Letter from UC Davis report author to Acting Animal Care and Control Manager

Thanks for sharing the link to the Seattle times story with me. I want to re-iterate that our intention with the report was not to "blast" the shelter, but rather - as you requested of us - to help identify problems and barriers to achieving your community's goals of operating a model program and substantially reducing euthanasia. While it's true that that the report raises many urgent concerns, that is the necessary first step to make things better - just as when a patient is brought in for a veterinary exam and a number of health concerns are identified, documenting and prioritizing problems serves as the vital foundation for developing an effective treatment plan. That "treatment plan" is what we hoped to achieve with the recommendations in our report, which is truly intended as a helpful rather than adversarial document. It sounds like you are taking it in that spirit - I'm encouraged to hear that some of our urgent recommendations have already been implemented (such as getting the cat cages out of the dog areas) and the proposed plan you sent me looks like a very promising start to a more comprehensive response to the concerns we raised. Whether it will be entirely sufficient or just a beginning remains to be seen, of course - but I hope we've provided sufficient detail in our recommendations for setting standards and monitoring the health of the shelter that it will be possible to determine that as the shelter and community moves forward. As always, please let me know if there is anything I can do to help clarify any aspect of the report.

Regards,

Kate

Kate F. Hurley, DVM, MPVM
Koret Shelter Medicine Program Director
Center for Companion Animal Health
UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine

www.sheltermedicine.com