COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA PUBLIC HEARING COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES - - - Room 400, City Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Monday, November 15, 2004, 10:22 a.m. - - - Resolution 040954 - Resolution authorizing the Committee on Public Health and Human Services to hold public hearings to examine and investigate the practices and operations of the city-funded Philadelphia Animal Care and Control Association and to investigate alleged events wherein family pets have been euthanized despite attempts of said pet-owners to reclaim their lost pets. PRESENT: COUNCILWOMAN MARIAN B. TASCO, Chair COUNCILWOMAN BLONDELL REYNOLDS-BROWN COUNCILMAN JACK KELLY COUNCILMAN JAMES F. KENNEY COUNCILMAN RICHARD T. MARIANO COUNCILWOMAN DONNA REED-MILLER COUNCILMAN FRANK RIZZO - - - V A R A L L O Incorporated Litigation Support Services 1835 Market Street, Suite 600 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 215.561.2220 215.567.2670 2 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 - - - P R O C E E D I N G S - - -
Good morning. My name is Marion Tasco, and I'm Chair of the Committee on Public Health and Human Services. We're here today to have a public discussion on a resolution introduced by Councilman Jack Kelly, Resolution Number 040954, and we will ask the Clerk to please reads the resolution.
Resolution 040954, authorizing the Committee on Public Health and Human Services to hold public hearings to examine and investigate the practices and operations of the city-funded Philadelphia Animal Care and Control Association, and to investigate alleged events wherein family pets have been euthanized, despite attempts of said pet owners to reclaim their lost pets.
Thank you very much. 3 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 Before we begin with our panelists, the Councilman would like to have an opening statement. Councilman Kelly.
Yes. Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to take this time right now to thank Councilwoman Tasco for having an immediate hearing. She acted very swiftly, and I think we all appreciate her efforts in getting this hearing started. I think that... I'm troubled by a lot of things that I've been reading about. And incidentally, I want to take this time now to commend and thank Stu Bykofsky a columnist for the Daily News... (Applause and cheers.)
...for bringing that to our attention. And I think it's something that has to be dealt with, and I think we have to make some swift changes to the policies that are currently being experienced by animal control in the City of Philadelphia. 4 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 You know, a lot of people think that, well, it's just animals. I don't think that way. I've been privileged to have pets most of my life. And I'll tell you one thing: Pets are a member of the family. They're a member of the family. And they're going to be treated -- And we sit in this Council, and we try to do everything we can to protect the citizens of our City. And we certainly have been overlooking the other members of the family, and that's the animals of Philadelphia. And that's what we want to do now. I want to have -- (Applause and cheers.)
I know there's going to be a lot of testimony, and I'm going to have the officials who have been providing this care to come and to give us their side of the story. I want to hear it. I have a lot of questions about their policies. And if it takes action by this Council, I think everyone here is 5 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 committed to do something to make sure that our animals are protected in the City of Philadelphia. And I want to thank everyone here for coming today. I know your time is very, very important. And by showing up today, you're telling me something. You're telling me that you want this action and you want this action to be taken not next week, next month or next year; immediately; today, if possible. (Applause.)
So with that, I will defer any further questions until the people responsible for handling animal control come up here and I will give this back to the Chair, Councilwoman Tasco.
Thank you. Certainly we appreciate the efforts of Councilman Kelly to bring this debate and discussion before the Council, and particularly this committee. During the course of the day, we will hear a lot of testimony. And what we'd 6 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 like to do is ask you for your respect for each other, and during the time the panelists are presenting their testimony. We will have our first panel, the Health Department. We've asked Commissioner John Domzalski and Deputy Commissioner Carmen Paris to come forth. Good morning, Commissioner. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Good morning, Chairman Tasco. I appreciate the opportunity to be here. I am John Domzalski, Health Commissioner, for the department of Public Health. I have prepared testimony. And the way I have organized the presentation, Madam Chair, is that I would give a presentation; and then we would have the newly-appointed interim executive director of the Philadelphia Animal Care and Control Agency provide operational testimony as well.
All right. Thank you. Before you begin, let me just state 7 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 that we do have present Councilwoman Donna Miller as part of this panel. And other members of the Committee will join us soon. Thank you. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Chairwoman Tasco, Councilman Kelly, Councilwoman Miller, I do have prepared testimony. I would like to preface that testimony with just a statement that reflects the way the Department of Public Health, the City of Philadelphia, regards this issue. First of all, and most important, there is no room anywhere in any of our facilities for uncaring treatment of animals; none. Certainly that applies to any association or agency associated with the City of Philadelphia. It applies in an over abundance, where any facility that's associated with the Department of Public Health. I have read the news accounts of the situations that have been reported at PACCA. I have looked at the cases that have been 8 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 reported on individual animals. And I will tell you that when you look at these, you have to identify -- and clearly we do -- that we have problems in these areas, without question. Those problems will be and are being addressed. I will tell you, of particular interest to me, were the e-mails that came in to Stu Bykofsky. I believe when I looked at them, there might have been just under a thousand of them. And when I looked at those e-mails, I teased out the e-mails that were from people who were doing more than expressing a sentiment about that agency. These were -- These were expressions from people who had direct contact with the agency. They weren't responding to other newspaper reports. They weren't responding to something that someone had told them. These were individuals who had direct contact with the animal care and control agency. 9 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 And I will tell you in the past several weeks, maybe two and a half weeks or more, I've spent time in that facility. I've been in the facility. I met with our board, the PACCA board. I've met with individual employees as I've gone through the facility, and I've met with the employees as a group. I will tell you that on the basis of that, and looking -- and looking at those e-mails, and looking at some of the incidents that have been reported, I believe that those -- a number of those incidents, those egregious incidents, did occur. I will go a step further and tell you that we take the care of animals seriously, so seriously that under the direction of the board, any individual who is identified as not caring for an animal in an appropriate manner, will be disciplined. In fact, I would like to see that individual fired. ) COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: More than 10 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 that, just as it is not acceptable to abuse any being in the care of the City, so it is equally not acceptable to abuse anyone who -- any animal that is in the care of the City. And indeed, should any future abuse occur or reports thereof, I will direct that those be investigated for possible prosecution under -- under the animal cruelty laws of this Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. ) COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: I will also tell you that as a result of meeting with those employees, that there's a lot of good things that have happened at PACCA. They don't make the front page of the newspapers because they -- And I'm not suggesting that they should. Good, competent humane, caring behavior must be the norm in any animal facility. It must be the norm in our facility as well.
And when we look forward to where we're going to be going with this issue, I am asking our new interpreter -- interim executive director and Deputy Commissioner 11 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 Carmen Paris, to work with the board to create an ethos in that agency, so that when people identify individuals who inappropriately treat animals, that there is an expectation that that will be reported up the line. I'm not suggesting that we excuse supervisors or management of their role to oversee that function, but to have an obligation on the part of every employee to report inappropriate behavior as they see it. I believe that is a good way to separate the people who do care for animals, who have done good things, from those individuals who need to be dealt with much more differently, much more severely, and to be fired and be out of there. I'd like to tell you a little now about the history and how we came to be in animal control in the City of Philadelphia. Prior to early 1980's, the management of animal control was the responsibility of the Philadelphia Police Department. 12 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 At that time the program was shifted to the Department of Public Health, where it remains today. The City traditionally provided animal control services through a contract with an outside agency. Initially, both the Women's Humane Society and the Pennsylvania SPCA were involved on some sort of an alternating basis with these contracts. The Pennsylvania SPCA later became the sole provider, and had been for approximately years. 14 On December 13, 2000, the Board of 15 the Pennsylvania SPCA gave notice to the city 16 that, starting in fiscal year 2003, it would 17 no longer provide these services for the 18 City. 19 The Pennsylvania SPCA agreed to 20 provide the services only through 2002, in 21 order to allow the department time to 22 transfer these services elsewhere. 23 The Pennsylvania SPCA decision to no 24 longer perform animal control services was 25 consistent with many animal welfare agencies 13 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 across the country, who saw the large-scale euthanization of unwanted, unadoptable animals as an inappropriate mission for an animal welfare agency. The Pennsylvania SPCA also believed that the city payment for animal control services was substantially below the actual cost of those services, forcing them to subsidize what they saw as a government responsibility. As we moved forward to develop an appropriate alternative, we learned how correct the SPCA was. They were delivering these services for approximately one-third of the city's current cost. Before arriving at the decision to establish the Philadelphia Animal Care and Control Association as a city-controlled, non-profit agency, the department looked for other qualified agencies to provide this service. No other agencies were interested, and the creation of another agency within the city government was not feasible, given the 14 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 limited time frame. The creation of a non-profit agency to provide animal control services was clearly the best way to hire qualified staff, control costs, and build a program in the limited time available. Limited time available, we're talking about months, which later slipped 10 to about 19 and three-quarter months by the 11 time of actual implementation. 12 Many of the original PACCA staff 13 members had, in fact, acquired much animal 14 handling skill and knowledge through years of 15 experience with the Pennsylvania SPCA. 16 In staffing the new agency, it was 17 understood that the Pennsylvania SPCA would 18 continue to accept adoptable animals from residents of the City of Philadelphia. And the role of the new agency would be to perform all of the traditional animal control functions with a limited adoption program.
We believe that adoptions clearly fell within the animal welfare mission of the 15 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 Pennsylvania SPCA. SPCA had the skill and a proven track record of successfully placing many of Philadelphia's unwanted animals. In fact, in the first ten months of fiscal year 2000, the SPCA successfully placed almost 6,500 animals in new homes. Unfortunately, we learned that the adoption function, as it applied to PACCA, would not apply. The Pennsylvania SPCA would only respond to situations of certain injured animals or animals in distress. All other animals would have to go to PACCA. And that required a substantial change in PACCA's mission that we are still working to resolve. It also increased significantly the number of animals that would need to go through the doors of this city-controlled shelter. This is a burden that I believe should not have been necessary. The staff of PACCA certainly proved to be up to the task of doing adoptions. And I will just digress a second 16 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 here, because when this agency took over and took form, the idea in the first year was, they would do some adoptions, but they would do a limited number of adoptions. I found that just absolutely unacceptable, that we would do a limited number of adoptions, regardless of what the situation was. So I directed -- and that was some of the mission -- the rescue agency people, and some of the board members to talk about the fact that we needed to drastically ratchet up adoptions. I believe, in retrospect, that that was the right thing to do. However, what it also created was a change in the operating plan of PACCA, so that they needed to divert an increased number of resources to do adoptions and get animals out into places to be adopted. And those animals, in fact, are better off having done that. But it did significantly change the staffing, the demand on the existing staff in that agency. 17 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 In the fiscal year that just ended, PACCA successfully arranged for the adoption of almost 4400 animals. They also placed an additional 1,055 animals with rescue organizations. And I can only imagine what these numbers would have been if we had had the active support and access to the adoption program of the Pennsylvania SPCA. I'm not sure why PACCA and the SPCA, the two largest shelters in Philadelphia, do not have this kind of a relationship. I know that the boards of both agencies are committed to the welfare of animals. And while there may be some differences in their mission, their concern for animals is paramount to each of those boards. I believe this is an area we can get back on what I believe is the right track, and I believe, when we talk to our boards to tell them that we expect them to work together for the combine and mutual purpose of improving the lot of Philadelphia's 18 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 animals, particularly those animals that are unwanted. You know, I mean, when you just look -- I believe -- I believe -- and this is, you know, again, and by no way intended to be a criticism. It has to do with the way we each look at our different mission. All right? I believe charity begins at home. All right? And I believe the helping hand that we reach out to animals ought to include Philadelphia and in Philadelphia. So, I get a little concerned and maybe sometimes upset when I see that, for example, in one of the most recent months I looked at, that only 14 animals from PACCA came to the SPCA were taken by the Pennsylvania SPCA, while in that same period 150 animals were brought from elsewhere across the state. The SPCA tells me, Commissioner, you've got to look. We've got a statewide mission. Understandably, they do. I would just like to work with them to see if we 19 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 can't get that mission effected a little closer to home here in Philadelphia.
There are some changes that will be occurring in the near future at PACCA that will have a significant impact on the way the Philadelphia community responds to the needs of animals. Clearly, the Alliance for Philadelphia's Animals is a very important process. We have in the government at this time being reviewed a memorandum of understanding with the Alliance for Philadelphia's Animals. We believe that will give us access to resources, some of which is certainly financial resources. But the other is an ability and an umbrella through which to bring a wide variety of animal agencies, PACCA, the Philadelphia -- Pennsylvania SPCA, the rescue missions and others, that can work toward improving the situation with Philadelphia's animals. What I have described above is certainly important. It does not mean that 20 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 we can ignore the problems at PACCA that exist. I recently met with many of the employees at that agency and heard first hand the many good stories concerning successful placements of unwanted animals, as well as a substantial number of animals that were returned to their owners. I have also read, as I said before, the e-mails that were sent to Stu Bykofsky at the Daily News, and to others, and have had -- that have had, an understatement, a less than desirable experience. As I said in my opening statement, that will change. The PACCA board recently hired an interim executive director, who has the responsibility to address these issues. And he's already begun to address them. I have assigned my deputy, Carmen Paris, to work directly with the new interim executive director, to ensure that PACCA meets the department's requirements to operate a clean, safe and humane shelter. 21 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 I asked both of them to tell me what additional resources they need to meet that requirement. They have already told me that they need additional staff. And I have agreed to support that. A volunteer and rescue coordinator has already been hired. And we expect to see a substantial difference in the relationship with rescue missions, and a more positive experience for those volunteers who have been willing to work and to improve the care given to animals of PACCA. Many of the physical changes necessary to improve the facility have been completed. Air conditioning was installed when the ventilation system proved inadequate. New drains have been installed to more adequately meet the needs of the shelter, and the telephone system has been improved. We will continue to work with PACCA to complete the physical needs of the shelter. 22 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 We'll closely monitor our contract with PACCA. We will insist that all animals be treated humanely, and we will insist that employees of PACCA who are unwilling to do that are replaced, fired, and potentially prosecuted. PACCA is a small agency, and any vacancies can create serious problems. PACCA lost a veterinarian and a veterinarian technician within a short period of time, and we are actively working to replace and fill those positions. We have already begun to change the makeup of the board, to include individuals active in the animal welfare community. More outside directors will be included within the next month. And we are on target, should the opportunity present itself, to spin this organization off as an independent nonprofit, capable of providing animal care and control services to our community, with the support of the city. I would also hope that, as a result of this conversation that we're having this 23 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 morning, that we'll be able to address the issue of more responsible pet ownership in Philadelphia.
Until we have large-scale spay and neutering programs, a licensing program that ensures that all lost animals can be identified and returned to their owners, and good education programs to ensure that our citizens understand their responsibilities as pet owners, shelters like PACCA will continue to run at capacity. If we can come together and work as a community to resolve these issues that I have described, the success of PACCA will be assured. And working with our partners, the SPCA and other animal welfare agencies across the city, the real winners in Philadelphia will be Philadelphia's animals. ) COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: I will tell you, just in terms of what the future looks like, in terms of what we really need in this city to deal with animals, almost 35,000 animals that came into the shelter last year 24 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 principally fall into two categories. They are injured; they are sick; they are strays. And that's about half. And the other half are unwanted, are unwanted. Make a decision, I'm going to have a pet. And then somewhere along the line, that decision turns out not to be convenient any more. So what we need, in terms of a program to meet the needs of this city, we want, one, responsible decision-making regarding having a pet in the first place. We need a good spay and neutering program available across the city. We need adherence to licensing. Licensing. Licensing is a good -- is a good thing to have because if your animal's licensed, we can identify who it is. And we returned over 800 licensed animals to the City of Philadelphia -- to residents of the Philadelphia last year. And aside from all of that, it's the law. People should not have a dog in this city that isn't licensed. If you have a dog 25 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 and it's not licensed, you're not complying with Philadelphia's laws. Now, I don't know how many people that are in this room have dogs and who live in the City of Philadelphia. And I won't ask for a show of hands how many do and how many have them licensed. But I'll tell you this: On either side of this room, I've got staff with applications for licenses for the City of Philadelphia license applications. People, we need to have responsible pet ownership. We have to have spay and neutering. We have to have licensing. We have to have immunization of our animal population in this city. The bigger picture is, I'm committed to work with all animal agencies through our new interim executive director, with my deputy, Carmen Paris; and personally, as the situation warrants to work with, to work with my good friend, Eric Hendrick, over at the SPCA, to work with the board of the SPCA, and to encourage our new board members to work 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 effectively, effectively across the board, including with the SPCA board, so that we can really bring about a new day for these -- for our animals and in Philadelphia. The most innocent in all of this are the animals, and they have been bearing the brunt across the board for decades. We need to change that. Madam Chair, I appreciate the opportunity; Councilwoman Reynolds-Brown, Councilwoman Donna Reed-Miller, Councilman Kelly, for the opportunity to present this testimony this morning. The next man we had was for our new interim executive director to talk about the operations at PACCA, if that's satisfactory.
Yes, but I'd like to ask some questions before we go to the operation.
Yes, ma'am. As the Commissioner for the Department of Health, who is in charge of PACCA? I mean, who has the ultimate responsibility for the operation of that agency? 27 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: The PACCA board has the responsibility.
What is the role of the Health Department? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: The Health Department... Well, first of all, the Health Department created the board. All right? As an option for providing these services. The role of the Health Department is to provide the funding that we do to the agency, and to continue doing that. And the responsibility of the department is to ensure that the services rendered in PACCA are appropriate, that they are done in a caring and humane way, that the agency operate a safe, efficient, humane shelter. And when those requirements are not being met, to insist that changes be made so that they can be met. And one of those changes has been the insistence of a new interim executive director.
But who from the Health Department monitors all of that 28 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 that you just talked about? Who visits PACCA to see that all of those requirements are being implemented? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Well, first I have to say that all of the functions in the Health Department, whether they're done right or not right, are my responsibility. All right? And that having been said, there are a number of people who assist me in discharging that responsibility. My deputy, Carmen Paris, who, by the way, assumed this function just a little over a year ago. All right? So, she wasn't there at the beginning, the creation or whatever. But thanks to the work of Carmen Paris and her -- the way that she has taken an interest in this facility, has gone a long way to our being able to not only verify the issues that have been reported about conditions at PACCA, but also allows us to have a little more hands-on up there, to be able to make those changes. So, Carmen Paris is a great assist to me in this process. 29 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04
So, does the Health Department set the standards of operation for the agency? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Yes. We did that in our contract with the agency, set out standards, as well as... And we created those in consultation with the former provider of the SPCA. But, you know, in terms of where we need to go, in terms of standards, I'm not at all sure that we've covered the kinds of bases in that standard setting that we need to do. And, you know, one of the things we've got is an interim executive director. What we need to do is to recruit an executive director that is skilled in this professional area. And in that regard, we've reached out to the National Animal Control Association which is a group of... It's the technical group, the professional group, that animal -- people who run animal shelters as -- in a professional way belong to. 30 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 We've invited them in. We've scheduled them, a time for them to come in, and survey every aspect of our operations, to give us a full report on everything from our receiving procedures, to our staffing, and our standards. And I do believe that we will be making revisions in those.
Is PACCA... Is this service contracted out or are these employees, city employees, Civil Service employees? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: They are not -- It's contracted out. They are not city employees.
So what we read in the paper about the service that was provided by the company, I guess, who ran it, having all of the family members on board, were you aware of that? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: You know, I -- I -- I -- I was. And let me tell you a little bit about that. We've been finished just about two years. Now, when we operated this -- 31 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 When we went into this -- First of all, we didn't want to go into this business. All right? This is not something we raised our hand and said, we are the best people --
We're in it, so -- COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: No; we weren't in it then. We weren't in it.
You're in it now, but -- COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: People who could, say we're not in it any more. After years of contracting this out, people 18 said, we're not doing it any more, for very 19 good reasons. 20 That left somebody needing to do it. 21 This is a huge public safety issue, with very 22 significant public health overtones. 23 So, what our decision was, to be 24 able to do something in 18 months in -- in -- 25 you know, in city government is pretty 32 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 daunting. That's finding a building, renovating it, staffing it. We decided that the best thing to do would be to hire as many people as we could from the existing employees of the Pennsylvania SPCA. So we hired nearly all of them. And I will tell you, when I met with the employees about a week and a half ago, I just asked how many previously had worked at the SPCA, I would say 60 to 70 percent are still on staff that came from over there. When these individuals came with everything, I was astounded to learn how much inner -- how much inner family stuff had existed, in terms of that -- in terms -- among those employees. All right. We had a husband and wife situation. We had a cousin. We had some other type of relationship. I was so concerned about this that I brought all the management in to my office. And I asked them -- I told them that -- just how inappropriate all of that was. 33 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 I was told also at the time that the board had no ability to fire people or make those kinds of changes, just on that fact because they were hired with those relationships intact. But here's what I asked them to take away from that meeting with me. First of all, I wanted to make sure that the supervisory patterns were not such where, if I'm being supervised -- where I'm being supervised by my wife, all right. It had to be a supervisory pattern so that... so that the supervision -- effective supervision -- could take place and also not in a way in which other employees would have to say that person's getting an unfair break. So those had to be done. And I told them my preference would be to remove every one of them that had those relationships, but I couldn't. But I just told them a word for the future was this: Any time anybody in that office in that agency had a notion that they were going to hire a family member or any 34 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 time they had a notion that they might develop a social relationship with an employee in that facility, that they should first come and talk to me, because I guarantee they would see a reason to change their mind on that. Those things exist. They are not appropriate. And everything needs to be done to make sure that, one, they don't ever happen again, and those that exist, that changes are made appropriately within the employment relationship.
So, what is going to happen now to change all of that? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Well, I think, you know, one -- and our interim executive director can talk about, you know, the supervisory patterns and the rest of it, but those things have to happen. You can't have people, you know, who are doing a job there, you know, and you say, well, I'm getting -- I'm getting a worse job; I'm getting rated unfairly because, you know, because me, I'm being supervised by my -- by 35 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 my wife. I mean, that -- that -- that -- that -- that -- that -- that has not good implications.
Yeah. Thank you, Commissioner, for your testimony today. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: You're welcome.
I was very pleased to hear that you're going to be taking some disciplinary action against employees who mistreat the animals. All right? But I think that we should look at... How about the mistreatment of the people who use the facility, people who go down there? And maybe we should start changing the attitude and the arrogance that -- that some of the people that work in that facility have been giving to the people. (Applause.) 36 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04
We've been... We've been receiving a lot of information from a lot of people throughout the city about the type of people that are down there. Now, you mentioned that you are responsible for hiring of those people; is that true? You have the responsibility? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Yes.
Does anyone screen those people before they get in there? Regardless if they work for the SPCA or not, does anyone screen them? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Sure.
Do they have to have -- Is there a certain criteria that you're looking for? Is there something, a background that would really make them qualified to do that work? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Yes. And in terms of the current hiring, our interim executive director can talk in more detail about that.
Okay. I'll get to that. 37 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: But if I could talk about the staff issue, I think that's an important one, Councilman. I mean, you've really keyed on this. And part of those e-mails that came, you know, that I was referring to in Stu Bykofsky's... in response to his columns, the ones, the or so that were from people who 10 had actual first-hand experience with PACCA, 11 they were the ones that gave me... I mean, 12 it was -- it was a very dark night of the 13 soul looking at those. And it said to me a 14 couple -- 15
Well, could you 16 tell me -- Going back a little ways here, 17 Pennsylvania SPCA for years, for 25 years, 18 according to your testimony, were responsible 19 for the animal control in Philadelphia. Why 20 did they pull out? 21 COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: I think for a very good reason. And it was two-fold. One is that they didn't -- they didn't feel -- and they had been telling the city this for a number of years. We were -- City 38 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 was paying the SPCA $790,000 a year. All right. We're now -- We're now spending -- Our original budget was three times that much, and we've added to that.
$2.1 million? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Yes, sir. And we've added to that. And the other reason that they felt that they needed to pull out of that is for their corporate mission. And that's in line with other SPCA's around the country, that just have had it with having to euthanize that number of animals. It's just inconsistent with their welfare mission. And we understand that completely.
Well, what is the mission of PACCA right now? What is their admission? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: We do -- We do the animal control issues, such as, we will accept unwanted animals. PACCA will 39 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 respond to strays, confine strays, pick them up, essentially all of the animal control functions that -- And I think Mr. Hendricks can talk a little bit about that, that are different from -- different from the animal welfare mission of the SPCA, taking -- rescuing animals, and so forth.
Well, what is the percentage of the animals that are being adopted? What percentage would you say are being adopted? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Well, it depends. It depends if you take all of the animals. We have some animals that just cannot be adopted. They're too sick.
Right. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: They're seriously injured.
Right. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: If you look at overall the numbers, I think that's somewhere around 12 percent. Mr. Hendricks and I were talking about this when we met a couple weeks ago. 40 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 And he noted that probably if you took just the percentage of the animals that you could adopt, your percentage is probably higher. But I'm using the overall figure because it really highlights... just highlights the fact, when I talk about how many animals we adopt, 12.6 percent, what I'm also saying is the number of animals that are killed.
And that seems to me about 22,000 a year? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: I think -- Which I find is to be... That's astounding to me. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Yeah. We'll make sure that we have that number. Yes, 22,320 in the last year.
Now, you mentioned something about your board. Do you to have a listing of the board members? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: I do.
Of PACCA? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: I do. 41 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04
Would you provide that to the Chair? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Absolutely we'll provide that.
Okay. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: We have it here, and we can get that.
Could you tell me how many of the people are what you would consider qualified to sit on that board? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Oh, I think -- I think we have a very good board now. And it's going to get better. I believe that they are all... Let me give -- If I can give you a history, Councilman, and it's probably three --
Well, how many members presently are on the board? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Well, when we began PACCA, the original board, there were five members of the board. All of then were city employees. All right? Currently there are 11 board members. All right? Seven are city and four 42 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 are non city members. And as of next -- the board meeting which will be -- I understand it's on November 23rd -- that number will go to from -- go to seven city employee members and seven non city members. So, we've greatly expanded the number of non city members on that board, from zero to seven.
I certainly think that's a bad mix when you have seven city employees and then four other people that are on the board. I would like to see it reversed. I would like to see that we have some experienced people in animal control and animal care on that board -- COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: There are --
Because they're the ones that really have to take a hard look at the situation, so it doesn't get out of control. I think it's out of control right 43 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 now. I think -- And I appreciate your comments today that you're going -- you're going to start today and start implementing some of the changes that we have to have, because -- COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Right.
-- I just can't see any day that -- You know, each day means something, and maybe to the life and death of some animal right now. And I think that we should take immediate steps to cure some of these ills. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Absolutely. When you see the list of non city members, Councilman Kelly, I think, you know, you'll be delighted to see just the caliber of individuals. And you know -- And, you know, what we have to say also is that I've been impressed through this process here. You know, the spotlight that Stu Bykofsky was able to shed on PACCA and on the whole issue of how we deal with animals, you know, as a society, has been extraordinarily 44 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 helpful. And when I see the outpouring of response to that, what we have in this community are a huge number of individuals that genuinely care about animals. And that's a wonderful resource. In addition to that, we have people in these rescue missions. And we're talking about people coming in, and the customer relationships, you know. We're abusing people that come through the door. Let me tell you, I mean, we can really beat up on the individual employees there. And there are some that need that. There are some that need that. But on the other hand, we've got to look at the whole management structure there, to see what have we invested in those employees, in terms of training, in terms of how to deal with a highly emotionally charged situation when individuals come in. And I was so just absolutely distraught seeing the comments from the people in the animal rescue mission as though 45 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 they weren't welcome in the facility. We're changing that. We're changing that. I mean, some of the stuff we said we're beginning today. Some of the stuff we've begun some time ago. And one of the things we've done, I believe we have -- Have we signed on the dotted line with the volunteer coordinator? DEPUTY COMMISSIONER PARIS: Yeah. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: So to be able to have a welcoming front door for people who are there to help the animals.
Commissioner, I appreciate that. And I think that I also, of course, appreciate your input in making these changes. And I'm going to say right now I think you and the Deputy Commissioner are just as shocked as I was in reading those articles in the Daily News. I think that we all are in agreement that some changes have to be made. And I'd appreciate your comments and testimony today. I think we can work together as a Council. 46 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 You may need some... You may need some help, whether it be financial, whether it be anything else. I know the members of this committee, I think, are looking at the situation. And they're going to try to help you to do the better job of what you have been doing. And I know I appreciate Councilman Kenney is here, and all the other members of this committee, for taking an interest in this. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Thank you, Councilman.
And I have further questions, but I think I'd rather direct them to the interim director. But I just want to make one comment, if I would. I have a copy of the petition that the Daily News had to petition to improve PACCA. It was signed by 12 -- almost 1200 people. So this is a very, very large problem. And I think that the people of 47 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 Philadelphia have really taken hold of this problem. And we have to do something immediately. Thank you. (Applause.)
We're not finished yet. We have other Council members that have some questions. I just want to go back to your board. Could you give me the category of city employees on that board? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Yes. The current board, we have an Assistant Health Commissioner is the president of the board. We have a program analyst from the A.I.D.S. Activity Coordinating Office on the board. We have the Finance Director of Finance and Administration for the Health Department on the board. And we have our Director of Vector Control Services on the board. Those are the city members. And then we have one, two, three, 48 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 four, five, six... We have seven. We will have seven... seven additional members.
So you have seven and seven. Who breaks the tie? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: I'm sorry?
Who breaks the tie? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Well, right now there's a seven -- there's a seven and four.
But you're going to make it seven and seven. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: City and four non city, and...
Didn't you say you were going to seven non city and seven city? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Yeah. I think what I'd like to do is, I'm looking at these -- these numbers here. And there's one... I'm considering everybody below the line as a -- non city, but I don't think that that's so. There right now are four non city 49 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 members. And then the rest are from our city employees, but they're from outside the department.
What is the function of the board? What powers? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: The board -- The board hires and fires. The board hired the interim executive director. The board assesses, you know, the performance in the facility, and identifies areas that need to be -- that need to be added to, sets salaries.
Now, was the board operational during the time prior to this investigation, in the stories -- the stories that were presented by Stu Bykofsky, to bring the plight of the center to the public's attention? What were they doing? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Well, I think, you know... First of all, it was, you know, predominantly a city board. But having said that, they were also doing things like insisting that the improvements in the building be made. 50 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 The building -- The original assessment of the building was that the ventilation, as it was installed, was going to be appropriate. It didn't happen. It didn't even come close. And so, what we had to do, at the board's direction, to go back and get it air conditioned, a full ventilation system throughout the building, including the kennels.
So the board left the day-to-day operation to the agency -- the company that was subcontracted to oversee the facility? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: I'm sorry?
Did the board leave the day-to-day operation up to the director, who was on contract with the city? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Yes, but with -- with -- with oversight, and reports to the board. And that happens at their regular meetings.
So who reported to the board about what was going on at the 51 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 facility? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Oh, I think -- I think -- And I don't -- You know, we can look at -- I haven't, you know, seen, you know, all of those minutes. But I will tell you that I think issues did come up with problems. All right? There's no question about that. The... And -- And -- And what needed to be done. And I think the board had some expectations that some of the things that needed to be done were, in fact, being done. And they -- they -- they, quite frankly, were not. And the answer to that that they determined was not to continue trying to get it done that way, because what needed to happen is that the leadership in the agency needed to change. And they made that change.
I think Councilman Kelly has a follow-up question, and then Councilman Kenney asked to have a question, and Councilwoman Donna Reed-Miller, and then we'll hear from Mr. O'Donnell. 52 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04
Yes, Commissioner. I just want to follow up on what Councilwoman Tasco was alluding to, is the makeup of the board. Now, presently you -- Who is the one that's going to put on the additional people on that board? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: That's a board. The board votes to add people to the board. So it would be the president -- (Laughter.) COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: -- and the officers of the board.
So the board itself will be picking their fellow members, in other words. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Well, there are -- there are some members that are appointed by the board. There are some members that are appointed by the Health Commissioner.
How many appointments do you have? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: I think I 53 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 have four.
You have four appointments? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: I believe so. And the others are board -- I --
And you plan on -- (Commissioner Domzalski conferred privately with someone in the audience, inaudible to the reporter.) COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Seven city members.
Seven city members. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: I get to appoint the city members.
You're going to appoint three additional members, is that true, to bring it up to seven and seven? It's seven and four now. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Yes.
So you will be appointing three additional members. Are you open for suggestions or 54 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 recommendations? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Absolutely.
And how do you replace any of these board members? Can they be replaced? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Yes, they can.
You have that? You have that power? You have that? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: I would have to look at the bylaws, but there is a procedure for replacement.
In other words, you could make a change if you wanted to remove two board members and appoint two new board members; is that true? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Yes, we can.
Okay. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: And I will tell you, Councilman, if the bylaws don't read specifically that way now, we've got our 55 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 legal counsel here that -- you know, from the corporate section which will provide us with some options on how to make that occur.
Okay. So, you would be open, Commissioner -- COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Absolutely.
-- for any recommendations we may make? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Absolutely. And Councilman, you know, the board is scheduled to act on some appointments, I believe, on November 23rd. So if you could get us some information about that directly, why, everyone would be appreciative.
Thank you, Madam Chair. And I thank the board for allowing me to question prior to... Thank you for your consideration. Commissioner, how many animals were euthanized on average per year when the SPCA 56 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 had the contract, compared to PACCA? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: I think -- I think what -- what... It... About... Is it about 22,000?
Councilman, the report that I have here only covers a ten-month period.
I'm sorry. I'm Frank O'Donnell, the interim executive director of PACCA. The report that I have here covers a ten-month period, the year 2000. In that ten-month period, the SPCA reported receiving 34,382 animals. They reported euthanizing 24,711 animals in that ten-month period.
That is SPCA. That is fiscal year 2000. 57 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04
The last year for PACCA... The last year for PACCA, the number of animals euthanized was 22,320 animals.
How has that been on average going back? Is there information about -- I'm curious as to the numbers and what they say, from SPCA to PACCA, whether the numbers are similar, whether -- Obviously, the SPCA did more euthanizations in 2000.
I think, just looking at that period, the euthanizations in 2000 were fairly comparable to the number -- to -- in a 10-month period. I think if you look at them for a 12-month period, I don't have the rest of the numbers. You would see that they took in more animals than PACCA did. But if you look at that 10-month period where I do have the numbers, the numbers are fairly comparable to what PACCA had in a 12-month period and that the 58 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 euthanizations were about the same.
I -- I -- I think Mr. Hendricks would really be better able to answer --
Are there a written set of standards that apply to making a decision to euthanize an animal or not? Is there a certain checklist or certain period of time? How do -- I mean, it can't be purely a subjective decision. I'm sure there needs to be standards applied to when a decision -- a difficult decision like that is made.
We do have standards, Councilman. But the difficulty is, I mean, the very bottom line is that even under PACCA's stricter standards, which many people disagree with, we are still killing 10,000 adoptable animals a year. So if you change the standard, then 59 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 we'll be killing 12,000 adoptable animals a year.
Is there a set of standards? Is there a checklist? Is there a list offer criteria that must be met prior to the decision? I didn't say change the standards. I want to know if there are any. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: I think -- I think it gets -- it gets determined -- that checklist gets determined by how long you have to keep certain categories of animals by law.
Okay. So, there is certain -- So there's statutory language... COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Yes, sir.
...that will make it -- allow -- help the -- an administrator or a person running a facility 60 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 like this to make a decision on whether to and when to euthanize an animal.
Were those standards adopted from the SPCA? Were they similar standards at PACCA than they are at the SPCA? And did any of these particular euthanizations that have gotten -- created this anger, was there a process followed in those? Because apparently what seems to be the issue, in addition to the euthanization of adoptable animals, which is sad and a shame and we should be upset about it, is the quickness with which -- the quickness with which these particular animals were euthanized before even trying to find them a home. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Yeah. I mean -- COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: That's the one issue. The other issue is, do we coordinate 61 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 or does PACCA coordinate with the SPCA on trying to place adoptable animals in PACCA's control?
The answer to the first question, Councilman, is that if you look at the number of... If you look at PACCA, you have approximately 200, 210 cages in the regular part of the shelter. There are additional cages for specialized activities, such as when we first receive animals for post-op and for isolation. If you have 200 animals come in that day, the pure mathematics says that somehow or another 200 animals have to leave. We are faced with the situation of --
Does it happen in 62 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 the summer --
-- beat anybody up. I'm just trying to understand the process. On average, how many animals come into the shelter a day? And I recognize that in certain times of the years it's more than others. But do we have a general average?
If you look at the fact that the facility took in roughly 35,000 animals last year, that works out to about 90 animals a day on average. But the average -- But what really happens is, during the warmer months -- You start in the spring, you go through the summer, the numbers could go up as high as 200 animals. 63 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 And the cases that generally were in the Daily News were in that lower -- in that period of...
So the pressure, the capacity pressure was on at that particular time.
Is it possible that the facility just isn't big enough? It would seem to me to be logical that if taking our busiest months, busiest time of the year, we could possibly wind up with 200 animals being presented at the facility in a given day. Perhaps we need a larger facility. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: That could be. And I think --
I mean, this is not a hospital facility. This can't be a very expensive type of facility, comparable to facilities that deal with, you know, people coming into a hospital or, you know, not having enough beds in a hospital, or an emergency room that's overworked or overburdened. 64 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 It seems to me it would be relatively easy to get -- either to expand a facility or to get another facility that would kind of keep us out from underneath the pressure of having to do something with these animals, as opposed to trying to find them a home. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: I mean, I think you're -- you're -- you're right on point, Councilman; but, you know, I don't want to let us off the hook too easily on one. There are about six or eight animals that were reported, in terms that were dispatched in an extraordinarily, you know, fast way. I mean, I... being around government, I don't know of government ever doing anything in nine minutes, I mean, let alone that kind of an intervention. There was a problem with this. There's just absolutely no question. And that's where our standards, our procedures, and our training come in. When you look at... We have to 65 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 hire -- A licensed animal, we are required to keep for five days. We probably keep that animal a little longer than that. A stray animal we're required to keep for 48 hours; is that right.
Yes. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: 48 hours. Required. On a stray. An owned animal, if I own an animal and I say, you flow, I just don't want you any more, and take you to the shelter, the way our laws are now, there is no requirement to keep that animal any particular --
But there's -- there's a human requirement to keep that animal. (Applause.)
All I would like to do is, at the end of this process, in addition to what the other Council people in this Committee will determine, if the function of dispatching, as you said or euthanizing an animal is a function of space and capacity and the pressure on that space, 66 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 doesn't it seem logical that we need more space? I'm not saying we don't need education on how people should deal with pets, how people should be responsible for pets, how people should license them. All those things, I guess, need to be addressed additionally. But the immediate issue right now for all of us is the issue of capacity. It's just you get to a point in certain months where you have 200 animals that come in at once, and you don't know what to do. And you have all the cages filled. And God, let's just start getting rid of them so we can make space. And if that's what ultimately winds up making that decision, let's just get another bigger building and more cages, until we figure out whether or not we can place those additional dogs. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: There's no 24 question that space certainly would be able to make that better. Adopting more animals 67 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 would make it better.
Is there coordination between you and PACCA and the SPCA on placement? And should there be? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: There must be. There must be.
There is or there isn't or there should be? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Well, in the last month I looked at -- there may be updated figures that may prove me wrong on this -- SPCA took of our animals for 14 adoption. They took 150 animals from elsewhere in the state. I'd like to see that turned around. I'd like to see them taking our animals.
We're bearing the burden of animal placement for the rest of the state -- for a number of areas in the state, in addition to our own. The SPCA is. I'm sorry. The SPCA is. And is PACCA also? Is PACCA taking animals from people who come in from the suburbs that want to... COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: NO. 68 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04
No. So it's not. It's only an issue of SPCA's capacity vis-a-vis its responsibilities to the region? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Right.
PACCA is all we're dealing with with the city. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Right.
Just -- And just again, I'll end on this. Just this one question. Are there some... And what's the role and the responsibility of the retail pet sales industry in this whole process? The Monster Pets, and the... You know, I mean, what can we do in an effort to regulate them, so that that poor animal who gets adopted as a cute puppy for Christmas doesn't wind up in Stu Bykofsky's column? (Applause.) COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: I think all of this goes together. I mean, the licensing regulation... Right now, I mean --
I mean, if I go to a retail pet store and buy a puppy, am I 69 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 required to license it there? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Not now.
Why not? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Well, that's changing. That's changing.
I understand. But we need to know what we need to do legislatively by ordinance, in order to enforce various components of this problem which one offer them is the retail industry, into having the license, perhaps requiring them, you know, to come back and provide a spay or neutering service or some type of -- I don't know -- voucher to get that done in a veterinary hospital, something that puts them -- brings them into the process, too. I mean, they're apparently part of the problem of unwanted animals, you know, roaming our streets or being presented at these facilities. So I would like, at the end of this process, to have some recommendations, either from L & I or Health, as to what we can do to impose some of those of those requirements on 70 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 retailers. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Yeah. And I think one of the things that we've got to put back on our own department is the strict enforcement of the licensing regulations that are --
Seems the sensible place to do that is the time of sale. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Sure.
I will entertain one question from Councilwoman Miller. Then what we'd like to do, Commissioner, and Mr. O'Donnell, is to ask you to step aside. We're going to have some of the public come forth and testify, so that you can hear their concerns. And then we'll come back to continue the discussion about what you plan to do, Mr. O'Donnell, to improve the situation at the agency. 71 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04
Thank you, Madam Chair. I have a couple questions, but I just will follow up on the one concerning licensing. What is the Health Department doing to educate the public? Because I don't know that people know that they should, if they get a dog, that that dog should be licensed. So, what type of public education are you doing and how do you plan to change that so the information can get out? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Right now what we do is, we have a license application. We do education at health fairs, at community meetings. That, without enforcement, unfortunately, just is not effective. We're changing that. And what we're going to do is the following: First of all, we're going to have educational sessions at all of the areas 72 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 that are heavily frequented by people who walk their dogs, to give them information, like on a Saturday, either on Forbidden Drive, Kelly Drive, Pennypack Park, about the fact that licensing is a requirement in the city; and to let people know, that by the way, we'll be back, probably in another couple of weeks or whatever, and it won't -- and at that point you're subject to a fine, a fine for not having the license. We don't want to fine people. What we want you to do is license your animal so that we can return the animal should it get lost. We've had 800 of those returned this year for that. So, we've got to do two things: We've got to, one, get out there, get the information out to where people are walking their pets. I have had people I've met, you know, just in normal conversation that say, oh, you have to have the dog licensed? I didn't know that.
Right. See, I 73 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 don't think they know. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: That's what has got to get out.
Right. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: We've got some PSA's done. We've worked with one of our board members. They've shot some footage. We're going to be able to do -- to get out there and talk about this so that people -- we can respond as a community. Councilman, you're absolutely right. Euthanizing one animal is one animal too many. And it's an abomination when you look across, you know -- you know, just the sheer numbers that we use. And anything we can do... And the licensing is a big step forward, and we're going to do that.
Do dogs still have to -- I'm not a pet owner. Do dogs still have the tags? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Yes.
I know when I was a little girl, when I was child, there was a dog catcher truck that used to come 74 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 around, and it would actually chase those animals that didn't have this little tag -- COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Yeah.
-- around the neck. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: We still have a tag.
Is that actually the license? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: We have a tag, a license, and we also want to microchip the animal that will allow us then to... If the chip's gone or the tag's gone or whatever, we'll be able to find that animal.
Okay. Thank you, Madam Chair. I'll hold my other questions until later. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: Would you like to us step aside?
We should assume that the license comes from the Health Department? All of the paperwork transaction happens at the various health centers? COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: For 75 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 licensing?
Yes. COMMISSIONER DOMZALSKI: No. We have a license number, where people can call in. We'll send out the forms. And shortly -- and I can't be more specific than that -- but it's going to be shortly you're going to be able to do that online.
Okay. Now, what we'd like to do is ask you to just stay with us, please. And we'll call... We would like to call Stu Bykofsky forward. And then we're going to have Edie Huggins. And then we'll go back to Councilman Rick Mariano. (Councilman Mariano entered the proceedings with his dog.) (Applause.)
Good morning, Chairlady. May I take a drink of water first?
Okay. Who's the 76 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 person with the dog? Council members... Dear Council members and interested parties, if you have not read the Daily News stories about the terrible things that were going on at PACCA, I have prepared a file for you.
Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Stu Bykofsky of the Philadelphia Daily News. Sorry. My reporting was the tip of the iceberg. For every horror story that I have reported, there are more. 16 Many of the sad experiences can be 17 read in online petition at Philly dot com, 18 and I'm delighted that the Health 19 Commissioner has done so. I have included a 20 small selection of some of those stories in 21 the packet. 22 The vast majority of complaints that 23 I received came not from disgruntled 24 employees, but from potential adopters, from 25 people seeking lost animals, from animal 77 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 rescue people who tell me they go to PACCA and are treated as a nuisance. Another category I did not include in my prepared remarks were volunteers. And I'm very much heartened to hear that the Health Department is looking for or will hire a director of volunteers. There are some exceptions, but rudeness and disinterest by PACCA employees seems to be the rule. Rescue volunteers go into the kennel holding their noses, to find sick, terrified animals often sitting on their own waste, sometimes not properly fed, lacking medical attention, having no toys to divert their attention from their miserable surroundings. It's bad enough for homeless strays, but imagine the terror and misery of a former house pet tossed into a cold cage, wondering what happened to his world, what crime he had committed to be so abandoned by his master. As I reported much of the misery and chaos at the PACCA house of horrors results from a lack of money and staff. 78 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 But lack of money does not explain PACCA's mismanagement which is rife with nepotism and a lack of accountability. The current management is abysmal. They are proven failures. They must all go and be replaced. (Applause and cheers.)
And be replaced with people who have top management and kennel experience. I call on you to ask Mayor Street to act sooner rather than later. Management is supposed to be overseen by the board of directors. Where were they while the mismanagement was going on? Were they asleep? Were they lied to? Did they turn a blind eye or shrug at helplessness? I am happy to hear that the number of board members that are non city employees will be going up. I'll actually address that a little bit later. The board now has majority of city employees on it. That's changing. That is a 79 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 bad arrangement. I'm glad the Health Department recognizes it now. It must be rectified because city employees have an inherent conflict of interest. People with animal care and kennel management experience must be able to join the board and form a majority. The Mayor can make that happen by simply requesting the resignation of four of the seven city employed board members. I would ask that you ask the Mayor to do that. Seven seven is a tie. The chairman would break the tie. That's not the way to go. We need a majority of non city employees.
And board members usually serve for a limited term. I have no 21 idea what that term is, but they're not board members for life. Even with the lack of funds and staff, PACCA can do a better job by using a core of volunteers. 80 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 Other cities that I've researched have hundreds of volunteers. And Philadelphia can, too, but they must be made to feel welcome. Too many have told me that they have been made to feel like dirt by current management and employees. I think you'll be hearing from some of them today. PACCA needs someone to recruit and organize volunteers. That person could himself or herself be a volunteer. I hear that a director of volunteers has been hired. I'd like to know more about that person. I wonder who he or she is related to. (Laughter.) (Applause.)
To paraphrase Field of Dreams, if you call them they will come. Let me give you an example. Bernadette Moreni of the Northeast read about the plight of animals at PACCA. She called up Pets Plus and got them to donate a pallet of food, plus toys and blankets. 81 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 She called me after she had done that to ask me to help arrange the donation. That has been done. That was one woman acting alone, working alone on her own. Nobody asked her to do it. The power of well-intentioned volunteers can be awesome. The city should direct PACCA to become a no-kill shelter as has been done in San Francisco and has been started in New York. PACCA must set two goals: One, finding homes for all adoptable animals; two, reducing the number of future homeless animals by aggressive spayed, neutered educational campaign. (Applause.)
Reducing the number of animal births plus adoptive programs can move Philadelphia forward. We currently rank 44th in the percentage of animals killed rather than adopted. That is shameful and inexcusable. Working with caring groups such as but not limited to the Alliance for 82 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 Philadelphia's Animals, and the People Pet Partnership, PACCA must organize an aggressive spay neuter program, perhaps in conjunction with local vets and the University of Pennsylvania's vet school. It need not cost a lot of money. Anything spent up front saves money at the end by having to deal with and dispose of fewer homeless animals. That does not resolve the problem of rude behavior on part of staff, and inhumane treatment such as rough treatment of animals and cleaning cages by hosing them down, with dogs inside. Cruelty should be a firing offense, pure and simple. I'm happy to hear the Commissioner say that he would contemplate prosecution against such people. A dog in its cage was hosed down just last week, according to a witness who spoke to me. Yes, even after I had written about that practice in the paper, just last week. Staffers must be trained to do their 83 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 jobs with professionalism and compassion, no 3 matter who they are related to or sleeping with. Those who can't or won't do the job must be fired. I have countless reports of staffers goofing off, reading, smoking, chewing gum, drinking coffee when management isn't around, sometimes when management is around. Some supervisors aren't much better. Yvonne Sutton, the Business Agent of District Council 33's Local 488 has promised cooperation. The union must be held to that promise. Since no one knows what's going on like the workers themselves, I would like every employee to write an anonymous note about what's going on in PACCA, and say how it can be fixed. Call it the suggestion box approach. These notes would go to the board which must provide much closer supervision of PACCA than in the past. But PACCA can not be fixed without 84 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 changing the current cast of characters. Mahatma Gandhi said, the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. Philadelphia desperately needs to pass that test. Thank you. (Applause.)
Thanks very much. Do you have any questions? Are there any questions of Mr. Bykofsky? Councilwoman Brown.
Good morning. I was particularly struck by your recommendation to look to area vets, University of Pennsylvania in particular, to their vet training, vet school over there. Do you know if that's the best practice that has been tried in other parts of the country?
I do not know if that's been tried in other parts of the country. 85 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04
No. I just wanted to thank again Stu Bykofsky for his really, I think, stirring newspaper account of the problem that we're facing in Philadelphia. And Stu, keep up the good work. Really appreciate it. (Applause.)
Thank you very much for your testimony. And thank you for the wonderful story that you wrote bringing this to light. Thank you.
Good morning, members of Council. I am Edie Huggins. I'm not here in an official capacity. If I don't get out of 86 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 here, I may not have an official capacity. (Laughter.)
But I'm here as a pet lover and as a volunteer at PACCA, a not well-received volunteer, I might add, but we will get into that. I'd like to start by reading a letter that I wrote to Mayor Street, August the 8th, 2003. Dear Mayor Street, I know you have a million things on your to-do list, but your help is really needed. Some of my co-workers here at NBC-10 and I volunteer each weekend at PACCA. The relatively new facility has the potential to do outstanding work when it comes to stray, unwanted and abused animals in our city. But the facility is plagued with huge problems, serious problems. The Director, George Stem, appears to be a good man but he has serious health issues which have caused him to be away from the facility. During his absence, the quality of 87 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 care at the facility dramatically dropped to the point where animals were and continue to suffer. George has since returned to the facility, but the problems are so severe it's impossible to think that one man can change it on his own. Some of the problems: The offices are air conditioned, but the kennels are not, leaving the very animals they are supposedly trying to care for in temperatures that are unbearable. Surely the heat has an effect on the health of the employees, too. When I discussed the overheating problem with management, was told a grant for air conditioning is waiting to be approved. That discussion took place months ago. Still no air conditioning. I've had many viewers call NBC-10, after I did a positive story on PACCA to get the good news out. Viewers said they had gone to PACCA to adopt, only to be appalled by the smell, the heat, and the unfriendly attitude of some of the workers. 88 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 I do know there are some employees that management is trying to discipline, but they're being hampered, I'm told, by the union. Being a union member myself, I know there is a place to protect the right of good workers, but not bad workers. More often than not, when we go there each weekend to work as volunteers, most of the cages are not cleaned. Water bowls are empty, if there's a bowl at all. And on some occasions there have been five to six puppies in one small cage, while there are other large empty cages in the same area. Also, new dogs are sometime put in cages that are not cleaned after the previous dog has moved out of the cage. We all know that puts the new dog at risk for parvo and other seriously sometime deadly diseases. I realize when you have many animals in cages, it's like having dozens of babies to be changed as soon as they defecate. 89 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 However, I can't tell you how many times I found feces that literally have been caked on the cages, indicating the waste has been there for days. I would not attempt to point out by name those who spend more time talking on their cell phones and smoking, rather than doing the job for which they're being paid, but I do feel obligated to point out there are some good workers who are excellent. Elizabeth. Elizabeth has since gone. , Eric, to name a few. I've tried to go through the proper channels in getting other PACCA to cut the grass around the facility so that the puppies can get some exercise and time out of their cages. Little has changed to give better day-to-day care to the animals, in terms of cleanliness, climate control, water and feeding. Other shelters advise me to immediately contact the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Dog Law 90 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 Enforcement to report the dire conditions, but I wanted to approach you first. You have the power to tell the appropriate city department to shape up. And I think, as an animal lover, you have a compassion to help those four-legged critters and others that are discarded and disposed. Now, since that time -- That was over a year ago -- I talked to the Health Commissioner.
I talked to Miss D'Allesandro, who is on the Mayor's staff or was on the Mayor's staff. And they were very, very distressed and said that changes would be made. Now, that was a year and a month ago later. The last time I was at PACCA there was a major change. They now have air conditioning. What has not changed is why I'm here today. I go there as a volunteer. I'm not paid. I don't go to be lauded or applauded, but I'll tell you the attitude of some of the workers there when we walk in, because we go there to work. It's almost as though they 91 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 resent the fact that we're here to clean cages, to walk dogs, to clean dishes, and to do some work. We're not trying to take over their jobs. We're trying to help. But that's not the way we're treated. The basics: Water, food and care. They bought some water plastic containers that were installed. They hung upside down. Well, the puppies couldn't learn how to get those, how to activate the bottles. Other containers leaked, leaving puppies lying in wet cages. They were finally removed and bowels replaced. So often volunteers, we would go and we'd find dry bowls or no water bowls at all. And the answer we'd get, well, they knock the bowls over. So we take them out. So our first task when we would go in, was to make sure all the puppies had water. Sometimes they'd literally drink one or two bull bowls of water. The point of it is, if you're not going to leave water there, at least take 92 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 water to them periodically and allow them to drink. They can't get out and go to the fountain. Food. Numerous times, if there were food bowls in the cages, often moist food had been mixed with dry food, and it was caked in the bowls. On the other hand, many cages would have numerous food bowls from previous feedings, reflecting that the cages had been open, that the bowl had been shoved in, creating... limiting the space that's already cramped. One volunteer from NBC-10 took on older dog home to foster. The dog was lethargic, covered... cowered in the back of its cage, trembling, emaciated. There were no special orders on the cages. And when she got the animal home a week later, she took it or she got the animal a week after we noticed it. She took it to the vet, only to find out that all but three of the little dog's teeth were rotted, and it had an infection so 93 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 severe that it caused a wound that had gone through its cheek. The dog couldn't chew the hard pellets that it was given. So it hadn't eaten for a week. Well, her vet removed the teeth and started it on antibiotics. The dog had to be hand fed. But Mandy is alive and well and living in Broomall, thanks to this woman. Now, workers say, we cannot hand feed every animal. And I understand that. But why, when this dog was brought in, did not the vet look at the dog's mouth and see the rotted teeth, the severe gum disease? And why was it not noted that this animal required special feeding? On three occasions dogs that have recently given birth or given birth at PACCA, the mother would not be taken out to allow her to relieve herself. And many dogs will not defecate if it means their litter is going to be covered. So, on a couple of occasions, the person who was in charge of the room, when I 94 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 say I'd like to take the dog outside, said, no. The dog is staying. She's trying to protect her puppies. So I'd get a supervisor, usually Junior, to come and help me. I'd take the dog out. The dog was fine. And when I got the dog outside, you wanted to ask yourself, how could she hold all of this urine and feces in? And these are things that to me are just... I just can't imagine, but I've seen them with my own ayes. Another time two new puppies were put with a surrogate mother. This is a practice that's not uncommon, except in this case the dog wasn't observed. And we went to clean her.
We found both puppies underneath her dead. Another time a lab mix had a new litter of puppies, and we thought some of them were dead or dying. We took them out of their cage. We wiped them down. We took them outside. It was summer then. And pretty soon they were running around like 95 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 little puppies should do. I have received dozens of calls from viewers with complaints running from, I want to volunteer, I want to foster... There's a woman who's husband is a veterinarian. He wants to give free services for neuter and spayed. But if they can get through to PACCA on the phone -- and usually they can't -- I would ask you sometimes just to get a person at PACCA. And if they finally go there, they're treated so rudely, that they don't want to go back. I could talk for hours about the lackadaisical attitude of many workers, about young dogs and puppies shivering, balled up in a metal cage with no 19 towel or soft cloth, getting inappropriate feedings, no attention given. So what needs to be addressed? Cleanliness. How do you explain metal cages that are so caked with feces that we have to use wire brushes to clean them? The other extreme, dogs that have 96 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 diarrhea. Yes, it's common. But why isn't the cage cleaned after each shift? Puppies covered with feces. These are animals that are on display for adoption. So imagine what's going on in the back kennels. The ones the public see. I spoke to James Coleman and Frank O'Donnell with several concerns, one being lack of supervision. At the end of each shift, why wouldn't the supervisor on duty inspect the kennels, the adoption area, and the entire facility, to see the conditions? And if they do, shame on them for signing off on work that's undone. Time after time workers from kennels to vet techs would come to us and confide in us, and they'd say they needed help but nobody would listen to them, because those in charge, as has been discussed before were related by birth, by marriage, godfathers, godmothers. Well, these workers who cared and 97 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 wanted to see things fixed asked for confidentiality. They were frustrated and fearful of retribution from the extended family. They told us money paid for adoption was taken on one instance. The contracts were missing and are destroyed. Now, signs were posted about thievery. When I spoke to George about it, he said security cameras had been redirected and he was, quote, investigating. A worker who is no longer there said several people have no doubt who stole the money, but feared retaliation if they spoke up. Other issues to be answered, overall cleanliness, monitoring laundry so that blood and fecal-covered material in which many animals are brought to PACCA don't remain unwashed for two or three days. When we went, we took our own detergent to clean cages and bowls. Disinfectant was locked up because we were told, it disappears if we leave it out. 98 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 On the outside, smokers must stop throwing their cigarette butts and empty packs into the area that's designed for puppies and dogs to exercise. Workers need to shovel and bag feces in the exercises yards. We as volunteers do it. Why don't they who are being paid for it do it? We need accountability and supervision by management. They're dealing with living things that need food, water, exercise, health, tender loving care. Most animals that are brought in, if they aren't manic in the beginning, trust me, in a week's time, providing they're not killed, chances are they'll be totally traumatized after days of being at PACCA. Skills in dealing with public and volunteers; it's not an easy task. We all have to deal with the public every day. But if you don't want to treat people and animals kindly, then, damn it, seek other employment. ) 99 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04
Councilwoman Tasco, don't tell our minister that I said dammit. Okay? Thank you very much. If you choose to stay, they must, must be sensitized to the needs that these creatures who can't do for themselves. Locked up, caged, fed and watered sporadically, unable to move freely and exercise their limbs and muscles. In closing, I know most of these dogs are throw-a-ways. They're mistreated. They're abused. They're unwanted. But for every bad dog, there's a scared, scarred puppy that would bring joy and happiness to a home that is prepared to take a commitment of love and take on the responsibility of care. PACCA must change, and those in Philadelphia animal care and control must learn care, not cruelty by neglect. Thank you so much. (Applause and cheers.)
Thank you, Miss Huggins, for that testimony. I just want to ask you: How long 100 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 were you a volunteer? Are you still a volunteer.
I kind of don't know. One of my volunteers says, she's afraid our car's going to be firebombed if we go back out. But yes, we are going to go back out.
Little over a year. Were there other volunteers with you at that time?
Yes. I got a group of about five. And I'd like to add -- and I'm not -- for to be patted on the back. I spent $2500 to build a grooming room. I don't think it's ever been used, except by the volunteers. And I just did that because I thought many of these little puppies that come in, they need to be cleaned. They need to be washed down. And then I'm told, well, we don't 101 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 have the personnel. Then get the personnel.
-- as far as you know, are they still volunteering today or...
We're on a hiatus. We're trying to see what's going to happen.
I don't mean to be dramatic, but it breaks our hearts to go there and work. And when we go there, we do work. We smell bad when we get through. But we're happy that we took two little dogs out and gave them some exercise or cleaned their cages, changed their paper in their cage.
Well, I think changes are in order. And I'm sure Mr. O'Donnell is going to agree with us that he has to take immediate action on a lot of this. Thank you very much.
Thank you very 102 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 much. (Applause.)
We thank Miss Huggins for her passionate testimony. You can tell that she cares. And I do believe Reverend Gray will forgive you for your comments because you feel so passionately about the issue. And thank you for all the hard work you've done with PACCA. And we hope you will continue to do that. Councilman Mariano. I see he brought a show and tell.
Thank you very much. I'll be testifying today not as a member of City Council, but I guess because Homer can't talk. This is my son Vincent's dog Homer. Homer is a little over a year old. We're not quite sure. Homer came from PACCA. Okay. Homer has been neutered. He has a 103 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 microchip in him. He's been groomed. He's been back to PACCA a number of times. And let me say that Homer's a very good dog. One time I was walking Homer around Juniata Park, and the police were there digging where they thought someone had buried a body. It was about six or eight months ago. And I saw Inspector Calarullo. Inspector Calarullo asked me to come over with Homer, and said, Rick, where did you get that dog? And I said, that's my son Vincent's. But he had to go away for the weekend and I'm walking him. And he says, well, I know that dog. I took that dog to PACCA. Homer came out of a triple homicide in West Philadelphia sometimes in July a year ago. So that's the type of animals and Mike's other animals, dogs, gets, that are getting there. If it wasn't for PACCA who PACCA is about ten blocks from my house. I get to 104 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 PACCA. I don't get there as much. I would love to volunteer. And I would tell you today, I wouldn't mind being on the board because it is in my Council District. But I guess I'm considered a city employee. I don't know if they want any more city employees, but I'd gladly be on the board. But the reason I wanted to testify for Homer and for PACCA is, there's going to be a million dogs like Homer. If you take a good look at Homer, Homer... I think he's a Republican, Councilman Kelly, but I'm actually not sure. But he was leaning towards that side during the election.
There's something good about him, as you would say. Homer is an American pit bull, but a mixed breed. Homer probably, if Inspector Calarullo didn't take him out of that house in West Philadelphia that day, who knows what 105 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 might have happened? He probably wouldn't be with us today, and wouldn't be the family member of my family that he is. The good thing about Homer is, he's a perfect dog. I mean, he would lay here all day, except for one or two trips to go outside for obvious reasons. He sees all these people around here. And probably if they're here, they're all animal lovers. He smells. He was smelling old ladies. People were giving him treats. He's just really happy to be here, which my point is, without PACCA, and without agencies like this, without Miss Huggins and Stu Bykofsky, and people that need to make sure that the right things are getting done -- I remember when PACCA first started up, Mr. Domzalski and Carmen Parish, too -- I spoke with both of them -- they called me and said, we're going to open this building on Hunting Park Avenue in your District. Do you have any interest in it? And I certainly did because it was not too far from my house. And I, frankly, 106 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 wasn't sure what kind of job the SPCA was doing, because over the years I think the SPCA changed the scope of their mission or their mission may have not been up to snuff with what Philadelphia needed them for. The neighborhood I live in, there's hundreds of dogs like Homer. If it wasn't for PACCA and places like that, I just don't know what would happen. So I appreciate Councilman Kelly, Councilwoman Brown, Councilwoman Tasco for having these hearings. Anything I can do, anything Homer can do, anything my family can do, we would be glad to do it because it's all about... You don't see the joy Homer brings with my son. You know, he lives with two of my sons and my stepson in the house. And he's the baby of the house. And at this point I'd much rather they had Homer than bringing some children into the world. So, thank you, and thank you for letting Homer and I testify. (Applause.).
Thank you, 107 040954 - Health/Human Services - 11/15/04 Councilman. We're going to call Mary Aulg and Eric Hendricks. Do you have testimony?