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Seal Beach began having in-house animal control services a little more than a year ago.
The council this week approved an amendment to the current contract with Westminster Animal Group and Services.
This was a Consent Calendar item. Consent items are approved collectively, without discussion, unless pulled for individual consideration. Nothing was pulled from this week’s Consent Calendar.
Background
“As the in-house animal control program was a new initiative, we anticipated a period of adjustment and learning. Initially, our estimates for the program’s activity levels were based on data provided by our previous contractor, the City of Long Beach, regarding the number of calls for service and animal interactions,” according to the staff report prepared by SBPD Capt. Nick Nicholas.
“However, we quickly realized that these estimates were insufficient. The Seal Beach community was significantly underserved by Long Beach, and as a result, the Seal Beach Animal Control Program has more than doubled the number of animal control calls received. Furthermore, the number of animals taken or delivered to WAGS by residents within Seal Beach has more than doubled the initial estimates, even within the first six (6) months of our contract with WAGS,” Nicholas wrote.
“In response to the increased number of animals and the associated costs of providing services, WAGS has requested additional funding. Initially, the City compensated WAGS at a rate of $6,000 per month. However, due to the substantial increase in their workload, this amount is now being increased to $9,000 per month to accurately reflect the volume of animals they are receiving,” Nicholas wrote.
“In addition to the funding increase, we are also amending the language of our agreement to reflect industry best practices, particularly concerning community cats (formerly referred to as stray cats), the Trap-Neuter-Release (‘TNR’) program, and return-to-home initiatives,” Nicholas wrote.
“The TNR program involves trapping community cats, neutering them, and then returning them to their original location to manage the population humanely and effectively. The return-to-home initiative focuses on reuniting cats who live in the community to a safe place where they were found,” Nicholas wrote.
“Moreover, due to changes within the emergency veterinary industry, we are no longer able to work with our previously designated emergency vet clinic. As part of this amendment, WAGS will now provide after-hours emergency care for sick or injured animals through their designated medical provider. We have allocated up to $40,000, with an additional $10,000 available at the City Manager’s discretion, for this emergency care.
“All decisions regarding emergency care, beyond basic triage and assessment, will require approval from a member of the Seal Beach Police Department Command Staff. During the past year, we spent approximately $6,000 on emergency care services, which are billed on an as needed, a la carte basis,” Nicholas wrote.
Cost
“Amendment No. 1 extends the agreement for professional resources necessary to assist the City with all-inclusive animal control services not-to-exceed amount of $163,000 for the second year of the Term,” Nicholas wrote.
“The total amount is separated as follows: $108,000 for WAGS veterinary services and care, which includes the increased monthly expenditure of $3,000, $40,000 for WAGS after hours emergency services and care, $10,000 additional funds for related expenses at the discretion of the City Manager that was previously contracted with another vendor, and $5000.00 for the TNR (Trap Neuter and Release) program,” Nicholas wrote.
“Should actual expenses exceed budgeted estimates, we will return to the City Council to request additional funding,” Nicholas wrote.
