters and adopters has been communicated as the shelter is at critical

capacity. Unfortunately, while foster gets animals out of the shelter, what we are finding is that

once in foster, animals are sitting for extended lengths of time without interest or adoption.

Construction is still on pace to allow move-in to the new addition in early October.

DISCUSSION

8.A.

24-1802

Discussion of resident animal welfare concerns.

Laura addressed concerns recently raised during County Board public comment…

Complaint #1: Animal Services transferred two French Bulldogs to rescue before their

stray hold was completed.

Response: False. Some police departments complete all or partial stray holds at their

own holding facilities prior to transferring animals to Animal Services. In some cases,

animals can arrive at Animal Services already having completed their formal stray holds.

This is what happened in the case of the two French Bulldogs. While the dogs were

already emancipated and a rescue partner was ready to pull the animals same-day, Animal

Services ended up holding the dogs three days past their stray hold to further promote

them via social media and give any potential owner(s) the additional time to reclaim

them. Additionally, one of the dogs had a very serious medical issue that needed to be

addressed immediately. Animal Services took the time to medically evaluate both dogs,

communicate the issue to the rescue partner, and ensure that the dogs were transferred to

a partner that was willing and able to follow through with the necessary medical care

immediately.

Complaint #2: Animal Services does not share the name of the rescue that animals are

transferred to.

Response: False. Animal Services will share the rescue to which animals are transferred

as long as the rescue has given staff permission to do so. It’s important to note that often

times rescue partners will pull animals with placement - foster or adopter - already lined

up for the animal(s), so that adoption inquiries are not fielded.

Laura confirmed that in the case of the French Bulldogs, Animal Services went above and

beyond what was required to ensure someone had an opportunity to reclaim the animals

and that they received the medical care they required.

Complaint #3: Animal Services refuses to adopt out two unfamiliar dogs at the same

time, to the same household.

Response: True. Animal Services has a policy that unless two dogs arrive at our facility

already bonded, or unless staff have identified during their stay with us that two dogs are

friendly with one another, two unfamiliar dogs will not be adopted out or fostered

together.

Shelter life is extremely stressful on an animal. Best practice is to take one animal home,

allow that animal sufficient time to decompress, get to know its new home and its new

family, bond with their new family, and adapt to its new routine, before introducing

another stressor (in this case, an unfamiliar animal). If after sufficient time has passed

and an animal has successfully acclimated to their new home, staff would be happy to

help someone introduce a new pet. This is the same advice that staff uses to counsel new

adopters when introducing their newly adopted pet to a resident pet. Staff want all

adoptions to be successful. Shelter animals have already experienced a significant

amount of stress. It is our intention to avoid piling on more stress by adding another

animal into the mix too soon.

Complaint #4: Animal Services will not work with rescue organizations that utilize

shock collars (AKA e-collars) and/or prong collars.

Response: True - if the rescue is not willing to embrace fear free methods. We know

that animals that find themselves in a shelter environment are subject to a significant

amount of stress. Every single staff member at Animal Services is required to complete

their Fear Free Certification. Fear Free Certification teaches strategies to reduce fear,

anxiety and stress in animals with the goal of improving their emotional and mental

well-being. Animals can and do arrive with behaviors that can be challenging. Our staff

is seeing that not many people are investing the time and energy into training their dogs.

So by the time the dog arrives at the shelter they are displaying unwanted behaviors like

jumping, pulling, leash biting, etc.

The good news is that there are tools available that make it possible to work with these

behaviors without inflicting fear and pain. These include flat martingale collars which

apply gentle pressure distributed evenly around the neck when pulling. Staff use Easy

Walk and Freedom harnesses that gently correct the animal’s body position while limiting

the ability to pull. Staff will use chain leashes if the dog is biting at the leash too much,

which gives the dog agency to make the choice of whether to continue biting the chain

which is unpleasant, or whether to stop. Our staff focuses more on reinforcing the

behaviors we DO want to see using positive reinforcement (AKA reward based training)

in the form of treats, praise or play, based upon what the animal shows us is most

reinforcing to them.

Prong and shock collars cause pain, cause distress, and increase fear and anxiety.

Scientific studies have shown that aversive tools (such as prong and shock collars) can

actually cause an increase in undesirable behaviors. Laura shared The American

Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior’s (AVSAB) Position Statement on Humane Dog

Training

<https://avsab.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/AVSAB-Humane-Dog-Training-Position

-Statement-2021.pdf> with the committee. Additionally, Dominance Theory made

popular by TV dog trainers like Cesar Milan are outdated, increase the animal’s fear and

anxiety, and damage the bond between human and animal. See AVSAB’s Position

Statement on The Use of Dominance Theory in Behavior Modification of Animals

<https://avsab.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Dominance_Position_Statement-downloa

d.pdf>.

Dr. Hanek has personally had to clean the puncture wounds, damaged tissue, and singed

fur on countless dogs caused by the misuse of prong collars and shock collars. As a

result, Dr. Hanek and all of the Animal Services staff are big proponents of force-free,

Fear Free tools and training methods.

In short, Animal Services requires the same from its rescue partners as we do for our own

staff and volunteers. The added benefit of doing so is that it allows us the ability to set

that animal up for success by replacing fear and stress with fun and reward during

training, while also providing continuity of training during and after the animal leaves our

care, and greater opportunities for the animal to bond with the human(s) at the end of the

leash.

Laura shared that not all rescue organizations are created equal. There are many people

in the community that have good intentions for trying to save animals. But they are not

all embracing best practices, not only when it comes to training methods. Animal

Services has seen an increase in the number of rescues who are transporting animals from

other parts of the country, then not supporting those animals once they arrive. Or worse,

warehousing (kenneling) animals indefinitely without any plans to move them out into

homes quickly. Animal Services has recently experienced fosters of other rescue

organizations dropping of their rescue’s animals as found pets after support from their

own rescue organizations dried up.