A volunteer for the Union County Animal Protection Society (UCAPS) raised concerns this week about the City of El Dorado’s contract for animal control services following ongoing discussions among the City Council on the same topic.
“The folks that are supposed to be overseeing this program are not really actively managing it, so they don’t really know the ins-and-outs of it or how they should hold the service provider accountable,” said Angelica Wurth, a longtime UCAPS volunteer.
In May, El Dorado City Council member Willie McGhee, who represents Ward 3, asked the Council to review the city’s annual contracts, including the one for animal control, which is held by Union County/El Dorado Animal Control Officer Charles Hartsell for $70,000 each year.
Council member Andre Rucks, who also represents Ward 3, noted that not even the mayor is paid that much; her salary is $68,000 per year.
TNR Funding
UCAPS previously received funding from the city for its trap-neuter-return (TNR) program that targets the stray and feral cat colonies in El Dorado and Union County for spaying and neutering to prevent their population growth.
In 2020, the City Council approved $10,000 for the TNR program, and Wurth explained at the time that typically, that level of funding would cover TNR services for approximately 75 cats, including the spay/neuter procedure and recovery time, a rabies vaccination, humane traps and incidental costs; however, the city’s support helped to heighten awareness and subsequently donations to the nonprofit, and UCAPS ultimately was able to TNR 270 cats last year.
When UCAPS approached the Council this year for funding — with a recommendation for funding approval from the El Dorado Works Board, which administers the city’s one-cent city sales tax for economic development, municipal infrastructure and quality-of-life projects, under its hat — , they were denied.
“We did great. They (the EWB) were happy with the results,” Wurth said. “The next thing is for us to present it to City Council, and you know, we had met with them and reported our results and they were like ‘great job, thank you, that’s awesome, good job, good job.’ And then when we went back and asked for the money, they’re like ‘no.’”
Five of the eight Council members voted against continuing funding for the TNR program this year: Ward 1 representative Billy Blann, Ward 2 representatives Judy Ward and Vance Williamson and Ward 4 representatives Paul Choate and Dianne Hammond.
Wurth said UCAPS volunteers tried to set meetings with each of the dissenting Council members but each declined, instead inviting them to attend a regular City Council meeting.
“Needless to say, it was very disappointing and surprising, and so we’ve been trying to figure out what is their objection. Like what are we not doing to support the mission of the city with animal control, right? Because they have an animal control program, but it’s not animal control – it’s dog control,” she said.
‘Dog control’
According to previous News-Times reporting, Hartsell’s contract calls for dog control services, including catching and impounding dogs that run at large in the city, serving as dog pound master and keeping records of all dogs “captured, impounded, adopted, euthanized and disposed of.”
Hartsell noted in February that for the first time in the nearly 10 years since he took the animal control officer contract, every dog that was in the pound had been adopted out, and the pound stayed empty for at least a week. He couldn’t be reached Saturday afternoon to talk more about the services he provides.
The ACO is also authorized to issue citations for violations of city ordinances regarding animals and may work with the El Dorado Police Department on enforcement actions.
Wurth said that after volunteers were turned down for meetings with Council members, they turned to Robert Edmonds, director of Public Works for the city, to learn more.
“He was very nice and very open to meeting with us; for that, I’m grateful. That’s what it should be, right? You’re a city service provider through our tax dollars,” she said. “We met at his office and had a whole list of questions, like ‘what are the services the city provides, according to your understanding?’ … ‘How are complaints captured and managed?’”
She said she and UCAPS Board President Terra Walker questioned Edmonds on everything from animal control’s hours of operation and its record-keeping requirements to the city’s contract enforcement and accountability standards.
“The (answers) were very sporadic and ‘I don’t know,’” she said.
Wurth said Edmonds referred them to the EPD, who the ACO works with on enforcement actions. An officer answered the volunteers’ questions via email, saying that the ACO didn’t work under the EPD, but confirming that they do work together at times. She said the officer said nothing the ACO does is reported to the EPD.
“Public works says ‘it’s not us, talk to the police’ and the police are like ‘we don’t manage it, talk to them,’” she said. “It’s like hot potato … It’s not being managed, basically.”
Another way
Currently, UCAPS receives all of its estimated $250,000 annual operating budget from donations. Union County does contribute some funds each year to the TNR program, as does the United Way of Union County.
The services UCAPS provides include the TNR program; shelter services for stray dogs and cats; animal transport, where animals are taken to other states for adoption; and temporary foster care for animals.
Additionally, the UCAPS Adoption Center houses a number of cats – Wurth said as recently as last week, there were 50 cats, mostly kittens there – and will soon be a hub for educational programs that were halted last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wurth said if the city were to put out a request for proposals when Hartsell’s contract expires, UCAPS would likely put a bid in to provide whatever services it could.
“I think we would be able to provide the same services that are being provided today and so much more, in that we would try to put – I think the idea is to provide something that’s a little bit more comprehensive that would help the city to see how there would be less animals around and more responsibility to pet owners,” she said.
For example, Wurth said she thinks it would be important to emphasize local animal ordinances more than they are now, and perhaps pass new ordinances to increase the responsibility of pet owners, and to have a robust record-keeping system documenting everything from complaints and calls for service to ordinance-enforcement actions taken.
“The key to decreasing the number of free-roaming, homeless animals is education,” she said. “I would think that something that we would think about is a lot more comprehensive in nature and would address the root cause instead of just the outcome.”
Accountability
Wurth said she thinks the main issues with the animal control contract, and potentially other contracts for service the city has, are that there haven’t been opportunities for other vendors, including other local small businesses and nonprofits, to make their own proposals to provide services and, from her experience, that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of oversight of the animal control program.
“How do we know it makes sense for us to spend that kind of money? We don’t,” she said. “We (UCAPS) have documentation, evidenced-based back-up to show you what we did. … How are they holding other service providers accountable? And that’s my question as a citizen of this city where I’m paying taxes.”
She said a lot of residents of the community already turn to UCAPS for animal control services, like picking up stray animals.
“We haven’t said call the city because we want to help, but we can only help so much,” she said. “We want to more positively impact the community … but without city and county support, we can’t do it.”