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DASAB Minutes 08/27/2025 (Draft) MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF COLLIER COUNTY DOMESTIC ANIMAL SERVICES ADVISORY BOARD Naples, Florida August 27, 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 a MEETING at Growth Management Community Development Department Room 609/610 2800 N. Horseshoe DR. Naples, Florida, with the following members present: CHAIRMAN: Allen Schantzen Michele Antonia Kelly Hyland Susan Mehas Meredith McLean Alexandra Casanova Sherry Reno (absent) County Staff in Attendance James French, Department Head, GMCD 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 II. Roll Call- Establish a Quorum A quorum of 4 was confirmed. III. Pledge of Allegiance Pledge of Allegiance was recited. IV. Approval of agenda Allen Schantzen- Under A1- Review of Ordinances and related quorum. Would like to add, Send to BOCC as an action item to bring board from regulation of 7 members down to 5. Would give a quorum of 4. Motion to approve- Susan Mehas Motion Seconded- Kelly Hyland Motion passed. Meredith McLean- Two documents to add. • Updated Leadership report. New format. • Handout for RTO which is under Old Business. Motion to approve- Michele Antonia Motion seconded- Susan Mehas Motion passed V. Public comments- Items not addressed on this agenda Heidi Lebline (spelling ?)- Knows DAS has a high no kill rate. Wants to know when we ship our animals out to different shelters in different states, how do we know that those shelters are no kill shelters. Meredith McLean- We have a contract with our transfer agencies. We look into their save rate. We also review the rate of intake vs outcomes in that community. We are always trying to pinpoint really good agencies that are willing to work with us. VI. Public comment on Agenda items in sequence Heidi Lebline- Comment on Leadership report. Concern is for fee waived adoption events. Is there a full background check done, does DAS check the Do not adopt registry before releasing an animal? Meredith McLean- We have an internal Do not adopt registry. National Registry review is required. We verify all ID’s and full background check for violent crimes and/or animal cruelty. VII. Approval of minutes • May 21st, 2025 Motion to approve- Kelly Hyland Motion seconded- Susan Mehas Motion passed. VIII. Staff Report • Leadership report- New format. Meredith McLean- Provided documents. Facilities and Equipment updates, Kennel Statistics for June 2025 and July 2025. Total intake for June 2025- 827 animals. 60% higher YOY. 642 Cats, 180 dogs, 5 other. Total adoptions 236. Transferred out 245. Staffing update for July 2025 • Behavior and enrichment coordinator starting mid-September • Foster Coordinator- Started on 8/25/25 • 1st Veterinarian- In the final hiring stages. • Technician- Temp labor hire • 2 additional Temp positions. • Administrative position- Interviewing • Only current open position- 2nd Veterinarian. Susan Mehas- What is the difference between confiscate and safe keep. Meredith McLean- Confiscate is when we go in and remove the animal. Safe Keep- Is for emergency situations for those who have involvement with emergency personnel. Medical emergencies. 10 day hold but will keep the animal longer if needed. New monthly report- • Highlight- Animal care and enrichment. 3 months in improvements to play groups. Will be assigning 1 staff member to play group each day. Play group is bringing dogs together for enrichment and mind stimulation. Reduces rate of deterioration in their kennels. • Volunteer hours total 2000 for July 2025. • Hosted the first volunteer meeting. Survey was given. Main points of improvement needed are Communication and onboarding. • Implemented new heart worm protocol to reduce the cost and strain on the animal. Doxycycline for 30 days. Dogs can still be in play group and interact with other animals. • Completed 282 surgeries in house 7/2025. • BOCC approved fee waived adoptions through beginning of October 2025. • Hobby Breeder Ordinance was presented to BOCC. Recommended edits, turned back in to board for approval on 8/26/25. Alan Schantzen- For the accelerated protocol, is there a stronger restriction that should be taken? Meredith McLean- Dogs are on restriction for 6-8 weeks Kelly Hyland- Requested Foster numbers be added to Kennell Statistics. Open discussion on waived adoption fees. The board is 2/2 for waived fees. Michelle Antonia- Do we have statistics on animals that are returned after fee waived adoptions. Meredith McLean- National average is less than 3%. Will provide statistics on fee waived adoptions as requested by the BOCC at their last meeting. Kelly Hyland- Would like to make a recommendation to the BOCC to limit fee waived adoptions. Michelle and Alan do not support the motion. Would need to be unanimous to move forward. IX. Old Business A. Advisory Board Responsibilities Revision Meeting suggested for September 8th-10th to discuss expanding responsibilities of this advisory board to present to the BOCC at their September meeting. James French, Department Head, GMCD- Meeting would be to advertise the roles and responsibilities of this group. Not to adopt. BOCC will review and make changes if needed. Alan Schantzen- Adopting the responsibilities of this board, is it governed by the regulation or decree of the BOCC James French- Your suggestions may influence the board for future consideration. B. RTO Repeat Offender Statistics Meredith McLean- 1/2024-6/2025. 92% of all RTO were one time. 7% or 54 animals Twice, 1% or 3 animals three times, .5% or 4 animals were 4 times. Susan Mehas- In the report it states no animals will be returned without spay or neuter. Meredith McLean- Correct unless there are legal parameters that prevent us. Kelly and Susan- Concerned with the number of animals that are being reunited in the field by Animal Control without DAS knowing. Meredith McLean- FL Statue 823.151 Item 7, states an animal control officer has the legal right to reunite an animal with its owner in the field at their discretion. C. DAS Work Manual Updates Meredith McLean- Work manual, Standard Operating Procedures Within the Shelter Manual is under draft. Updates were pending the Veterinarian coming on board. X. New business A. Review of Ordinance related to quorum requirements Alan Schantzen- Will be discussed at the upcoming meeting and then presented to the BOCC. No vote to make this an action item at this time. B. Advisory Board Vacancy Applications-Next Steps We have one application pending. Kelly Frantz. Meredith McLean- Suggested waiting to vote on this item until we have the meeting with the BOCC to discuss changes to the make-up and purview of this committee. Kelly Frantz- Vice President of Gaudalupe Center. Animal Lover. If you are thinking you are going to revise the rules, I would like to know what that entails before I commit. C. Community Outreach spay and neuter education Michelle Antonia- If I want to go out and educate the public, do I need an approved script. Meredith McLean- If we are going to put together an official program then yes, if you are just out educating the public as a private citizen then no. D. Capital Projects Building 2- Cats and Clinic . Building 2- Project is in planning phase . Generator- Working through PO process. Once approved will order and install. During emergency event additional generators will be mobilized and connected to buildings that require backup support. . Kennel 3- Project is on hold until November. Pending Budget review. . Kennels 4&5. Completed. E. Retrofit of Backup Generators For Entire Facility . Working through PO and approval process. Once approved will order and install. Alan Schantzen- Would like to see county management take shelter staff requests for capital projects and shelter needs into consideration before making decisions on capital projects. XI. Advisory Board Member Comments Kelly Hyland- Suggested requiring a landlord verification with all adoptions. Michelle Antonia- Suggested making it an agenda item for the next meeting. Susan Mehas- Can we use Wings of Rescue instead of transporting animals by bus. Meredith McLean- Wings of Rescue is expensive. We can look into using them. The flights are a little more stressful for the animals. Our current transport company is fully vetted. They transport animals following all laws. Susan Mehas- Brought up previous add shared with HSN Meredith McLean- Marketing coordinator is working on ways to spend in marketing. Once we have that we can consider that as part of it. Alan Schantzen- For Safe Keep- have we sorted out what our responsibilities are medically? Meredith McLean- We cannot legally spay and neuter them. They will get any medical attention that is needed while they are in our care. Alan Schantzen- The motion we made to put an animal advisory member on the board for Code Enforcement. Per State Statute, the board has a specific make up so they are unable to approve our request. Our Motion was denied. XII. Next Meeting • Wednesday September 17th, 2025- May change to September 10th, 2025 for workshop style meeting on board responsibilities. XIII. Additional Resource Materials XIV. Adjourn There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was concluded at 8:06pm Collier County Domestic Animal Services _____________________________________ Allen Schantzen- Chair These minutes were approved by the Committee/ Chairman on __________________________(check one) as presented _______, or as amended __________.