06/09/1980 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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-, They indicated practical difficulties in implementing this portion. He feels a serious error was made in not imposing this original ordinance on Greenhill. He stated that Dr. Labovich had stated that animal technicians receive extensive training, and availability is not a problem since there are 35 accredited schools in the United States which have animal technician programs. Tri-Agency would require two trained technicians. The salary ranges for these positions is lower than that presently for kennel personnel. He asked that the councilors adopt the origina1 measure. He noted that the Greenpeace organization supports this. Diane Suko, 870 Snell, stated she was shocked to find out that the ordinance passed two years ago has never been enforced. This ordi- nance was to assure use of animal technicians. On May 12, at a meeting of the policy committee, they were told by the management team it was impossible to do this. She stated that in California, the State Legislature has required licensed animal technicians. She feels that right now is the best time to resolve this issue since there are two open positions. . Speaking against the ordinance: Mark Pangborn, 5050 Fox Hollow, Chairman of the Tri-Agency Management Team, supports injection euthanasia. His concerns are with the restriction as to who can perform the procedure. The policy board had instructed the management team to develop an ordinance that would apply to all three jurisdictions. He stated there are only 62 animal technicians in the state of Oregon. He talked with the Director of Training at Portland State University which is an Oregon institution ~ that licenses animal technicians who felt there would not be enough ~ licensed technicians to handle the need and that these individuals probably would not be interested in holding jobs that only dealt in disposal of animals. Mr. Pangborn noted that their budget does not include the cost of a veterinarian to administer or observe injection euthanasia on a daily basis. He feels this is restrictive language. He feels the two major criteria for successful injection euthanasia are: 1) sensitivity to the animal and knowledge of animal behavior; and 2) manual dexterity. He does not feel the language regarding veterinarians and/or licensed animal technicians is necessary. . Betsy Williams, 5065 Whiteaker, Director of Tri-Agency, stated she is opposed to the language restricting the injection euthanasia only to veterinarians or licensed animal technicians as this would be cost- prohibitive for Tri-Agency. She does not feel this would be feasible. They have positions open at Tri-Agency but have not received responses from any licensed animal technicians. They would need staff available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The main concern is for humane treatment and humane euthanas i a is. occurri ng by -trai ned personnel now at Tri-Agency. 6/9/80--16 .