Shelter Talks On Track Despite Rough Patch

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Created on Friday, 22 November 2024 15:35

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By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    Discussions on volunteers helping at the city animal shelter, begun after a breakdown of relations between the city and nonprofit Friends of the Sitka Animal Shelter over the summer, have continued through the fall, though a number of details remain to be determined regarding future operations of the shelter as parties negotiate a new agreement.
    Since a 2022 memo of understanding with Friends failed to solve disagreements the nonprofit’s access to the city-run facility has been limited, except for recent clean-up work. Relations between the city and Friends declined further in September following the euthanization of two dogs and four cats at the Jarvis Street facility.

The Sitka Animal Shelter is pictured today. (Sentinel Photo)

    The shelter continues to operate without an animal control officer, police department spokesperson Serena Wild said Thursday.
    “We got a couple dogs (adopted) out, we got a couple cats out, and then the ferals and the non-viables, unfortunately, did have to be euthanized, but we have not had any animals in the animal shelter since then,” Wild said.
    Problems at the shelter were aired at a heavily attended Assembly meeting on October 8, resulting in the city and Friends agreeing to negotiate on a new memorandum of understanding.
    Wild said the parties are close to having “the MOU pretty much hammered out –– who’s responsible for which aspect of animal care and whatnot; that’s what the MOU is doing. And we’ve had them up there since the animal control officer never returned back to her job; the animal shelter was dirty and it did need cleaning.”
    Sitka Police Department Chief Robert Baty said he’d like to see disagreements sorted out with the fresh memorandum.
    “What I hope for is that the city and volunteer organization have a better understanding of what each can do for each other and work together harmoniously,” Baty said. The shelter, he noted, operates under city ordinances and state statutes.
    Sitka municipal code allows for licensed dogs to be held for at least five days, and unlicensed dogs for no fewer than three days, before they can be put down. Unlicensed animals are to be “held for adoption for a reasonable period at the discretion of the animal control office. Before destroying an animal, the animal control officer shall make reasonable efforts to promote the adoption of the animal,” Sitka code 8.05.040 states.
    “Our operations have not changed,” Baty added. “... A certain measure of the public thinks that we’re just indiscriminately killing animals, and that, all of a sudden, this new policy came up and they keep feeding off of that, and none of it’s true.”
    Though volunteers were back in the shelter for deep cleaning on November 2, volunteers are not running regular shifts anymore, FOSAS board president Kristina Tirman said, and haven’t done so since late July.
    “We hope to reinstate regular volunteer shifts as soon as possible to ensure we’re ready to provide proper care if and when animals return to the shelter… FOSAS and SPD have always had differing views on certain topics like length of stay, access to veterinary care and euthanasia. However, we’ve often managed to work through these differences in the past to reach agreements that were in the best interest of individual animals and the community,” Tirman said.
    Until this summer, Dr. Toccoa Wolf of Sitka Animal Hospital provided veterinary services for shelter animals, from vaccinations to exams.
    “Historically, we saw shelter animals about once a week, ensuring their well-being as they awaited adoption or foster care. However, Sitka Animal Hospital has not seen a shelter pet for veterinary care since this past summer,” Wolf told the Sentinel Thursday. “It’s a change that concerns me, but we remain open and willing to support the shelter’s veterinary needs in any way possible.”
    Decisions regarding euthanasia are made by the animal control officer, Wolf noted.
    “It saddens me deeply to know that we are no longer being consulted on shelter pet welfare or asked to assist the city in ensuring humane euthanasia,” Wolf said.
    Tirman hopes to prevent a recurrence of the six instances of euthanasia that took place two months ago.
    “We can’t change the past, but we are committed to making sure this doesn’t happen again,” Tirman said. “We know that any sort of meaningful change will only happen if we stay solution-oriented and focus on moving forward. We’re so incredibly grateful for the community’s support — it’s been made very clear that having a safe, welcoming shelter with transparent policies and leadership matters deeply to many.”
    The original MOU, signed in November 2022, gave the city responsibility for shelter management, maintenance, animal care and euthanasia, while the Friends coordinated volunteers, worked with the community and raised funds.
    “The creation and maintenance of meaningful volunteer and support opportunities that facilitate an efficient, safe, and compassionate animal shelter is an important objective of the CBS and Friends,” the document reads.
    Though the Friends organization and police department have worked in conjunction for years, some differences became more pronounced this year, Tirman noted.
    “Since the beginning of 2024, the relationship progressively deteriorated. Long-standing policies regarding veterinary care were changed, communication became strained, and there was a lack of recognition of the incredible value of volunteers,” she said.
    The police department said there was also a failure of inter-organizational communications.
    “There was just a big breakdown of communication, and who’s doing what,” Wild said. “And then we were starting to revisit the MOU back then even. And then, just with our animal control officer going missing and all that stuff that happened, it threw a wrench into everything.”
    Animal control officer Olivia Magni was reported missing in late August, and was found, injured, after days in the woods at Katlian Bay. She resigned shortly thereafter. She was the city’s third animal control officer in the past three years, preceded by Sam Pointer and Jim Rogers.
    Looking to the future, Tirman hopes a new MOU will offer a route forward, though significant challenges remain.
    “We’ve talked about the basics of shelter operations and the delineation of duties between FOSAS and SPD,” Tirman said. “We now have a draft MOU that we are working through. Our next meeting will focus on more challenging questions around standards of care including veterinary access and humane euthanasia protocols. FOSAS and SPD have differed significantly on these topics, so the mediated meetings are necessary for finding a solution.”
    Kate Johnson began volunteering at the shelter in 2022 after fostering kittens, and started working weekly shifts along with her teenage daughters, Isabel and Amara.
    As volunteers, they set about “cleaning cat litter boxes, feeding, sweeping, mopping, socializing cats, taking dogs out,” Kate Johnson told the Sentinel.
    She described FOSAS as “the most solid group of volunteers I have ever worked with.”
    Isabel Johnson said she found the volunteer work rewarding. “All the volunteers are super nice. I liked to socialize the animals and help. I mean, I don’t even mind cleaning that much, as long as I’m helping animals. I feel like it’s a really good set of people to work with,” she said. She’s happy to come back as a volunteer in the future.
    As Kate Johnson recalled, things went smoothly at first, but communication between the volunteers and Magni deteriorated over time.
    “Under the new ACO, communication was really difficult. She had a lot of ideas and wanted a lot of changes, but they weren’t communicated,” Johnson said. “And so there was often a lot of fighting, there was a lot of drama. And then all of a sudden, I think she was worried that people were breaking in and giving out codes… I don’t think any volunteers ever took anybody’s cats. I don’t think they gave anybody any codes to get in the doors.”
    Johnson said she hopes for both long- and short-term plans to be formulated.
    “The short term plan is what FOSAS and the city are coming up with – the MOU. I think we need a long-term, community-supported plan where we have an animal care shelter,” Johnson said.
    The city issued a statement Wednesday saying negotiations are making headway.
    “The joint work group has successfully outlined updated volunteer vetting and training processes, a software-based approach to scheduling, and processes for ensuring volunteer and animal safety through the animal intake and observation periods,” the city’s public service announcement states. “Further conversation in early December will continue the discussion on animal care and adoption processes, with SPD and FOSAS anticipating a complete agreement by the end of the year.”
    Wild said the department is looking forward to working with volunteers at the shelter on a regular basis again in the future.
    “We’re working together; we’re talking with them; we haven’t barred them... We’re working on setting up another cleaning date too, because there are a few more things up there that could be cleaned up. So they’re not barred. They have been back in,” Wild said. “When we’re ready to take full volunteers in again, there will be announcements.”