VIDEO: Sheriff Ivey Announces Brevard County Animal Services Status As ‘No Kill Community’
By Space Coast Daily // September 23, 2016
ABOVE VIDEO: Sheriff Ivey announced Friday morning that Brevard County Animal Services has officially reached the status as a “No Kill Community.”
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Sheriff Ivey announced Friday morning that Brevard County Animal Services has officially reached the status as a “No Kill Community.”
When the Sheriff’s office assumed responsibility for Animal Services on October 1, 2014, the average live release rate for Brevard County Animal Services was 55 percent over the previous five years.
The live release rate for FY16 is 94.86%, with 14 of the last 15 months exceeding 90%. Sheriff Ivey also announced a new partnership with the SPCA of North Brevard and the closing of the North Animal Care Center.
A Community Celebration/Ribbon Cutting is set for Saturday, October 1 at the South Animal Care Center located on 5100 W. Eau Gallie Blvd in Melbourne. (See Map Below)
Sheriff Ivey will be hosting the community celebration and the ribbon cutting of the new community dog park. The ribbon cutting will be at 10:30 am.
There will be food, music, entertainment for kids, free adoptions, the grand opening of our new Neonatal Kitten Nursery, showcasing of the Feline Fantasy Project with our newest themed community cat room, and free microchipping for the first 200 animals at the event sponsored by PetChamp, a Community Champions Company.
“We would like to thank all of our rescue and community partners as well as our volunteers for helping us prove that dreams do come true,” said Sheriff Ivey.
“We would also like to recognize the Pet Posse, the Boniface Heir’s Motor Group, Community Champions, the Upton Foundation, the Bayfront 5K9 event, and too many others to list for their support. We could not have done it without you.”
Sheriff Ivey said that, although achieving recognition as a no kill community is a significant milestone, “we view “no kill” status as not a destination or a onetime designation, rather it is a continued journey that together with their community partners they will maintain.
ABOVE VIDEO: The live release rate for FY16 is 94.86%, with 14 of the last 15 months exceeding 90%. Sheriff Ivey also announced a new partnership with the SPCA of North Brevard and the closing of the North Animal Care Center.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS:
• Created the “Pet Posse” a nonprofit to raise community awareness, enrich the lives of our animals, and to provide funding for special programs and unfunded needs
• Began using inmate labor to clean both shelters
• Developed new positions within the existing budget
– Rescue/Volunteer Coordinator
– Animal Welfare Coordinator
– Facilities Maintenance Lead
– Began utilizing Inmate labor to clean both Shelters
– Crew Leaders to more effectively manage and supervise inmate crews
– Foster Coordinator/Intake mitigation counselor
– Second Full Time Veterinarian
• Extended hours of Shelter operation to 7 days a week
• Stabilized our work force
• Increased staff training
• Created a Call Center in the Viera Office to free up shelter staff using existing personnel in the Viera office
• Makeover of the South Shelter with the help of Habitat for Humanity and the Pet Posse
• Created Community Cat Rooms
• Created outside runs for the dogs
• Built Fisher and Mollies Place and the Rainbow Bridge
• New Paint and Landscaping
• Mini Makeover of the North Shelter using inmate labor
• Re purposed two existing vehicles for mobile adoption partnering with Community Champions and Jacks Wrecker Service
• Increased adoption events throughout the community
• Partnered with Supermodel Kate Upton and the Washington Nationals to roll out the mobile adoption program
• Recruited and hired a proven leader in shelter medicine, Dr. Sarah Boyd
• Addressed a back log of over 600 spay/neuter surgeries, bring surgeries up to date
• Developed community partnerships with AJ Heirs, AMI Kids, the Canine Commandos, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Brevard ASAP, Space Coast Daily News, and many more
• Opened additional areas of the South Shelter to public access
• Lowered adoption fees, removed unnecessary obstacles for adoption and offer monthly specials
• Offering no cost adoptions to veterans, (J Paws, joining pets and warriors)
• Offering no cost adoptions to our seniors over 60 for senior animals (Silver Paws)
• Community Cat Diversion Program
• Fast tracking highly adoptable animals
• Created the Paws and Stripes College through a partnership with Eastern Florida State College and the Brevard County Jail
• Created a “comfort dog” program at the paws and stripes college through partnerships with UCF , EFSC and the Scott Center for Autism
• Created relationships with out of state rescue groups and shelters saving hundreds of animals using volunteers and financing through the Pet Posse
• Created a growing volunteer program
• Developed a structured foster program
• Replaced 23 year old washer and dryer and added portable radios with the assistance of the Pet Posse
• Viewing windows placed in the doors of the cat rooms by Brevard ASAP
• Building a kitten nursey using the existing mobile home at the South Animal Care Center funded by the Pet Posse
• Began micro chipping all animals including those returned to owners in the field
• Began registering microchips for the owners at no cost…forever
• Built a community dog park at the South Animal Care Center
• Began providing free health insurance for all adopted animals for the first 30 days through Trupanion
• One of our most important accomplishments was joining forces with the Target Zero team in October of 2015. By becoming a Fellow with Target Zero, our team became even stronger, and if it were possible, more committed to achieving our goals and saving more animals
The list goes on, but most importantly, we are saving more animals than ever before in Brevard County and have achieved No Kill Status in less than 24 months.
PLANNED FOR THE FUTURE:
• Maintain “No Kill” status
• Keep two simple goals in mind with everything we do:
– Decrease animal intake
– Increase live outcomes
• Continue to build a motivated, committed and professional Animal Services team
• Continue to increase levels of training for all staff members
• Increase accountability and transparency at all levels of the operation
• Maintain safe, healthy and humane shelters
• Continue to build partnerships in the community and across the country
• Continue to decrease length of stay for all of our animals
• Seek grant funding whenever and wherever possible
• Increase pet license compliance, which will lead to increased revenue, which helps us fund programs to save more animals
• Continue to build our volunteer and foster programs
• Review and request any necessary changes to the County Animal Ordinance
• Champion targeted/subsidized spay and neuter in low income areas and animal problem areas
• Create the BCSO Animal Services Explorers for kids and young adults ages 13 to 19
• Get community involvement to help to re-model the South Shelter and build a “Cat Wing”
• Relocated the North Shelter
Although Animal welfare is still new to the Sheriff’s Office, we continue to learn each and every day. In light of what this team has already accomplished, we are more confident than ever that we will reach and maintain our goal of being a No Kill Community here in Brevard County.
Brevard County Animal Services Adoptable Pets
CLICK HERE to see the currently available adoptable dogs and cats in the Brevard County Animal Services Centers, brought to you by SpaceCoastDaily.com and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.
• SOUTH ANIMAL CENTER: 5100 West Eau Gallie Blvd., Melbourne, FL 32934 • Phone: 321-253-6608 • Directions To South Animal Center
• NORTH ANIMAL CENTER: 2605 Flake Road, Titusville, FL 32796 • Phone: 321-264-5119 • Directions To North Animal Center
Hours of Operation: Monday through Saturday 11-6, Sunday 12-4
CLICK HERE TO SEE ADOPTABLE PETS
ABOVE MAP: A Community Celebration/Ribbon Cutting is set for Saturday, October 1 at the South Animal Care Center located on 5100 W. Eau Gallie Blvd in Melbourne. (See Map Below)
