Hesperia Animal Shelter

11011 Santa Fe Ave E

Hesperia, CA 92345
(760) 947-1700

 

URGENT KILL SHELTER-they do not list their available animals publicly on a daily or even weekly basis for public view.

 

We assist animal rescue organizations in pulling animals from municipal shelters. In order to best serve these organizations We need timely information as to the current populations of these shelters.

 

Hesperia Animal Shelter has not posted to the city's website a list of animals available for adoption since 2/18/15. A list of stray animals has not been posted since 2/19/15. Lists needed to be posted at a minimum of once every business day.

 

http://www.cityofhesperia.us/ index.aspx?NID=683 

 

FB LINK:

 

https://www.facebook.com/hesperiaanimalshelter

 

Residents of the city with lost pets need timely information in order to find their pets. If their pets are in the shelter, how else would they know unless the animals were publicly displayed. 

 

Euthanization of the shelter's animals may be occurring without the animals ever being presented to the public. The general public deserves the right to have an opportunity to rescue these animals. 

 

We will not stand idly by while animals are killed behind closed doors. 

 

This right after the Hesperia Animal Control staff is caught on video dragging a terrified dog down a hallway at the Hesperia animal shelter.

 

The Public Information Office is working to respond to concerns on both the City and Shelter social media sites as well as email and phone messages. Those wishing to email their concerns can do so at socialmedia@cityofhesperia.us​

 

http://www.examiner.com/article/hesperia-animal-control-finds-a-not-so-innovative-way-to-keep-public-the-dark

 

After two years of submitting public records request after public records request, we now have the definitive answer as to why Hesperia Animal Control (HAC) gets away with not providing dispositions on the animals they take into their care and control. The answer is simple. They refuse to use their computers to keep records.

That’s right folks. In Hesperia, Calif., animal control officials keep all of their records on paper, stored in bankers boxes. Apparently, there is at least one piece of paper for each of 5,999 animals taken in by HAC in 2013, all thrown into boxes with no easy method to search those records. Of course, if a member of the public wants to go through thousands of pieces of paper, they can make an appointment to do so, thus the city's "compliance" with the California Public Records Act.

In 2014, one citizen who made a public records request received this email from the Hesperia City Clerk’s office:

In review of your request which consists of a list of identification numbers, you request the ‘disposition’ which I am interpreting as the status of animals in the animal shelter viewable on the City’s website. As such, a public record request is not the appropriate method to obtain information as the status or disposition you reference is not a document or record that can be produced.

Unfortunately, information regarding animals at the shelter is not computerized. It’s maintained by paper file, not specific to the identification numbers you’ve provided, and in large quantities which doesn’t’ allow for ‘status type’ retrieval of information.

Many animal advocates did not believe them. But we’ve now confirmed it is true.

Computerized record-keeping systems have been around for more than 50 years. And since both state law and Hesperia’s own municipal code require that the shelter keep accurate records, it did not seem fathomable that in this day and age the city would opt for paper records over the much easier and more accurate computerized database. Most government computers these days come with Word, Excel and even Access. There is no excuse for not having these records computerized.

And we know they have computers because their very own Standard Operating Procedure suggests they track Facebook and other social media to see if animal advocates write anything negative about them so they can retaliate. But apparently, their computers are better suited for using social media on city time than for conducting the business of the city.

Or perhaps, there is a more sinister reason. From that same email from the city clerk comes this:

Per the California Public Records Act, public agencies are not obligated to create records or lists that are not produced in the normal course of operations. We will be unable to respond to ongoing requests in that manner.

In other words, if they don’t computerize their records, they can thwart attempts by the public to obtain records. One would think they want the public to know their glowing statistics.

Thanks to statistics provided by San Bernardino County’s Chief of Animal Care and Control, Brian Cronin, as we could not get reliable statistics from HAC, we now know that of those 5,999 animals taken in during 2013, HAC euthanized 3,389 of them for an average of 9.29 animals each and every day of the year in 2013. That’s 56.49 percent of the animals taken in were euthanized. Taxpayers should be asking the cost of euthanizing animals versus the amount of revenue taken in if those same animals are networked and adopted.

But, we also know, based on emails from Shelter Manager Cheryl Lewis and Director of Development Service Scott Priester, they don’t need any help networking animals because they do a fine job all by themselves. That would include modern methods to track detractors and the not-so-modern methods of keeping official records.

Remember Priester’s email to an animal advocate:

Thank you for taking an interest in wanting to network our animals. However, it isn’t necessary. The Shelter staff contacts Rescue Groups on a daily basis. We also post all animals weekly on the City’s website: www.cityofhesperia.us under the Animal Control Department.

Well, it looks like they have a website and can even load photos onto it. Yet they cannot find a way to computerize records so the public can find out what is really going on in the shelter.

Priester then went on to say:

Based on the rescue groups’ activities, the City has the right to revoke any such privileges if they or anyone they network with portrays a ‘bad Public image’ of the City and/or Animal Control through emails, texting, Facebook, twitter, or any other blogs, and/or the Internet. Posting phrases like ‘Stop the killing,’ or referencing that a neighboring Town’s policy, ‘is to kill as many shelter animals as possible’ is inflammatory and counter-productive to Animal Control’s shelter traffic efforts when it portrays a bad public image on shelters as a whole. Consequently, I stand by my staff’s position at this time.

And that brings us full circle to the dog-dragging video of two weeks ago that flared our interest in HAC. They don’t want citizens to know what really goes on in the shelter and there is a good reason why.

If makes one wonder who works for whom. Hesperia voters should remember this in November 2016.

 

Thank you.