County of Hawaii

Confidential Evaluation Report

This document was written and prepared for the County of Hawaii by the National Animal Control Association, Kansas City, Missouri.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the County of Hawaii.

Given the confidential nature of the findings contained in this report, only a very limited number of copies of the report are being distributed for review by certain persons. In order to properly monitor the distribution of this report, each copy is numbered and logged with the recipient’s name.

Table of Contents

 

Topic

Chapter Number

Service Delivery Area

Chapter 1

Administration

Chapter 2

Communications

Chapter 3

Shelter Operations

Chapter 4

Field Operations

Chapter 5

Occupational Safety Procedures

Chapter 6

Licensing

Chapter 7

Employee Attitude Survey

Chapter 8

Community/Interagency Relations

Chapter 9

Hawaii County Ordinance Review

Chapter 10

Proposed Implementation Plan

Chapter 11

 

Copy Number

Recipient

Copy #1

Rory Flynn, Office of the Legislative Auditor

Copy #2

Rory Flynn, Office of the Legislative Auditor

Copy #3

Rory Flynn, Office of the Legislative Auditor

Copy #4

Rory Flynn, Office of the Legislative Auditor

Copy #5

Rory Flynn, Office of the Legislative Auditor

Copy #6

Rory Flynn, Office of the Legislative Auditor

Copy #7

Rory Flynn, Office of the Legislative Auditor

Copy #8

Rory Flynn, Office of the Legislative Auditor

Copy #9

Rory Flynn, Office of the Legislative Auditor

Copy #10

Rory Flynn, Office of the Legislative Auditor

Copy #11

National Animal Control Association

Copy #12

National Animal Control Association

CD-ROM

Rory Flynn, Office of the Legislative Auditor

 

The Copy Number of this report is: ___________

 

Animal Control: A program that effectively treats the symptoms while seeking to eliminate the causes by compassionately using the tools of education and enforcement.

The following excerpt appears in the International City Manager Association’s (ICMA) Management Information Report on "Local Animal Control Management," Volume 25, Number 9, September 1993:

A good Animal Control program is a community responsibility and should be budgeted as any other program or service available to citizens. It needs to go beyond the old-fashioned approach to Animal Control services, which consisted primarily of a dog-catcher and a pound. If the local government focuses only on operating a skeletal shelter and catching and destroying thousands of cats and dogs, animal problems will create constant headaches for local government officials, who must deal with irresponsible animal owners on the one hand, and non-pet-owners, garden clubs, parent-teacher associations, and other groups that want animals controlled on the other. Finally, poor Animal Control can become a local government liability if citizens seek redress for injury and damage caused by free-roaming animals.

The most common obstacle to establishing an effective animal care and control program - as it is to some degree for virtually all government programs - is the problem of funding. In this era of perennial budget deficits, city and county officials are often tempted to strip down Animal Control programs to the point of total ineffectiveness.

But in this area of government responsibility so vital to public health and safety, local officials should avoid shortsighted decisions."

The article also states that, "Cities and counties can manage animal-related problems in a fiscally responsible way. Animal Control can be funded partially through user fees, a deficit-reduction strategy governments apply to everything from parks to motor vehicles. Licenses for dogs and cats are the user fees of Animal Control. Dog and cat owners should shoulder much of the burden of Animal Control costs; furthermore, irresponsible dog and cat owners should be assessed the largest part of that burden.

Public officials, police departments, public health officers, and the citizens they serve in both urban and rural areas will all benefit from a comprehensive animal care and control program that reduces costs while it eliminates many other problems. General public funds need to be allotted to finance the program as necessary. However, the total program can be partially self-funded if revenues from the following sources are set aside for this purpose:

Moreover, Animal Control is an investment in reduced costs - monetary and otherwise - for the future. (End of excerpt)