The animal sheltering community is a small one, which means when something happens, it sets the whole community abuzz.
Such was the case a recent morning at a canine sporting event at which were several former shelter and humane society people had gathered, including one well-respected shelter consultant. The talk was all about the firing of Amy Cooper as director of Sonoma County Animal Care and Control. The consultant noted that finding a replacement for Cooper will be a taunting task.
“There just are not that many, well-qualified people running shelters who would be willing to take on Sonoma County. There is a lack of trust in the agency and the county,” she said. She admitted she would be hesitant to send many candidates to seek the position. “The turnover rate is unacceptable to most candidates.”
Sonoma County officials plan to start the search for a new director in August. Presumably, the position will come well-defined goals and expectations. There have been varying reports that the reason Cooper was fired was a management style conflict with Agriculture Commissioner, Cathy Neville. True or not, the appearance is there. So remove it. Perhaps the county should look at realigning which agency provides oversight to Animal Care and Control.
There are some in the animal care community who questions why animal care is an agriculture related agency anyway. At one time, most Animal Control agencies were operated as an extension of either agriculture or law enforcement, when the shelter of 2010 is a different beast with a different mission.
One is hesitant to give ACC too much freedom to operate, because lack of appropriate oversight in the past, allowed the agency to run amok, prompting a scathing review from the Sonoma County Grand Jury.
Anything the county can do to remove the appearance of personality conflicts, rather than job performance, being the reason a person is let go 48 hours prior to their probationary period expires, would be a step forward.
Ideas??
