Jackson Animal Control, Jackson, MS Site Evaluation conducted May 20, 2021 Philip A. Bushby, DVM, MS, DACVS June 21, 2021 Background: Asite visit was conducted at the Jackson Animal Control Animal Shelter on Thursday, May 20, 2021. The site visit was conducted at the request of Lyn Crawford of the “Jackson Friends of ‘the Animal Shelter” and Debra Boswell, Executive Director of the Mississippi Animal Rescue League and with the permission of the Office of the Mayor and the Office of the Chief of Police. Conducting the evaluation was Dr. Philip Bushby. Dr. Bushby is the Marcia Lane Endowed Chair of Humane Ethics and Animal Welfare at the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine. He is a Professor Emeritus that works part-time at the College of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Bushby has been on the faculty since 1978, is a Boarded Veterinary Surgeon and established the Shelter Program at the College. Jackson Animal Control is a city run facility responsible for care of stray and relinquished animals for the city of Jackson, Mississippi. Administratively Jackson Animal Control falls under the jurisdiction of the Jackson Police Department. The shelter is located at 140 Outer Circle, Jackson, Mississippi. According to City documents “the Animal Control Unit is tasked with enforcing the Federal, State, and Local (City) Ordinances that pertain to Animals and Livestock within the City limits of Jackson, Mississippi. Animal Control was created to hold all irresponsible pet owners accountable while providing humane treatment and care for the animal until a suitable disposition is reached.” Operational policies, housing protocols, care of the animals and cleanliness of the facility were evaluated according to the "Guidelines for Standards of Care in Animal Shelters” (see attached) published in 2010 by the Association of Shelter Veterinarians (ASV) and using the Shelter Care Checklist (see attached) which is based on the ASV Guidelines document and published by the ‘American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The site evaluator and Lyn Crawford arrived at the Shelter at approximately 10:00 am and were initially denied access to the facility. Personnel at the shelter stated that they were unaware of the visit and could not allow the site evaluator in the facility without clearance. After several phone calls by Paul Perry to the Shelter Manager (who was not at the facility) and by Lyn Crawford to the Mayor's office, the site evaluator was allowed to tour the facility. This “delay” took approximately 45 minutes. During this delay Lyn Crawford took the site evaluator through the cat holding area and on a walk around the outside of the facility. When permission was finally granted for the site evaluator to enter the dog holding area, Lyn Crawford left, and the primary animal caretaker, Mike Burrell, guided the site evaluator through the dog holding faiTour of facilities: All dogs are housed in individual indoor runs all contained in one room. Runs have concrete floors, cinderblock walls and wire gates. Drains are located just outside (in front) of the runs. The drains are designed to have metal grates over them, but most of the medal grates had been removed and were simply leaning up against the walls of the room. Runs had been recently cleaned (hosed out). Floors of the runs, the dogs and the corridors in the housing room were all extremely wet. Obviously, runs are hosed out with the dogs present in the runs. Itis unknown if they were hosed out during the delay before the site evaluator was allowed entry. There were no empty runs. Most of the dogs did not have an elevated bed which would allow them to get off the wet concrete floor. Most of the dogs had water available, but at the time of the tour, none of the dogs had food available. Some runs had stainless steel food/water bowls present others had plastic bowls. Many had just one bowl, some had none. Oddly, there were kittens in the cat room, but no puppies were present in the shelter during the tour. There are two outdoor fenced-in “exercise” pens for dogs, but during the site evaluation no dogs were ever placed in those pens. If the pens are not used, it means that the dogs spend all day, every day, confined to small wet indoor concrete runs. There is an outdoor area that at ‘one time had been designated to allow potential adopters to visit with animals. The area is ‘overgrown with small trees and bushes, the gate at the outdoor entrance to the area has been welded shut, and the door to the area from the inside of the building was locked. Cats are housed in a separate room, either in stainless steel cages or wire crates. Some of the cages contain supplies provided by Friends of the Jackson Shelter. The cages with supplies were locked and according to Lyn Crawford this was to prevent the supplies from being stolen. According to Mr. Perry, and confirmed by Mr. Allen, shelter staff provide no care for the cats. Cats are cared for by a volunteer who assumes all responsibility for cleaning, feeding and watering. At the time of the tour through the facility (11:30 am to 12 noon) that volunteer had not yet arrived at the shelter. Cat cages were, therefore, dirty and the cats were in need of fresh food and water. Overall, the facility isin a state of disrepair. The reception desk, storage room, and the one office that the site evaluator could see are dirty and cluttered. One office, which was locked during the site evaluation has a window in the door and a large window that faces the reception desk. Both windows were blacked out making it impossible to see into the office nor was it possible to enter that office. Ceiling tiles are stained, possibly with mold or mildew. Concrete floors in the dog runs are not sloped to provide for drainage. Therefore, when runs are hosed out water simply stands in the runs. Some of the gates for the runs are damaged. ‘The missing grates for the drains in the kennel area create a hazard both for staff and animals. There are still trees and shrubs growing from the gutters on the back of the building. An email written on August 11, 2020 by Lyn Crawford and sent to [email protected], Jaye Coleman, [email protected], Debra Boswell, Elizabeth Jackson, and [email protected] listed numerous issues with maintenance of the building. With the exception of mowing the grounds around the facility it does not appear that any of the recommended repairs have been done.Operations: ‘After the tour of the facility Mr. Perry was available to answers questions. At no time during the site visit was the Shelter Director, Mr. Marquette Allen, present. When asked what happened to animals that were sick or injured, Mr. Perry stated that they were immediately transported to the Mississippi Animal Rescue League. When asked what was done when an animal needed to be euthanized, again the answer was that the animal was transported to the Mississippi Animal Rescue League. In a follow-up phone conversation with the Shelter Manager, he reiterated that sick, injured or animals scheduled for euthanasia were transported to MARL. Review of the MARL records for 2020 and 2021 reveal that 14 dogs were brought to MARL from Jackson Animal Control in February 2020, 14 dogs in March 2020, 15 dogs and 1 horse in September 2020 and 10 dogs in November 2020. No animals have been taken to MARL from Jackson Animal Control in the past 6 months. This leaves open the question of what happens with sick or injured animals or animals that need to be euthanized. ‘And what happens with sick or injured cats? There was no identifying information (names or numbers) on the animal enclosures or on the animals. There were no records available for review and no medical records. Mr. Perry could not tell the site evaluator exactly how many animals were present in the shelter at the time of the visit. (He estimated 60 dogs. No estimate was given for cats). In addition, Mr. Perry could not provide any statistics related to intake numbers, number of animals adopted, number placed in foster care, numbers transported to other rescues or shelters, or numbers of animals euthanized. Assessment: Put briefly the shelter violates even the most basic standards of care for animals in animal shelters. There are several operational approaches that put the health and wellbeing of the animals at the shelter at risI « Failure to properly identify each animal in the shelter. «+ Failure to vaccinate animals on admission to the shelter. * Hosing out runs with the animals present in the runs. ‘= Standing water in the runs with dogs present. '* Porous surfaces in the runs that do not allow for adequate cleaning. + Use of food and water bowls that cannot be adequately cleaned. + Failure to use the outdoor exercise pens, leaving dogs in small wet runs 24/7. * No ability to isolate sick animals. There is a concept in animal sheltering called Capacity for Care. The capacity for care is based on the number of enclosures available, the number of and training of shelter staff and the financial resources available. For animals to remain healthy and adoptable shelters must operate within their capacity for care. The number of animals at the Jackson Shelter on May 20, 2021, far exceeded their capacity for care. It is not possible for the current staff at the shelter to properly care for the number of animals that are present.‘Questions that need to be resolved: Noyaen Has the shelter not had a sick or injured animal in the past 6 months? What really happens to dogs and cats that are sick or injured? What criteria are used to determine if an animal is to be euthanized? Has the shelter not had an animal that needed to be euthanized in the past 6 months. What method is used to euthanize animals? Who performs euthanasia? What happens to puppies that are picked up by animal control or relinquished by owners? Do the shelter personnel have any responsibility for care of the cats in the facility? Recommendations: A decision must be made to determine if the mission of the Jackson Ar al Control shelter is, still, in part, to provide “humane treatment and care for the animal until a suitable disposition is reached.” If so, significant changes must be made in the facility and the operational po ies of the shelter. 1 ‘Arrangements should be made with a veterinarian to provide guidance on development of operational policies directed towards providing humane treatment and care of the animals at the shelter. * Staff should be trained in appropriate handling, cleaning, sanitation and animal welfare. (Dr. Watson's office has received a grant to provide a one-day training class covering the basics such as animal handling & care, breed identification, forms and record keeping, ordinances and how to investigate cruelty cases. It is highly encouraged that personnel from Jackson Animal Control attend this class. Debra Boswell or Beth Adcock can provide information about this class.) Ata minimum animals should be vaccinated with core vaccines on admission to the shelter. Ideally, they should be treated for internal and external parasites. * Additional outdoor exercise pens should be constructed, and the pens should be used. * Every animal should spend some time each day in the outdoor pens (weather permitting) Animals should be moved to the outdoor pens (or to vacant runs inside) when their runs are being cleaned. Runs should never be cleaned or hosed out with the animal present in the run, Cinderblock walls of the runs and the concrete floors of the runs should be sealed to facilitate cleaning and disinfection. * Cleaning should entail more than simply hosing out the runs with water. Organic material should be removed, surfaces should be cleaned with a detergent or degreaser, disinfectants should be applied and, depending on specific disinfectant, the run should then be hosed out. Animals should not be put back in the runs until they are dry.10. Every run should have an elevated bed to allow the dog to get off the hard concrete surface. * 11, Drains should be repaired if necessary and the metal grates should be reinstalled over the drains. * 12. Water and food bowls should be stainless steel and should be washed with detergent (ideally in a dishwasher with hot water) daily. The plastic bowls should be discarded. * 13. The entire facility needs a thorough cleaning. Trash and clutter should be eliminated, desks and counter tops should be cleaned and organized. 14. The blackout on the windows of that one office needs to be removed. 15. The floors in the runs in the dog holding kennel need to be modified to allow drainage of water to the drains. * 16. Ceiling tiles that are stained or damaged need to be replaced. * 17. Gates and latches for the gates to the dog runs need to be examined and repaired/replaced where needed. * 18. A room should be identified and equipped as an isolation room for injured or sick animals. 19. The isolation room should have a separate heating and cooling system to prevent air exchange from the sick animals to the healthy animals. * 20. Identifying information for each animal should be posted on the animal's enclosure. 21, Records should be maintained in a manner that makes it easy to determine intake and outcome data. ‘The care of cats in the shelter should be reviewed. Do the shelter personnel have any responsibility for care of these animals? What is done when the volunteer that currently cares for the cats is sick or out of town? This report is submitted with full recognition that several of the recommendations (marked with an *) will require funding that exceeds the current budget of the shelter. Other recommendations are simply operational and could be implemented with minimal or no additional cost. ‘One option to provide funding for the improvements would be to establish an annual animal licensing fee with the funds generated by such a fee designated specifically for the shelter. The fee could be minimal for sterilized pets and should be significantly higher for reproductively intact dogs and cats. Not only would this generate funds to improve the facility and the care of animals at the shelter, but it would provide incentive for individuals to spay or neuter their pets. Respectfully submitted, YH bre /. D0 Philip A. Bushby, DV¥g, MS, ACVS Marcia Lane Endowed Chair of Humane Ethics and Animal Welfare [email protected] 662-312-5654Photos: Wet dogs in wet runs: Drains without grates between rows of runs: 4 Wet floors in kennel:Cat room: Supplies provided by the Jackson Friends of the Animal Shelter stored in locked cages to prevent theft. Celling tiles soiled / damaged: Office windows blacked out: a 7 "z—S Plants growing in gutters: