The Department of Community Services presented the results of the first phase of a sweeping review of Multnomah County Animal Services to the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, April 25 — a milestone in work to address longstanding challenges at the agency amid a time of unprecedented need.
The shelter review, directed by Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, launched at a time of crisis, magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic, and comes after issues raised in previous reviews were unresolved.
The shelter halted the intake of healthy stray pets for a week in January 2023 after a surge in animal intakes strained the County’s understaffed shelter in Troutdale. The emergency prompted the Chair to direct immediate and drastic changes to allow full operations to resume, while also initiating a multi-stage review into the deep and systemic issues that preceded the crisis, including overcrowding, gaps in policies and procedures, and staffing challenges.
Phase One of the review examined every recommendation Animal Services received from auditors, experts and consultants since 2016, and found the following:
- Many of the recommendations made to the agency since 2016 remain all or partially incomplete.
- Gaps persist in staffing, equipment, protocols, documentation, training and procedures.
- The COVID-19 pandemic halted initial progress in adopting the recommendations, and in some cases, even reversed it.
“Things have been unacceptable at Animal Services for too long,” said Chair Vega Pederson. “Like the public, I am angry, outraged, frustrated and want action.”
Lee Girard, interim director of Community Services, and Erin Grahek, Animal Services’ director, presented the Phase One findings. Beyond the analysis of past reviews, Phase One also offered staffing recommendations for the Fiscal Year 2024 budget, an environmental scan of the shelter, an opportunity to review operations and policies, and the next steps in the Chair’s ongoing review.
Girard acknowledged the longstanding issues, including frequent changes in leadership. Girard said Grahek is the fourth Animal Services director in three years, and when she started her role in July 2022, the position had been vacant for months. Similarly, the Shelter Operations Manager position, now filled by Marian Cannell, who arrived in October 2022, had been vacant since March 2022.
“The division also had a 17% vacancy rate and was experiencing high staff turnover,” said Girard. “This brought Animal Services into one of the most critical moments in recent history.”
Review of Animal Services recommendations from 2016 to present
The first portion of Phase One, a review of previous recommendations includes all Animal Services recommendations, reports, and audits from 2016 to present, a status update for each, and information about the choices made to respond to and implement previous recommendations.
The analysis pulled recommendations from the 2016 Animal Services Audit, a follow-up audit in 2018, the Dogs Playing for Life professional consultation, the MCAS Collaborative Improvement Group, and ongoing professional consultation from the University of Wisconsin.
The analysis found the majority of the recommendations remain entirely or partially incomplete and noted that no specific person was assigned responsibility for implementing the audits. The lack of progress “could be in part due to changes in the MCAS Director position and the lack of a Shelter Operations Supervisor for the majority of the time after the audit follow-up.”
Summary of Budgetary and staffing recommendations
The second part of Phase One analyzed staffing levels at Animal Services. Grahek, the new director, led that work in consultation with Dr. Sandra Newbury of the University of Wisconsin, and with the Oregon Humane Society and the Association of Shelter Veterinarians’ Guidelines for Standards of Care in Animal Shelters.
To calculate the updated staffing recommendations, Animal Services used recommendations from national and local experts, factoring in the average number of animals in care per day, and the varying amounts of enrichment needed for different animal species.
Animal Services currently has the equivalent of eight full-time animal care employees. Animal Services requested six additional animal care staff in the County’s Fiscal Year 2023-24 budget to help meet minimum staffing, and Chair Vega Pederson’s proposed budget includes seven additional animal care staff, representing a 31 percent increase in animal care staffing levels.
Animal Services also requested two additional client services employees to support customer service, and an additional dispatcher for the field team who can support calls, field service officers and the community at large.
Shelter operations environmental scan
Grahek said the third part of Phase One was an environmental scan of shelter operations and policies, assigned to Cannell.
The report found that the shelter was operating “in a state of transition” even before any operational changes imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. It noted policies, philosophies and expectations have been inconsistent, incomplete or in opposition to the shelter’s resources and abilities.
“Of these problems, the most damning to the organization appears to be an overall lack of trust and poor comprehension of the mission of [Animal Services], as well as the role in the community,” the report says.
The process for the creating, reviewing and revising of policies and procedures for Animal Services will continue. Cannell has had an integral role in reviewing and updating policies and procedures and has started an internal website for staff to review policies, forms and general information in a central location and maintain consistency.
Phase 2
Phase Two will consist of community engagement, using small groups and surveys to engage with partner agencies, staff, volunteers and community members. This engagement will be facilitated by a professional third party.
Grahek said she was working on offering a third-party a contract to begin this phase.
This report will also report on common themes and feedback from the community, including feedback Animal Services has already received.
Phase 3
The final stage of the review will include recommended actions for the Board to review, along with a work plan for accomplishing those actions.
This is set to be completed sometime in the summer.
Board remarks
“With the report, I was frustrated and angry and I wanted action,” said Commissioner Sharon Meieran, who raised concerns about the four months between calling for the review and Tuesday’s initial report on past recommendations.
She noted some improvements in the wake of media stories and asked if there had been any proactive improvements in the meantime, considering the many recommendations Animal Services had already received before the latest review.
Grahek offered a list of proactive changes, apart from responding to issues raised in media stories. The shelter has already changed the span of supervision with animal care staff, allowing for them to provide more hands-on training with staff that help with adoptions while the other spent more time with staff on training for cleaning and feeding of pets.
Commissioner Susheela Jayapal and Commissioner Lori Stegmann both asked for routine briefings with Animal Services to hear in-depth details about the progress toward implementing the recommendations.
Commissioner Diane Rosenbaum reflected on some of the findings of the review and asked how Animal Services would address any recommendations that stated there were no consistent or at times clear metrics for measurement.
Grahek pointed to work to recruit a project manager to help with the improvements and deliver on a plan to achieve the recommendations.
Chair Vega Pederson said it was her intention to have updates for each phase as the review moves forward.
“A very sincere thank you to our volunteers and our staff for the work that they’ve done,” she said. “But also for the way that they have been lifting up these issues and bringing them forward.”
“A lot of work is in front of us, but we’ll continue to move this forward with urgency, transparency and the commitment to see this through,” she said.