HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-07-2025_Open Session_Betit_RedactedFrom:Courtney Bowen
To:Courtney Bowen
Subject:RE: Going Forward 2 -- City of San Bernardino Animal Services
Date:Wednesday, August 6, 2025 2:46:00 PM
Attachments:image004.png
From: cgbetit
Sent: Wednesday, July 16, 2025 2:24 PM
To: publicomments@sbcity.org
Cc: Kristine Watson <Watson_Kr@sbcity.org>; sbrescue@sbc.org; D-SBCityClerk <SbCityClerk@sbcity.org>; Council
<Council@sbcity.org>
Subject: Going Forward-- City of San Bernardino Animal Services
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Good afternoon, Leaders for the City of San Bernardino and its Animal Services:
With news flowing that Kristine Watson will be leaving the CSBAS soon, I write to urge the Mayor and City Council:
To establish a nation-wide search for a new director, with preference (if possible) for a veterinarian to lead the shelter team in
caring service to the animals and all concerned in professional and humane ways that represent the City of San Bernardino
well.
To host one or a few facilitated meeting(s) of interested parties to draw out concerns and hopes for the future of the shelter so
that the Mayor, City Council and City Manager will be better informed to plan for service to the animals and the many
communities served.
The CSBAS must see itself as a service:
To animals: they should be fed properly with enough food for their size. Throwing the food into the kennels is not comforting
to anxious animals. Their medical needs must be tended rather than be a cause for killing. Dogs to be euthanized should be
sedated. They absolutely deserve good photos so they can be seen. Staff need to take more initiative to save dogs. The number
of dogs selected for minor reasons needs to be greatly reduced. Extensions should be granted whenever possible.
To the community: A full day of service to the local community has been cut. Wednesday’s extended hours were eliminated.
Adoptions don’t take place after 4:00 p.m. though the shelter is open later. A whole set of rules is in place for sending an email
to the shelter or a form letter comes back. Many pieces of correspondence are ‘no reply.’ More efforts are being created to
silo the shelter away from input and response to the community.
To the animal rescues: Several rescues are no longer willing to take animals from CSBAS. Some say dogs are sick because of the
poor hygiene--many dogs have giardia. Several rescues have said that the reason that the parvo and distemper outbreaks have
been so extended can be attributed to poor vaccine and hygienic habits. Networkers have heard that having so many sick dogs
may serve the staff in allowing them to kill more animals.
The well-being of animals in care must be a priority concern. Their lives are important to them, to us and to the overall wellbeing of
the City of San Bernardino community.
Please know that I am happy to answer questions.
Best wishes,
Cecile Betit
Cecile G. Betit PhD
Independent Researcher
Member, SBC Networker Team since 2016
From: cgbetit@
Sent: Wednesday, August 6, 2025 1:52 PM
To: publicomments@sbcity.org
Cc: Kristine Watson <Watson_Kr@sbcity.org>; sbrescue@sbc.org; D-SBCityClerk <SbCityClerk@sbcity.org>; Council
<Council@sbcity.org>
Subject: Going Forward 2 -- City of San Bernardino Animal Services
Caution - This email originated from outside the City - Verify that the Emaildisplay name and Email address are consistent. - Use caution when openingattachments.
Good afternoon, Leaders for the City of San Bernardino and its Animal Services
Continuing from my previous correspondence, Kristine Watson’s leaving the CSBAS soon, opens an opportunity for the City Manager,
Mayor and City Council to reaffirm the shelter mission in service to the City of San Bernardino, its contracting cities, its animals and its
various publics and to close the gap between caring for the animals and watching the bottom line.
There has been no public review with public report during Kristine Watson’s employment. The shelter Director vacancy opens this
opportunity for facilitated reflection with a broad base of the citizenry and an invitation for them to be involved for the future of the
shelter. SB would benefit: from having a community-based plan in hand for its national search. This could also serve to address its
future management and veterinary needs for the shelter drawn from cooperative discussions and collaborative planning. Expansion
on these ideas follow:
Cooperative discussion and collaborative planning:
The SB City Council, Mayor and City Manager could form a working group of interested parties from its membership to bring together
local interested parties with a range of expertise and experience with the CSBAS to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of its service
operations to animals and SB as well as policies, procedures and budget.
Form a nationwide search for a two-pronged approach to include management and veterinary services:
A veterinarian as the new director (if possible) to lead and manage the shelter team in caring and competent service for
the animals and all concerned in professional and humane ways.
If it is not possible to hire a veterinarian as Director, it may be important for the City Council to have a plan for both the
management and veterinary needs for the shelter. (This cannot be left to the Director as it has been.)
Going forward, the CSBAS needs to work with its communities to improve its services:
With adopters, networkers, owners and rescues, recognizing that these groups need service a few examples come forward
(many more could be provided):
These are very hard days when so many animals die that could not be saved.
Staff forgets they are part of a system of working for the well-being of SB animals. To have people who sent a request for
an extension early on Sunday morning to receive a response for an extension for 2 dogs at 2:30 in the afternoon is only
worthy of appreciation if the dogs can be saved. To the networkers and rescues, it shows the lack of awareness and care
for what must be done to have dogs leave the shelter. The staff simply must do better to be collaborative with the
working teams.
July 26 ARLO - ID #A582024 killed: black and gray Labrador Retriever mix—a networker wrote: “from the person who
told me tagged dogs were being killed anyway-- "Arlo had 2 rescues interested and tagged him and they killed him
anyway, and lied that the second tag came in after they had killed him already."”
Staff must work with its diverse groups to understand what is helpful to them in saving animals.
Staff should provide support, confirmations and extensions and a bit of leeway on hours when transportation or other
dilemmas come into play particularly when an animal’s life is in the balance.
Extension requests should rarely be denied. At times the denial is not in conformity to the California regulations.
Given the diverse population of those involved with CSBAS, staff needs to reduce the rules for city residents and rescues
to use in corresponding with the shelter with questions and requests for information. Staff is paid to provide service not
the people of San Bernardino. Staff should stop responding to the shelter constituencies with a form letter.
CSBAS has lost the trust and credibility of many solid rescues and networkers. Many people have simply stopped
believing staff.
For the animals--basics:
Animals should be fed properly with enough food for their size. Throwing the food into the dog kennels is not comforting
to anxious animals.
Animals’ medical needs must be tended rather than be a cause for killing. Those to be euthanized should be sedated.
Dogs require and absolutely deserve good photos so they can be seen.
Staff need to take more initiative to save dogs.
The number of dogs selected for euthanasia for minor reasons needs to be greatly reduced. Euthanizing for space needs
to be disincentivized.
The well-being of animals in care must be more of a priority concern. Their lives are important to them, to us and to the overall
wellbeing of the City of San Bernardino community.
Please be involved with the CSBAS. Please know that I am happy to answer questions.
Best,
Cecile Betit
Cecile G. Betit PhD
Independent Researcher
Member, SBC Networker Team since 2016