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The licensing committee meeting went well. Some motions which would have put the adoption services of TAS at risk were presented by councilor Nunziata but rebuffed by the other councilors. Glenn De Baeremaeker did a great job defending Toronto Animal Services. I missed most of the deputations (11 of them) but was told they all supported TAS and everyone did a great job.

The video about Berger Blanc was also shown. It had to be stopped at one point because it was too hard to watch and someone in the audience had to leave the room because she was crying.

You can watch all the proceedings, including all the deputations, here.

Here are the Decisions passed by the committee:

Requested that the City Manager include the following in his report to the Executive Committee meeting on September 19, 2011:

a. Any opportunities for further integration of By-law Enforcement.

b. The possibility of expanding animal licensing in Toronto.

c. The possibility of updating the online licensing system.

d. The possibility of maximizing online donations to Toronto Animal Services.

e. The possibility of establishing an animal services sub-committee of the Licensing and Standards Committee.

f. The feasibility of requiring micro-chipping of dogs and cats as a requirement of licensing.

g. A review of pet licensing options, including the option of a lifetime licensing system to replace the current annual licensing fee, with micro-chipping dogs and cats as a requirement.

People, outside of staff, who spoke at the meeting:

Ken Wood
David Behan
Peter Newell, Vice-President, Toronto Humane Society
Liz White, Animal Alliance of Canada
Nathalie Karvonen, Executive Director, Toronto Wildlife Centre
Stephanie Cliff, Toronto Animal Services
Darin Jackson
Michelle Ferman
Donald Steane
Deena Elieff, Toronto Animal Services Volunteer
Ferne Simkin, Toronto Humane Society Member



11 Comments to “How it went at the committee meeting”

  1. Anonymous says:

    The link to the proceedings is a URL 404, btw.

  2. I think this now all goes to the Executive Committee of the City. Does anyone know if we re-submit our presentations to the Executive Committee?

  3. Preliminary decision of the Licensing and Standards Committee is out.

    http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2011.LS6.1

  4. Fred says:

    Link fixed. Don't know how long it will stay up though.

  5. Fred says:

    Soche, I don't know for sure about re-submitting to the exec committee but I suspect not unless there is a special request from their members.

  6. Antonia Z says:

    Fred, who was at this meeting? People who control the budget?

  7. Anonymous says:

    Hi Fred,
    Believe Mayor's Executive Committee has decision-making power when cases are forwarded to them. Let's hope I'm wrong.

  8. Fred says:

    Hi Antonia, my understanding, and I could be wrong, is that today's committee suggested some motions which will be brought forward to council to vote on/act on. The motions that were suggested today did not include reductions to the core services provided by TAS. However, the executive committee apparently has final say over any and all cuts so I'm thinking they're the ones who really need to be convinced. I'm told they'll be making their final decisions in the fall.

    The councilors in attendance today were: Councillor Cesar Palacio - Chair, Councillor Chin Lee - Vice Chair, Councillor Glen De Baeremaeker, Councillor Gloria Lindsay Luby, Councillor Frances Nunziata, Councillor Anthony Perruzza

  9. Chris says:

    London, Ontario has a private Animal Control contract. Many people are really unhappy with it & have been looking at making it city owned again, perhaps run as a joint-venture with or as non-profit, also incorporating the Calgary self-funding model. The goal is to also make it a no-kill shelter.

    Contact me for more info.

    A recent public Animal Welfare Committee unprepared for the huge turnout & almost got rescheduled. "Sometimes council has difficulty engaging the public; sometime the public can’t engage the council. It’s too bad. The meeting was a rare show of public’s willingness to work with the city and its appreciation of having the opportunity to be heard." http://ginabarber.blogspot.com/2011/07/publics-here-where-is-committee.html#more

    Newspaper article about the meeting, http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2011/07/19/18442461.html#.TiclmaI9wLo.facebook

  10. Fred says:

    HI Chris, thanks for the link. I'll check it out.

  11. Fred says:

    Hi Chris, very interesting articles on civic engagement. I hope we can get the same sort of public response here in Toronto.

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A request

The reason for this blog is to help get specific dogs adopted from TAS but equally important is to try to normalize the idea of shelter dogs being just as good and just as desirable as any other dogs including those which are regularly merchandised by backyard breeders, puppy millers and those few remaining pet store owners who still feel a need to sell live animals. The single greatest stigma shelter animals still face is the belief that shelter animals are substandard animals. Anyone who has had enough experience with shelter animals knows this is untrue but the general public hasn't had the same experiences you've had. They see a nice dog photo in a glossy magazine and too many of them would never think of associating that dog with a dog from a shelter. After all, no one abandons perfectly good dogs, right? Unfortunately, as we all know, perfectly good dogs are abandoned all the time.

The public still too often associates shelter dogs with images of beat up, sick, dirty, severely traumatized animals and while we definitely sometimes see victims such as these, they are certainly not the majority and, regardless, even the most abused animals can very often be saved and made whole again.

Pound Dogs sometimes discusses the sad histories some of the dogs have suffered. For the most part, though, it tries to present the dogs not as victims but as great potential family members. The goal is to raise the profiles of animals in adoption centers so that a potential pet owner sees them as the best choice, not just as the charity choice.

So, here's the favour I'm asking. Whenever you see a dog picture on these pages you think is decent enough, I'd like you to consider sharing it on Facebook or any other social media sites you're using (I know many of you do this already and thank you for that). And when you share it, please mention that the dog in the photo is a shelter dog like so many other shelter dogs waiting for a home. If we can get even five percent of the pet buying public to see shelter dogs differently, to see how beautiful they are and how wonderful they are, and to consider shelter dogs as their first choice for a new family member, we can end the suffering of homeless pets in this country.
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