DASAB Minutes 03/19/2025 (Draft)
Collier County
Board of County Commissioners
Domestic Animal Services Advisory Board Meeting
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF COLLIER COUNTY
DOMESTIC ANIMAL SERVICES ADVISORY BOARD
Naples, Florida
Minutes of the meeting March 19, 2025
LET IT BE REMEMBERED that the Collier County Domestic Animal
Services Advisory Board, in and for the County of Collier, having conducted
business herein, met on this date at 6 p.m. for an Advisory Board Meeting in
Administrative Building F,3rd Floor, Collier County Government Center.
Naples, Florida. with the following members present:
Allen Shantzen
Susan Mehas
Cpl. Sherry Rego
Michele Antonia
Kelly Hyland
Laurie Harris
Any persons in need of the verbatim record of the meeting may request a copy of the audio
recording from Domestic Animal Services.
I. Call to Order
• 6:03 PM meeting was called to order.
II. Roll Call
• A Quorum was established.
III. Pledge of Allegiance
IV. Approval of Agenda
• A motion was carried to move the surtax review under New Business.
• A motion was carried to approve the Agenda.
V. Public Comment
• Safety concerns regarding the lack of sidewalks between buildings 3, 4 & 5. A staff
member had commented that the county did not approve a request for concrete
sidewalks and a suggestion was made to consider using gravel instead of concrete.
• A discussion was had regarding the need for new doors (kennel gates) on Building 3.
Cost (up to $500K for 30 doors) were discussed as well as a suggestion to explore other
materials as an alternative to aluminum, to avoid injury to animals occurring as they
chew on the kennel doors.
VI. Approval of the Minutes
• Before the minutes were approved a question was asked if it would be appropriate to
comment and ask questions regarding the minutes.
• A request was made to withhold any additional comments or questions regarding last
month’s minutes until the appropriate forum later in the meeting.
A motion was carried to approve the minutes of the February meeting.
VII. New Business
• Guest Presenter – Christopher Johnson, Director Division of Corporate Finance &
Management.
• Breakdown Presentation of the Surtax.
• Current remaining balance of the initial $6 million - $3,941,000 (aprox.)
• Does not include $2.5 million, General Fund.
• Reviewed Expenditure Approval process.
• It was assured that the Director has input on the expenditure process.
• It was assured that capital expenditures were made in accordance with, and to, plan.
• There is no time limit on spending funds, however there is a time limit on collecting
funds.
A few other questions were asked but were inaudible.
VIII. Staff Report
• New parttime Vet has been hired and has started working.
• Vet also has Pharmacy Licensing.
• Primary focus is currently on tending to in-house animals.
• In planning stages of coordinating support staff to accommodate the Vets schedule.
• Offer made and pending acceptance to Program Manager candidate.
• An offer is pending to be made to a Customer Service Specialist candidate.
• Offer extended and pending acceptance to Animal Care Specialist candidate.
• Offer extended and pending acceptance to one of two Supervisors candidates.
• Reposting remaining open Supervisor’s position.
• Foster Coordinator position – placed on hold pending the onboarding of Program
Manager to afford candidate consideration and selection to pending Program Manager.
• A question was asked if there is adequate office space available and allocated for new
hires. Confirmed.
• Animal Care 2 Specialists – creating plan to best utilize team members and aligning their
role with their strengths.
• Currently conducting interviews with three Temporary Animal Care Specialists.
• Incorporating Interns during summer.
• Currently 171 animals – 96 cats, 72 dogs, bird, pig and horse.
• 172 Adoptions, 123 transfer outs in February.
• 218 Animals in foster.
• 478 Animals intake in February.
• 51 Returned To Owner (RTO)
• Clarification of the difference between RTO versus Returned to Home (RTH)
• Clarification of Request for euthanize process.
IX. Old Business
• Discussion on recently granted 30-day Temporary Occupancy – does it expire on April 5th
or 14th?
• Comment regarding Fire District’s “Hold Harmless” clause.
• Completion of work timeline – not for public view.
• RTO Process – there are State mandated restrictions imposed on preventing RTOs from
occurring, where pointed criteria must be met to prevent the return of an animal.
• Animals are still treated in situations where the owner has been contacted and will be
retrieving their pet.
IX. Old Business (Cont.)
• During RTO and RTH process, if the owner indicates that the animal is actively
participating in breeding, a process is in place to ensure that the owner complies with all
applicable and mandated breeder’s requirements and regulations.
• Discussion opened regarding Animal Cruelty Organizations, Sherriff’s office efforts in
investigating AC violations and enforcing AC laws.
• Investigations are very complex and take time to establish a case.
• Care should be taken not to post on social media – may jeopardize investigation and
subsequent prosecution.
• Investigations can be resource heavy and are competing with finite resources. The
Sherriff’s department must prioritize how and where they allocate resources.
• The Sherriff Department’s lack of public comment and disclosure shouldn’t be
misconstrued as a lack of attention and effort. Information may not be readily
forthcoming and available to protect the process and integrity of the investigation.
• Discussion regarding pets that are repeatedly cycling through DAS – stricter ordinances
for repeat offenders, increased fines.
• Equipment request – Xray machine.
• Xray machine may be budgeted for next year.
• Discussion took place regarding Xray machine – not just the cost of the machine, must
have appropriates space that meets code requirements.
• Machines have been donated but not accepted because they are outdated and the cost of
updating them is preventing DAS from moving forward with them.
• A suggestion was made to explore grants.
• A review of the current Xray process, where, how, what and who is involved.
• It was noted that an Xray machine would not qualify as a Capital Improvement.
X. Public Comment
• A discussion regarding using existing resources for other projects at the DAS campus. It
was noted that the DAS footprint had practically utilized all of it available permitted
space and any additional expansion would most assuredly require a variance. Not to say
no, but something to be aware of.
X. Public Comment (cont.)
• An attendee expressed concerns over lack of supervision of employees and gave
examples of first-hand experiences. The attendee expressed that at times they felt they
were required to give direction to employees.
• It was noted that a plan was in place and would be quickly implemented once the
additional two Supervisor were added to the staff. A Top – Down structure will be
implemented.
• An attendee requested that two-way radios be utilized for safety and precautionary
purposes. A recent incident was highlighted.
• A discussion regarding rebranding was opened. It was suggested that DAS drop the
current logo that exhibits law enforcement connotations.
• It was asked to take under consideration a proposed name change – Collier County
Animal Shelter & Adoption Center – as better defining the where, who and what the
entity represents.
• It was suggested that a review of last month’s Minutes would clarify why this may not be
appropriate at this time.
• A question was asked about the Agenda – how the process to add items to the Agenda
works and who makes the final decision. The process was reviewed.
• At this point questions arose regarding items from last month’s Minutes as follows;
References to front end security. It was noted at this time there is sufficient security
cameras on the campus and that existing security measures are adequate at this
time.
It was asked that the request to attend the AB meetings of Sister Boards be clarified.
In response it was noted that an email had been, or soon would be sent, with a
suggested list of Boards and the dates and times of their meeting.
• Discussion took place on the format, quality and tone of February’s Minutes.
• It was noted that the Company that is used to provide Minutes Takers, Express, uses
different Minutes Takers, and they don’t use the same person every month for the same
meeting. There will be a follow-up discussion with Marty.
• It was noted that the Minutes are summarized.
X. Public Comment (Cont.)
• It was noted that the meeting formats differ significantly from Advisory Board to Advisory
Board throughout the county.
• A recommendation was made that DAS should consider following the County’s format,
the format utilized by the Commissioners.
XI. Adjourn.
The meeting was adjourned at 7:52 PM
There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was
concluded at 7:52 PM
Collier County Domestic Animal Services
___________________________________
Laurie Harris, Chairman
These minutes were approved by the Committee/Chairman on ________________,
(check one) as presented _______, or as amended ________.