Town
of
Terms of Reference
In
January, 2005, the Town of
The
Town’s animal care and control program has a primary focus on animal control
for the purpose of protecting the public.
The
Town has been asked to establish an Animal Care Committee to support and act as
a resource to Clerk’s Department staff for the efficient and compassionate
care of animals.
The Animal
Care Committee’s mandate is to develop a community-driven model for improving
animal welfare in
The primary
focus of the Committee will be on the welfare of animals within the Town of
1. Education of
residents;
2. The importance of
animal care, of spaying and neutering and the appropriate veterinary services;
3. Providing for reasonable
affordable veterinary services to residents
4. Arranging for
adoptions
5. Fund raising for
all of the above items.
Issues,
concerns and opportunities relating to animal care include, but are not limited
to: fragmented roles and responsibilities of animal care service providers;
engaging the community; animal licensing and other fees; public education and
awareness programs; pet adoption programs; controlling pet overpopulation; and
limited available funding. Potential questions to be addressed by the Committee
are contained in Schedule “A”.
It is
important to note that given the fiscal pressure on all Town of
COMMITTEE MANDATE (cont’d.)
fiscal
pressures and resource issues are prevalent across many organizations. Team
work will be the foundation of a community-driven Animal Care model.
“To promote and ensure excellence and professionalism in
animal care through continuing education, effective networking, mutual support
and the enhancement of the ability to provide quality, cost effective services
to our residents and care to the animals in our municipality.”
A
maximum of seven (7) representatives will be invited to sit on the Committee:
·
Three Members of
the Public
·
One Member of
Council
·
One
representative from the following organizations:
o
Action
Volunteers for Animals
o
o
Habitat Cat
The
following resources shall be assigned to the Committee:
The
Committee may form sub-committees and working groups as may be necessary to
address specific issues. The Clerk’s
Department does not provide secretariat support to these groups. These subcommittees and working groups shall
draw upon members of the Committee as well as other external resources as
deemed necessary.
Qualifications
Interested
candidates will have:
• a
keen interest in animal care within the Town of
• regard for the
interest of all citizens;
• the ability to
maintain and promote an appropriate atmosphere within
Committee and
subcommittee meetings;
• an
understanding of the by-laws related to animals within the Town;
• the
ability to commit the required time, and
• demonstrated
integrity.
Appointment Policies
The
specific organizations listed under the Composition Section nominate their
representatives and Municipal Council makes the appointments.
APPOINTMENT POLICIES (cont’d.)
Through
local newspaper advertisements, citizens are invited to apply for the
Committee.
Code of Conduct
Markham
Committees are required to follow the regulations contained in the Town’s
Procedural By-Law.
Meetings and Location
The
Committee will meet on the second Monday of every month or at the call of the
Committee Chair. Meetings will take
place at
The
Animal Care Committee will report to Town of
Typical
duties of Committee members include:
·
Advising on
issues and concerns faced by animals within the Town of
·
Advising on
opportunities that have been identified within the community to improve animal care
in
·
Advising,
consulting and reporting the findings and recommendations on matters from
within the Town of
·
Reviewing and
making recommendations on solutions to improve animal care in
·
Supporting,
encouraging and being an ongoing resource to the Committee, individuals,
agencies and the business community by educating and building community
awareness about measures for improving animal care in Markham;
·
becoming
familiar with and working towards improving animal care issues and veterinary
practices in
·
participating in
fund raising events designed to resource improved animal services care,
including reasonable veterinary services;
·
becoming
familiar with the by-laws and policies/procedures related to animals within
·
becoming
familiar with public views and concerns regarding animal care in
·
becoming
familiar with the implementation issues;
·
participating in
workshops and public events related to the proposed animal care related issues;
·
providing
community input on issues and options relating to animal care;
·
providing
comments ad recommendations to the General Services Committee;
Current services are listed on Schedule “B”
Committee
members will be appointed for one, two, and three year terms on a staggered
basis.
Chairperson
The
Committee will appoint a chairperson amongst its members as part of the first
official Committee meeting. This individual
will serve in this capacity for one year.
No
remuneration is paid to Committee members.
Contacts
Name: Sheila
Birrell, Town Clerk
Phone: (905)
477-7000, ext. 4729
Fax: (905)
479-7771
E-mail: sbirrell@markham.ca
Name: Bill
Wiles, Manager of Enforcement
Phone: (905)
477-7000, ext. 4851
Fax: (905)
305 5980
E-mail: bwiles@markham.ca
Schedule “A”
Potential Questions to be Addressed by the Town of
A number of animal
care issues, concerns and/or opportunities have been identified during the
Town’s on-going Program Review of its Animal Program. Listed below are some of these items grouped
in three categories.
1. Roles and Responsibilities of Service
Providers in the Town of
Within the
Town the following categories of service providers (including volunteers) can
be found:
• Town’s (municipal government) Animal Care
• O.S.P.C.A.
•
•
Veterinarians
• Animal
Rescue Groups
• Animal
Groomers
• Animal
Rescue Groups
• Pet
sitters
•
Concerned Citizens; and
• Ontario
Ministry of Agriculture and Food (OMAF)
Key questions
to answer when considering roles and responsibilities include:
• What is the appropriate role (or roles) of the Town of
• How could the Town of
• In light of fiscal pressures facing local government and
the fact that the Town’s primary focus has been with animal control, how much
support should local government provide to animal care?
• What is the role for private funds and donations, fund
raising, other sources of funds to offset program costs being incurred?
• How do we draw the lines to avoid duplication in services?
• What is the appropriate role of the community,
stakeholders and other service providers (e.g., from coordination to
networking, to enhance animal care and control services while avoiding
duplication)?
• Is there a need to coordinate local roles and
responsibilities (e.g., who does what and why)? Who should do this?
• Who should run outreach programs to educate pet owners and
potential owners about responsible pet ownership?
• What are the appropriate roles for the Provincial
Government and Federal Government? It has already been identified that many of
the key issues identified in
2. Animal Care
A number of
issues dealing with animal care have been raised not only in
• If pet overpopulation is a big part of the problem
(particularly cats) not only in Markham but all across Canada, who is
responsible for bringing this under control?
• Pet sterilization programs (e.g., spay/neuter) have proven
to be useful in reducing the number of animals, then how could this program be
increased locally? Who should pay for this program?
• What standards should be used to determine the humane
treatment for animals (e.g., the role of euthanasia and the methods of
euthanasia)?
• What are the appropriate levels of care for injured
animals that do not have an easily found owner? Who should be responsible for
this care?
• Should the Town be more aggressive in licensing dogs and
identifying cats? Is there a greater role for micro chipping animals and how
would this impact service costs?
3.
Reuniting Pets with Owners, Adopting Animals
Reuniting pets
with their owners or finding homes for unwanted pets is very rewarding for all
involved.
Schedule “B”
Current Services Provided by the Town of
The four
service areas that are part of the Town’s Animal Care Program, provided under a
contract by the Town of
•
stray dogs;
• sick, injured, or dying domestic
or wild animals except those animals provided for by the O.S.P.C.A
• confined cats
The
services are delivered seven days a week, with some conditions. Other key
features specified include:
• all animal related matters affecting public safety;
• rescue
matters where animals are in distress;
2. By-law
Enforcement, through Whitby Animal Services, enforce:
Animal
Control By-law, and
Dog
Licensing & Control By-law
Issue
Provincial Offenses Notice (PONs) as follows:
o Part I
Certificates (can be paid out of court)
o Part I
Summons (requires the recipient to appear in court)
o Part
III Summons (requires the recipient to appear in court)
Issue Notice of
Contravention (NOCs) - typically issued to allow a pet
owner time to purchase identification.
Issue Verbal and
Written warnings:
o Animal
Control By-law
o Dog
Licensing & Control By-law
3. Dog
Licensing and Cat Identification Program including:
• obtaining all necessary particulars before issuing the dog
licenses and cat identifications
• issuing all dog licenses and cat identifications, and
• receiving and collecting licence and identification fees
including the renewal process
4. Shelter
(Pound) Services for stray animals – providing a facility designed to receive
stray animals primarily from animal control officers and to a lesser extent
from the general public. The pound is operated in accordance with the
provisions of the Pounds Act, Animals Research Act, the Municipal Act and all
other applicable legislation. The pound is constructed to and maintained in
accordance with