TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

This story was first published July 30, 2005Kern's animal control problems are "at a crisis level," says a drastic -- yet kindly -- report by outside consultants released this week.

The 407-page tome recommends a sweeping overhaul of the troubled county unit, which kills some 25,000 unwanted dogs and cats each year with deadly injections.

At the same time, auditors point fingers beyond county staffers, laying blame on the entire community. Animals without proper care, training or housing breed too freely, creating a throwaway culture where kittens, puppies and outgrown pets end up as fertilizer.

Some key recommendations of the $67,000 management audit, prepared by Sacramento-area firm Citygate Associates, LLC (and available online at www.co.kern.ca.us):

* Launch an aggressive, multicultural public education program that will run for the next 20 years. Time frame: Start by January 2006.

* Increase the program director's knowledge about the industry. Time frame: Immediately.

* Reorganize the division into a stand-alone unit that answers directly to the Board of Supervisors. Time frame: three years.

* Build a new shelter and administrative facility able to handle Kern's next two decades of growth. Time frame: five years.

* House a veterinary clinic in the shelter for spaying and neutering as well as general care. Time frame: two years.

* Roll the city of Bakersfield's services into the county's. Time frame: two years.

Auditors found a gaping pit of problems that require "significant, perhaps radical" departure from how operations are run now. "It is uncommon to find such a high level of need for improvement within an organization," they wrote.

At the same time, the report is polite and reassuring.

A direct address to animal control officials reads thus: "Do not be discouraged by this report. You have done everything you can over the past few years to make the program run better."

Sinking in

Reaction among animal rescue groups, who've been deeply critical of the county's operation, was largely positive.

"For the most part, it's very, very good news," said Marilyn Stewart of ALPHA Canine Sanctuary.

Topping the favorite-suggestions list was the recommendation to make animal control a stand-alone agency.

Currently, the division resides in the Environmental Health Services Department, itself a unit within the sprawling Resource Management Agency.

"I'm just thrilled about that," Stewart said.

Liz Keogh, a Bakersfield animal activist and rescue volunteer who's been part of a citizens group working to change the division, agreed.

"That recommendation is definitely in line with what folks want," she said.

Both Keogh and Stewart expect many speakers at the supervisors' meeting Tuesday afternoon, when the report will be discussed and filed.

Steve McCalley, director of the Environmental Health department that oversees animal control, said he fully supports the recommendations.

The document "provides a realistic game plan to implement changes in order to bring the organization up to appropriate and acceptable standards," McCalley said.

Some of the suggested solutions cost money.

That lands the ball in county supervisors' laps, just as they're gearing up for annual budget hearings.

Supervisor Don Maben, who for months has taken a lead role through fix-it meetings devoted to animal control, said the matter has become deeply important to him.

"This one's more personal than the other ones," Maben said of several big issues slated for Tuesday's meeting.

The report, he said, "shows we have a lot of work to do," and "it's obviously going to cost money."

"So, I'm going to see how my colleagues react to it on Tuesday," Maben said. "Most of us have known all along (there have been) some problems, and it's going to take a lot of work to get us out of them."