Pets in Lake Forest - Update

Here’s an update on activities concerning animals (and their owners) in the City.

CMAACC

The City Managers Association Animal Care Committee (“CMAACC”) is a subcommittee of the Orange County City Managers Association. Staff-level representatives from all Orange County Animal Care (“OCAC”) member cities participate on this committee. The committee provides a forum for communication between OCAC, City Managers, and additional staff regarding financial and operational matters of OCAC. The CMAACC is referenced in the Animal Care Services Agreement between participating cities and OCAC.

Despite requests (for years) to make their minutes public, the authorities have refused to do so. The City, however, now makes available to you the updates provided by city staff to the Council.

Click Here to access the information dating back to January 2018.

FWIW – No other city provides this information for their residents.

ANIMAL WELFARE COMMITTEE

We are in the process of forming an Animal Welfare Committee, not unlike the recent Special Needs Committee created a few months ago. The purpose is to provide feedback to the City on all issues and policies impacting people and their pets.

Though they are not common, there’s nothing new about having an Animal Welfare Committee. Cities with Commissions or Committees include Los Angeles, Berkeley, Tarzana, Sherman Oaks, San Francisco, etc.

The first meeting of the committee will be July 19 at 6:30 at the Pet Adoption Center (24331 Muirlands Blvd).

HOARDING

The latest information is that almost 100 cats and kittens were taken from a hoarder in Lake Forest. Some of them were dead and some had to be euthanized, but the vast majority were basically healthy although they had been woefully neglected.

The District Attorney is pursuing charges against the hoarder, and also trying to recoup some of the costs to the City, which will likely exceed $100,000. Hoarding is not merely a crime, not merely morally reprehensible, it also ends up costing the City a lot of money. If you think your neighbor is hoarding cats, you owe it to the cats as well as your neighbors to report the incident.

ADOPTION/FOSTER

The hoarding case comes at the worst time, when the annual increase in kittens happens. Thus the City has more than its normal share of kittens for adoption. In addition, we have a bunch of cats and kittens that need foster homes – otherwise they will remain at the County shelter which is not the best home.

Dream Rescue is helping us place these cats and kittens. I’ve got two of them in my home right now (See photos). You can reach Dream Rescue at 949 836 5664 or Dreamanimalrescue@gmail.com. Tell them you’re from Lake Forest and you’re interested in fostering cats and kittens.

ALTERNATIVE SHELTER

We have been busy talking with other cities about hosting our local animals and leaving the County shelter. While there is no doubt that the new shelter is physically significantly better than the 76 year old shelter it replaced, many people are worried that the quality of care may not be as sterling as the new physical environment. I’ve ordered an analysis of the data for the first 3+ months since they opened, but in the meantime, we are exploring the possibilities of joining with other cities. I expect some decisions to be made by September.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest where he serves as Mayor. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His Twitter handle is @DrJimGardner. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a town hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be Aug 16 at 7 pm at the Lake 1 Clubhouse (Ridge Route).