0:13 I'd like to welcome everyone to the May 11 5 30 meeting of the Tulsa Animal Welfare Commission meeting.
0:22 You can view this on Cox Channel 24 or TGov Online dot or T.
0:33 We'll get that right.
0:35 So we will now call the meeting to order and roll call, please.
0:47 Well, has everyone had a chance to review the minutes?
0:51 And does anybody have any discussion or questions?
1:03 It's been moved and approved to approve the minutes as submitted by the staff.
1:10 Queenswall area yay.
1:15 We're gonna move on to number three new animal services facility update.
1:23 I've given you a two-page document that kind of gives a picture of the three-week look ahead.
1:31 Uh also provided a couple photos for you over there that you could share that is a reflection of what's happening out there.
1:40 Um, it's looking good, it's coming along.
1:43 We do have an updated date for keys in hand to be 9:22.
1:50 Pretty excited about it.
1:53 Um, they're working on concrete curb and gutters.
1:57 I was out there Friday.
2:00 Um looks very different than when we first started.
2:04 We're working on walls and tile, um sanding drywall paint, um, some of the circuit branches, um, concrete pads.
2:19 So most of the inside work is now like you you can actually see the office coming together.
2:27 Uh you see the community room and volunteer room coming together.
2:32 Is this your office?
2:34 I I do have an office there that doesn't have a hundred boxes in it.
2:38 Yeah, I was gonna say, I hope it's nicer.
2:43 And it has a window.
2:47 So it's coming along.
2:48 If you haven't um seen it, if you want to tour, just give me a shout and we'll go out there and you can see the progress.
2:57 Okay, it's worth going out.
2:58 I was out, was it a month ago or three weeks ago?
3:02 Yeah, it's really exciting to see.
3:04 I need to get out there.
3:05 Oh man, that's really exciting to see the party.
3:07 Yeah, we're happy to let you tour, so just let me know.
3:10 But we just don't want to keep I know we know you're busy, but yeah, I'd sure like this.
3:16 It'd be worth your trip, trust me.
3:20 We'll do number four, staff update budget proposal.
3:24 So, just kind of give you an update, bless you.
3:28 About our current staffing.
3:30 We're doing very well, uh, almost fully staffed.
3:34 When our when we lose a kent worker, we usually we're using a temp worker, and a lot of the temp workers apply to be full-time, so we're staying consistent.
3:43 We have one ACO position uh to fill just because somebody got promoted and went to the clinic.
3:50 Um we have for a proposed budget.
3:54 We did our budget presentation last Wednesday.
3:58 Um we have 45 current team members, including myself, and our proposed would move us to 53.
4:06 So we'll see how that goes for this this upcoming budget year, but uh fingers crossed that we'll have more team members in the new facility when we start, and we'll be able to provide more services for the community if we can do that.
4:25 When will that process start of being able to the hiring process for any new employees right now?
4:32 Um when the new budget cycle starts.
4:36 Okay, so you'll begin that hiring process immediately.
4:39 And it takes, I mean, it takes a little while to go through and do the interview process and make sure that human resources is certifying the applicants and all those good things.
4:51 But we kind of have that expedited process now, so they've worked really well with us.
4:57 We've got a great HR team, and they know how important it is for us to get positions filled.
5:02 So hopefully it wouldn't take too long.
5:08 There was one, so knowing that we have a vacant one, but I think we do have a candidate.
5:13 Uh that is the hardest position to fill.
5:17 Just because of the work, the nature of the work, the requirements, it is the hardest position that we have.
5:26 A lot better than where where we were and had so few.
5:31 So we good we're building a long way.
5:34 Yeah, we're building a really good team.
5:35 Yeah, that's awesome.
5:38 Alright, number five, spay neuter campaign kickoff tentatively in June.
5:44 So we're hoping to do this in June.
5:50 Uh it's more of a educational and um information campaign.
6:00 Uh our communications departments put some things together and we've been discussing a lot about it, but um this will be actually a kickoff with hopefully a clinic that would be free to the public.
6:13 We're working on the details for that.
6:16 I have been uh working with Best Friends Animal Society on some spay neuter information and statistical research and data.
6:24 Um I love that our community and our partners do so much work.
6:32 It's just sad that it doesn't really reflect what needs to be accomplished in a year.
6:38 So those are the things that we're looking at.
6:40 Just uh kind of give you a wave top of that.
6:43 Um I took SPCA, Humane Society of Tulsa, our numbers, Spay OK numbers.
6:50 You know, there's some other organizations that do one-offs, and I only focused on the city of Tulsa.
6:55 Uh about 413,000 people.
6:59 And with the formula that we came up with in Best Friends, they they pulled a group together, a team.
7:06 There's just not a lot of research out there about it, but they actually pulled this together for us and we went through it.
7:14 Um our community did over eleven thousand sterilization procedures in 2025.
7:23 Um services did over 4600.
7:27 Um, so that says a lot about what we are doing as a community partners as as team members with each other, but even with the data and the formula we used, we're still eight to ten thousand off of where we need to be in a year's time.
7:44 So, you know, having more education, letting more people know about this, and finding ways that we can try to do something about it for the future.
7:56 Uh, the more we front load, the better the results is gonna be.
8:00 So we're trying to figure those things out, and we just want to educate the community and let them know about these things and see if we can't see some change for the future because if we could do this, we might see change in three to five years.
8:16 But there's not so many animals coming into a municipal shelter.
8:20 There's not so many animals losing their lives at the municipal shelter.
8:25 Uh the reality is we take them all.
8:28 Um we can't pick and choose who we take.
8:30 We can't you know pick and choose if puppies come in and they're actively dying of Farvo when they come in the the back door.
8:39 So those things are, I mean, they'll break your heart, but it makes you realize that we got to do more about this.
8:45 So that's our our mission is to keep on uh doing the research, the data, and then trying to find some mechanism, hopefully some funding to do something about it in the future.
8:58 But kudos to all the partner agencies that have done so much already because I can't imagine what kind of situation we would be in if we didn't have those people doing those things every single day.
9:11 I think Tolson's will when they hear this campaign it'll surprise them how many numbers we've got to get to and hopefully people will that that's a good education thing because I don't think people understand that.
9:28 I think it's gonna be and also just really important for all the different agencies and groups and everybody to understand people are working really hard to try to address this.
9:38 But there is just this barrier to the total numbers that need to happen and hopefully that'll create a collective sense of something can change.
9:46 And we have I mean tentatively a date but not set in stone but I have reached out to our partners to say please you know come to this the date changes we'll let you know but we we need to stand united when we do this and well there'll be some cool components of the campaign as well so um I think people will be pleased and hopefully this is gonna start uh an initiative that you know we won't stop we'll just keep keep going down that path to find out how we can change things.
10:22 I'm excited I'm very excited about that because if we don't change the culture we won't change change this so we've got to do the education to change the culture.
10:31 And I really appreciate that you you and uh best friends have looked at a formula in presenting this so it's it's not leading with the emotion there's really it's based in data and you have in fact but you also have parameters like here is where we pulled this information from recognizing that there are some spanioters that aren't being counted within this that this gives a general perspective and here's where we pulled the data from and I think for especially in an education campaign and for this community that hasn't happened in that broad of a spectrum so really that takes a lot of work and time so thank you they they've been so great to help us with this and yes there's people that do one-offs you know and we didn't calculate those but we're talking about like major change right but again I mean I have to applaud all of those partner agencies that have done any kind of clinic to assist with this overpopulation problem that we're facing it's a crisis I mean it's a crisis in Tulsa it's a crisis in Oklahoma so every little bit does help but we need to do a little bit more.
11:39 And thank you for spearheading that we appreciate it.
11:45 All right number six old business there's no items I ask a quick question actually on that just um and you may not have an update that's okay I know it's a little off agenda but we talked last month of or I think I missed last one of the last meetings about first responder status and was there and I know one of the things was that the commissioners if we needed to write letters or contact anyone are there any updates on anything you need from us on that or is that sort of an aestasis no there's not um and in terms of it being old business you know I sent out the um kind of legislative agenda that Texas used yeah just to make sure like if everybody's watched it from commissioner perspective might be something we discuss maybe at the next meeting see if everybody has had an opportunity to do that and then I don't know if there's like a couple of you that would want to work on it or the whole committee but we would probably connect with our legal person here to be able to communicate and see if we couldn't make that happen for the next session.
12:53 Okay great thank you I just like to stations I that's a good question.
12:59 Alright so there's no items on the under the old business right Sherry.
13:04 No ma'am all right and number seven their new business no items on new business and number eight I don't believe we have any comments.
13:16 There's no comments all right meeting it's thank you all right and now you've got a campaign