Lake Forest Pet Tales - Part 4 (Services)

So far we’ve looked at the fact that Lake Forest is one of the pet friendliest cities around, yet we lack a dog park even though cities that are smaller and poorer than we are have one, and we lack a local shelter with the result that we are paying more and getting less. By using the County instead of a local shelter, our pets are being killed at a rate more than 5 times as high, we are being required to travel nearly 5 times as far, and we are paying twice as much.

But dog parks and local shelters are only part of the picture. Many cities have extensive programs to cut down the costs of animal services. They provide coupons for discount spay and neuter services, Trap-Neuter-Release programs to reduce the feral cat problem, and public education programs so that people are more responsible pet owners. How does our city measure up?

Voucher Program

In 2011 just $400 was spent on our spay and neuter program. That’s 8 $50 vouchers. $400 is about how much money the City spends feeding itself every week. The good news is that of the thousands of dogs and cats in the city, 8 in 2011 got incentivized to spay/neuter their pet. But that’s hardly impressive. Unspayed and unneutered pets produce more pets, often feral pets, and this goes to perpetuate the problem. There is probably nothing so beneficial we could do than to promote spay and neuter programs. When was the last time you saw the City advertise this program?

Feral Cats

One of the biggest costs to the city is the large number of feral cats that are picked up every year. Yet Lake Forest has no Trap-Neuter-Release program which would dramatically reduce the number of feral cats. A few years ago, I was among a group of volunteers who organized a TNR program for the city. We lined up vets, medicines, cages, volunteers, etc. and the program was ready to go. All it needed was the support of the city, which it never got. So we still have the feral cat problem and it costs us thousands of dollars every year and adds to the enormous killing that happens at the county shelter.

Other Services

A few years ago, after much urging, the City finally decided to promote pet adoption which it does with its "Pet of the Week" program that it advertises in the Leaflet. OTOH, if you go to the City website and search for "pet of the week" there are "no matches found". So this is a good start but hardly an endorsement of the City's effectiveness or their committment.

The City website does have a section "Animal Control" under "City Services" and this shows you the level of thinking about pets - they are to be controlled! Not loved or enjoyed or cared for - just controlled.

Under that section there is some very useful information about topics like "Pet Friendly Apartments" (there are 11 in our City), "Responsible Pet Ownership Program" (with no mention that the City has a voucher program), and "Pet Disaster Preparedness".

The City also finally decided to introduce pet oriented programs (e.g., dog obedience, dog agility) into the education/recreation classes.

So, in the area of other services, the City has made some headway.

Summary

The people who live in Lake Forest are among the pet friendliest people in the world yet we have some of the fewest city services for pets. We need a committee that looks at the pet and animal related issues in the city. This includes the obvious dog park, local shelter, TNR and voucher programs, but it also includes such issues as permitting exotic animals in city limits, allowing pet stores to sell dogs from puppy mills, permitting circuses and circus acts, etc.