Manatee County Animal Welfare
BOCC takes major steps to improve the lives and adoptability of our shelter dogs
For as long as we can remember, the original County-owned animal shelter for our dogs up at the Palmetto Animal Shelter has been in disrepair. The County is presently band aiding the facility to keep it minimally-functioning as an expansion plan works its way through design and construction on the recently-donated Bishop Animal Shelter site. We are dealing with overcrowding (91 dogs within an 80-dog capacity building as of Tuesday), understaffing and a general sense of an uninviting atmosphere for our dogs, our volunteers and our community coming to look at adopting these animals in need.
This past Tuesday, March 28, the Manatee Board of County Commissioners took up an agenda item meant to spur ideas and discussion and to finally commit the attention and the resources these dogs, and Manatee County Animal Welfare overall, need to right the ship and start the process of turning our animal service program into a premier example for the entire state.
Over a productive and collaborative 45+ minutes, the Board, along with the Director of Animal Welfare (MCAW), Property Management and the Acting County Administrator, laid out an extensive list of policy directives, funding ideas and unanimous endorsements for significantly improving the lives, and the likelihood of adoption, of these dogs that are just patiently waiting to improve people’s lives and families.
I would encourage you to watch the agenda item video HERE but a summarized list of directives is below.
MCAW is authorized to look into creating a program to work with our harder-to-adopt dogs modeled after Austin’s Pets Alive! initiative. This program is geared toward lowing the stress levels of the dogs and teaching them life skills to improve adoptability through the Dogs Playing for Life model.
We have authorized three new full time employees for MCAW. We have further asked the Administrator to look into reassigning available open positions that can be immediately transferred to this need to avoid budgetary delays.
Staff positions for MCAW will be left on the job boards permanently, even when filled, to ensure no lag in filling these needed positions when vacancies occur.
The MCAW volunteer rules and guidelines will be reviewed and modified to better suit our future plans and the needs of our dogs.
The County will be actively discussing inmate programs with the Manatee Sheriff’s Office. Whether inmates come to the shelter or we transport dogs to the nearby jail, this is a great opportunity to get these dogs the exercise and the social interaction they need.
The Board has authorized an additional $2,500 per month for enhanced media outreach and promotions to push out information on current adoptees, volunteer needs and fostering opportunities.
We have directed Property Management to expedite planning and construction of the Bishop Animal Shelter expansion.
The Board has agreed to look at additional funding options through various sources including ARPA funds to commit to building the expansion sufficient for future growth needs rather than the insufficient plans presently funded.
Finally, every year MCAW holds an amazing Adopt-a-Palooza event at the Convention Center. It is highly successful in adopting our dogs and cats. We have instructed for these to be expanded to five times per year, held in each district throughout the County. This substantial expansion will get countywide exposure for both our adoptable dogs and our animal service programs as a whole.
In fact, this year’s Adopt-a-Palooza is being held on Saturday, May 13!
The Board and our Manatee County Animal Welfare team is very excited about the progress made this week. While we unfortunately cannot snap our fingers and immediately move out of the Palmetto shelter (believe me, I tried to come up with a solution along those lines), the initiatives laid out and the funding authorized is going to substantially lower the current over-capacity through strategic and innovative means of increasing adoption and fostering. The added staffing, both paid and volunteer, will make the lives of our dogs much more pleasant during their (hopefully) short stays at the facility…and that should be a goal every resident of Manatee County can support.
Thank you to the volunteers that reached out to make this a priority, the entire Board for the collective, collaborative work in bettering our shelter program and our animal welfare staff for all your input and ideas. This was a great group effort for a great cause!
If you would like more information on adopting or volunteering, here are some links to get you started. The Board, and the dogs, thank you in advance!
George, what happened to this "productive BoCC meeting"? Could you give an update please? This was March 2023...