Attend if you can! 

The ordinance would state that in San Francisco, people can acquire pets of all species through the following methods: 1) Pet store adoptions events; 2) Pet store permanent adoption centers/partnerships; 3) Direct sale from small breeders; 4) Adoption from shelters such as Animal Care and Control and the SF/SPCA; 5) Adoption from animal rescue organizations. Methods that fall outside of those listed above, such as non-adoption sales through pet stores, would not be permitted.

San Francisco Commission of

Animal Control & Welfare

MEETING AGENDA

Thursday, June 9, 2011

5:30 PM

Room 408

City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place

San Francisco, CA 94102-4689

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Susanna Russo, Geneva Page, Jack Aldridge, DVM, Andrea Brooks, Sally Stephens
Philip Gerrie, Pam Hemphill, Vicky Guldbech, John Denny, Lisa Wayne

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Mailing Address: City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, 

Room 362 

San Francisco, CA 94102

Commission Voicemail: (415) 554-6074

Website: www.sfgov.org/awcc

Commission Chairperson: Sally Stephens

(Note: Public comment will be taken on each item.  Items are first introduced to the Commission, and then there is public comment.  After public comment, the Commission may further discuss the item and vote if it is an action item.)

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

1. General Public Comment
   Members of the public may address the Commission with comments or recommendations on items within the Commission’s jurisdiction other than the items on the agenda at the beginning or end of the meeting, but not both. 

1. Approval of Draft Minutes from the May 12, 2011 Meeting

[Discussion/Action Item]

1. Chairperson’s report and opening remarks
   [Discussion Item]
   
   A) Update on Rules Committee hearing to fill expiring appointments to the Commission
   
2. Old Business
   A) Update on attempts to develop a database of animal abusers that could be accessed by city shelters and rescue groups to help them screen potential adopters and keep abusers from adopting animals through them. [Discussion Item] [Commissioners Brooks and Stephens]
   
3. New Business
   A) Discussion and possible action to recommend to the Board of Supervisors that they pass an ordinance requiring the humane acquisition of pets in San Francisco. Pets would include dogs, cats, birds, small animals (including but not limited to hamsters, gerbils, rats, mice, guinea pigs, and chinchillas), reptiles, amphibians, and aquarium fish. [Note: live animals purchased as food for pets are excluded.] The ordinance would state that in San Francisco, people can acquire pets of all species through the following methods: 1) Pet store adoptions events; 2) Pet store permanent adoption centers/partnerships; 3) Direct sale from small breeders; 4) Adoption from shelters such as Animal Care and Control and the SF/SPCA; 5) Adoption from animal rescue organizations. Methods that fall outside of those listed above, such as non-adoption sales through pet stores, would not be permitted.
   
   The pet trade is a multi-billion dollar industry that treats animals as commodities to be bought and sold for profit. This leads to suffering on a massive scale when animals are warehoused, bred for sale, denied socialization and basic veterinary care, and finally transported with minimal care. Animals from mills develop diseases creating public health problems. Importation of sick animals to SF is bad for SF animals. Buying animals from local breeders and adopting from rescue/shelters are healthier companion animal choices. Shelter adoptions will increase when people cannot buy animals on impulse at retail stores. Euthanasia rates will decrease as a result. Many birds, reptiles, and fish are actually taken from the wild to be sold as pets, or bred in captivity. At the same time, the pet trade fuels an overpopulation problem. Pets escape, are released "into the wild" or wind up at ACC to be euthanized by the City. The ordinance is not a prohibition of owning pets but is an endorsement of the benefits to animals (and consumers) of adoption from shelters and rescues versus purchases from stores. [Discussion/Action Item][Commissioners Gerrie, Page, and Russo]
4. General Public Comment
   Members of the public may address the Commission with comments or recommendations on items within the Commission’s jurisdiction other than the items on the agenda at the beginning or end of the meeting, but not both.