The council on July 28 approved a contract with Westminster Adoption Group and Services to provide Seal Beach with animal shelter and emergency veterinary care. The cost of the contract would be: A maximum $138,000 for the first year. In subsequent years, the maximum would be $138,000 as adjusted by either inflation or 5%, depending which is less, according to the staff report by Seal Beach Police Capt. Nick Nicholas, of the Support Services Bureau.
Veterinary care would be for a maximum of $40,000 a year. The city manager would have authority to authorize an additional $10,000 a year for emergency animal care.
The council also approved a trap-neuter-release program for a maximum of $5,000 a year.
The vote was unanimous.
This was a Consent Calendar item. Consent items are voted on collectively, without discussion, unless a council member pulls one or more items for further discussion. This item was pulled. This was the last item discussed by the council at the end of a roughly one-hour meeting.
Discussion
The following is not a transcript, but highlights from the discussion.
District Four Councilwoman Patty Senecal asked for an explanation of the difference between WAGS and the Seal Beach Animal Care Center.
According to Police Chief Michael Henderson, Seal Beach Animal Care Center takes in only dogs and cats. They are not equipped to take care of reptiles, guinea pigs, or rabbits.
Henderson said Seal Beach does not require pet owners to have chips implanted in their pets.
District Two Councilman Ben Wong asked, for clarification, if WAGS did not want to just accept exotic pets and let Seal Beach Animal Care Center to accept dogs and cats. “They wanted the whole package. Is that correct?” Wong asked.
Henderson confirmed that was correct. According to Henderson, the city had asked WAGS if they wanted to handle the exotic pets. “They wanted to be all inclusive so they took dogs, cats, and exotics,” Henderson said.
District Three Councilwoman/Mayor Lisa Landau asked about feral cats.
“We adhere to best practices in the animal care services industry,” Henderson said.
He said if they (apparently meaning the city’s animal control program) find a cat they believe to be feral, they do not take that animal in.
According to Henderson, domestic cats tend to allow themselves to be put in a cage. “Feral cats do not,” Henderson said.
Landau said she was assuming that the current animal control service was more responsive, more efficient, and better than Long Beach’s.
Henderson agreed. “The city gets much, much better service now that it’s in house,” he said.
The Seal Beach animal control program is now run by the Seal Beach Police Department.
Long Beach used to provide Seal Beach’s animal control services. Complaints about services and costs led to the launch of the in house Seal Beach animal control program in 2023. (See “Animal Control program to start July 1,” at sunnews.org.)
Background
“On July 1, 2023, the City of Seal Beach (City) launched an in-house animal control program for the first time in many years,” Nicholas wrote. (See “Westminster group to shelter pets for Seal Beach city government,” at sunnews.org.)
At the time, WAGS got the contract to be the city’s animal shelter.
“As the in-house animal control program was a new initiative, the City anticipated a period of adjustment and learning. Initially, the estimates for the program’s activity levels were based on data provided by the previous contractor, the City of Long Beach, regarding the number of calls for service and animal interactions. However, the City quickly realized that these estimates were insufficient. The Seal Beach community was significantly underserved by Long Beach, and as a result, the Seal Beach Animal Control Program has more than doubled the number of animal control calls received. Furthermore, the number of animals taken or delivered to WAGS by residents within Seal Beach has more than doubled the initial estimates, even within the first six months of the contract with WAGS,” Nicholas wrote.
“In response to the increased number of animals and the associated costs of providing services, WAGS has requested additional funding, which was granted in July 2024 under Amendment 1 to the previous contract. This adjustment was necessary as the initial estimates did not account for the actual demand and activity levels experienced during the first year of the new program,” Nicholas wrote.
“Unfortunately, costs associated to animal care are rising at rates higher than Consumer Price Index (CPI), for a myriad of reasons including substantial increases in veterinary supplies and care. Due to these circumstances, a new Professional Services Agreement was proposed,” Nicholas wrote.
The new contract is for three years, according to Nicholas.
The city has the option of extending the contract for two terms of one year each.
“In addition to the funding increase, the City also amended the language of the agreement to reflect industry best practices, particularly concerning community cats (formerly referred to as stray cats), the Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) program, and return-to-home initiatives. The TNR program involves trapping community cats, neutering them, and then returning them to their original location to manage the population humanely and effectively,” Nicholas wrote.
“The return-to-home initiative focuses on reuniting cats who live in the community to a safe place where they were found. By incorporating these best practices, the program aligns with industry standards, ensuring that the City provides the best care for the animals in Seal Beach. The TNR Program has a not-to-exceed amount of $5,000 per year,” Nicholas wrote.
“As part of this amendment, WAGS began providing emergency care for sick or injured animals through their designated medical provider,” Nicholas wrote.
“For these emergency care services, the City allocated a budget of up to $40,000, with an additional $10,000 available at the Interim City Manager’s discretion. All decisions regarding emergency care, beyond basic triage and assessment, require approval from a member of the Seal Beach Police Department Command Staff. These emergency services are billed on an as needed, a la carte, basis,” Nicholas wrote.
