Saskia Boisot, MD powerpoint presentation about shelter reform at OCAC in Orange County, CA, at the American Pets Alive Conference in February 2019

1. How shelter reform took
place at Orange County
Animal Care in California
Saskia Boisot, MD

2. •OCAC protest promotional video
• Disclaimer for people watching the above video outside the context of
the talk: rumors about shelters profiting from killing their resident
animals through rendering are a recurring theme; we specifically
investigated this possibility, and never found any evidence to support
this, at least not at OCAC. However, at the time we had this video
made, we had not definitively ruled it out as a possibility; it is being
shown here merely to highlight some of the steps we took to engage
people on social media in our campaign against the shelter.

3. Who am I?
• Human physician who practices pathology in Orange County,
specializing in diagnosing lymphomas and leukemias.
• Strong background in advocacy, first starting in 1989 with
HIV/AIDS, where I volunteered doing policy document writing,
volunteered in hospice, and worked in HIV basic science for almost
10 years.
• In 2000, started medical school, and discovered medical students
were expected to participate in 2 live dog vivisection labs in their first
year, culminating in the dogs being killed. In collaboration with one
of my professors, launched a campaign to end this practice, and was
successful after 3 years.
• Rescued and fostered numerous dogs for various rescues for 15 years.

4. How it started…
• Only joined social media in 2014. Urgent dogs at OCAC
started coming across my newsfeed, and I started pledging
for them.
• When a few of the dogs I had pledged for didn’t make it, I
naively made a comment about it being inevitable if there
was not enough space, and the response I got was that there
was in fact plenty of space.
• After a few such incidents, I decided that just complaining
on FB threads wasn’t going to fix the problem.
• First met up for a tour of the 74 year old shelter facility with
the person I had been communicating about the urgent
dogs.
• That evening, with two other people from San Diego,
scheduled a small meeting with a few volunteers and
networkers right across from the shelter, and told them of
my intention to aggressively go after the shelter for what
they were doing.
• Almost everyone at the original meeting ended up trying to
counter our initiative in some way, shape, or form.
4 year old Cyclone, the dog that
started it all for me; killed for
behavior.

6. THE
PROBLEM

7. OCAC Shelter statistics - 2011 versus 2015
Almost 1500 “owner
requested euthanasias”
• LRR of 67%
• 71% of kittens being killed
Annual intake: 20,500
Over 4,000 kittens killed

8. First Steps
• Already in place: 5 scathing
Grand Jury reports, a recent
audit report, and numerous
negative media stories.
• Started No Kill Shelter
Alliance FB page.
• Started scrutinizing all the
animals that were being
networked on social media.
• Wrote email to JVR Shelter
Strategies, who had already
inspected OCAC twice before,
and made recommendations
about appropriate kennel
cleaning methods (full letter
in links).

9. • Signposts, T shirts, and buttons for
first BOS protest and speeches (and
“Clear the Shelters”).

10. SEPTEMBER 2015: FIRST PROTEST OUTSIDE
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS’ MEETING

11. Spoke at the BOS
meeting as we
protested outside

12. Logan vs OCAC lawsuit
• In July 2014 Sharon Logan videotaped a dog
named Stitch being surrendered for euth in the
shelter parking lot for aggression. As 3 ACOs
shoved Stitch into the euth cart, he showed no
signs of aggression whatsoever, and the
purported owner walked away laughing,
admitting that he was in fact her boyfriend’s
dog, and this was entirely motivated by
revenge.
• San Diego lawyer Howard Finkelstein saw the
video, which had gone viral, and with Sharon
Logan as the plaintiff, filed a lawsuit against
OCAC for violations of California’s Hayden
Law (It is the policy of the state that no
treatable animal should be euthanized. A
treatable animal shall include any animal that
is not adoptable but that could become
adoptable with reasonable efforts." Cal. Civ.
Code §1834.4; Cal. Food & Ag. Code §17005)
• Lawsuit was settled in August 2015, and terms
of settlement agreement included that the
shelter provide our team with monthly
euthanasia raw data lists, provide us with the
records of 5 deceased animals of our choosing
each month, and revise the policy and
procedure document pertaining to the “owner
requested euthanasia” category.
• We hired a statistician, who also happened to be a veterinarian doing research at
UCSD, to analyze data.
• We put in 300-400 public records requests for specific animal records, mostly
pertaining to the category of “owner requested euthanasia”, and identified multiple
instances of violating Hayden’s Law, as well as not following their own policies and
procedures.
• We also put in public records requests for the over 200 policy and procedure
documents under which OCAC was supposedly operating.
• Through the process, we discovered that OCAC was counting a litter of kittens and the
mother as a single animal in their euthanasia data, as well as using dead animals in the
denominator for their calculations.

13. The data
analysis at a
glance
• Median time to death for
cats and dogs killed overall
was 43 minutes.
• 61% of dogs killed were
killed on day of entry.
• Of the OREs, 64% were
killed within less than an
hour of intake.
• 70% of cats were killed
within a day of intake.
• 60% of stray cats were
killed for being “too young”.

14. Meeting number 1 with BOS chair Bartlett’s chief of staff and her office manager.

15. Personally started rescuing
a bunch of large breed
behavior dogs on the euth
list, and showed they were
in fact perfectly adoptable.

16. Shamelessly used my kids
to show the behavior dogs
being euth listed were in
fact family dogs.

17. Got the chair of the Board of Supervisors
personally involved in saving 3 large breed dogs
euth listed for behavior reasons

18. Meeting number 2 with Supervisor Bartlett (chair of BOS), Frank Kim
(CEO of OC), Paul Walters (chief of staff to Supervisor Bartlett), Dr.
Jennifer Hawkins (OCAC shelter director), Katie Ingram (OCAC deputy
director), Steve Franks (head of OC Community Resources), Tanya Flink
(office manager to Supervisor Bartlett), and Joel Angeles (chief of staff
to Supervisor Steele).
• At meeting, specifically requested 3
things:
• Moratorium on empty cage
killing.
• Oversight committee be
formed.
• Independent contractor to
conduct a separate audit of the
shelter.

19. • As a result of our meeting, the same independent contractor
who had previously inspected OCAC, JVR Shelter Strategies,
was hired for a full review of operations.
• Initial contract was for $150,000, but scope of contract was
expanded to 2 years at a total cost of $350,000, to include
strategic planning and an accountability phase.

20. • Despite meetings and engagement with the BOS and JVR, continued
infractions occurred.
• Boxer Beja was photographed by a visitor with foam coming out of her
mouth, and despite reporting to staff, she was found dead in her
kennel the next morning.
• 8 month old Pudge was killed, despite rescue in place.
• Marley found with blood strewn all over the kennel floor.
• Continued documentation of poor conditions, such as dogs in their
kennel soaking wet.

21. Second protest at OCAC shelter

22. Capitalized on two
separate high profile
cases involving so-
called “wolf dogs”,
whom the shelter
director was intent on
killing, to underscore
her retrogressive
mentality.

23. Wrote numerous
editorials

24. • After years of battling with no concession, a sign…

25. The tides turn…
• As the new shelter is under construction, JVR makes recommendation
for the shelter director to be moved to the position of chief
veterinarian, and a new interim director from OC Community
Resources takes over the directorship role.
• The interim director has no experience in animal sheltering, but since
she will be the yet-to-be found incoming director’s boss, this is a great
opportunity for her to gain perspective about the inner workings of
the shelter.

26. • Met large breed “last chance” dog trainer Steffen Baldwin at the
AMPA conference in 2016, and ended up sending 2 OCAC dogs to
him (5 year old Lida, who was dumped on me by a rescue I had
sponsored numerous dogs through, and had had in boarding for a
year and a half, and had already had trained; and 2 year old Ollie).
• With the assistance of my rescue and advocacy partner, Summer
Parker, helped Steffen move out from Ohio to set up a kennel facility
outside Los Angeles in early 2018, and the 3 of us started a 501c3
together, focused on helping large breed behavior dogs, the so-called
“last 5%”.
Meanwhile, a slight personal detour…

27. • During transition from old shelter facility to new one,
through the large breed dog rescue I was collaborating
with, and in conjunction with Steffen, made a “good faith”
gesture towards the new OCAC interim director in order to
engage her by agreeing to pull all 12 large breed dogs on the
euth list at the time of the move.
• Assisted with other rescues, and through Steffen, she was
able to see the importance of having someone who really
understood and cared about the animals at the helm.
• Also introduced her to key players in the No Kill space, and
chaperoned her at the 2018 BFAS national conference in
Los Angeles.

28. Hooray for new
management!!!

29. The new way
forward

30. Summary Part 1: Ousting old management.
• Started No Kill Shelter Alliance Facebook page.
• Wrote letter to JVR Shelter Strategies regarding continued infractions, specifically relating to animals being hosed down in their kennels
during cleaning.
• Organized protest outside BOS meeting and had 12 advocates speak during public comments section.
• Had people go to the shelter multiple times a week to count and document the number of empty kennels, as well as give any insider
information we could get about the conditions of the animals.
• Joined lawsuit team to scrutinize monthly euthanasia data, hired a professional statistician to analyze the data, and put in 400-500 public
records requests for animal records to establish continued violations of the Hayden Law; also put in public records request for over 200
policies and procedures for shelter operations.
• Started rescuing as many dogs placed on euthanasia list for behavior reasons as possible to demonstrate their flawed assessments.
• Went to AMPA meeting to establish network of people in the space who could help.
• Met with staff from chair of BOS, and identified a key person within the political structure.
• Engaged the Chair of BOS to actively participate in saving 3 large breed dogs on the euth list for behavior, and subsequently demonstrated
they were in fact adoptable.
• Had second meeting, this time with chair of BOS, CEO of county, and shelter director, at which time they agreed to bring in an outside
consultant to conduct an in-depth audit. JVR Shelter Strategies was brought in again, initially with a $150,000 contract, but this was
expanded for a total of $350,000, and lasted 2 years.
• Organized second protest outside the shelter, with much greater attendance, but still essentially no media coverage.
• Wrote a barrage of emails to the BOS with data analysis, examples of continued infractions, and demands for a moratorium on empty cage
killing, formation of an oversight committee, and getting new management in place.
• Lodged two formal complaints with CA Veterinary Board pertaining to poor regulation of conditions at the shelter, as well as asking why
RVTs were being permitted to make diagnostic decisions about animals brought in under the “owner requested euthanasia” category.

31. Summary Part 2: Pivoting with new
management in place
• Once JVR made recommendation for the shelter director to be replaced,
forged a relationship with the interim director through the consultant and
with the assistance of trainer Steffen Baldwin, to demonstrate the
importance of having leadership that cares about the animals, and
understands their behavioral challenges.
• Introduced her to key players and helped educate her about the No Kill
space.
• Assisted with the search for the next shelter director.
• Now help Mike Kaviani with placement of his large breed behavior dogs
through Underdog Alliance, as well as with introductions to various
rescues and community members/groups wanting to be involved.

32. Take-away points
• Always maintain professionalism: dress appropriately for meetings, don’t use
profanity, don’t get down in the weeds on social media.
• Network, network, network (and I don’t mean the animals, although those should
obviously be networked too).
• Accuracy with data is absolutely crucial.
• Find the person within the political hierarchy with access and power who is
willing to really champion your cause, not necessarily the most visible politician,
and engage them at the level of rescuing individual animals.
• Make sure your targeting is on point, has legal meaning, and resonates with your
audience.
• Try to get a seat at the table (indirectly) in the hiring process.
• Once a change in management is made, decide if pivoting is appropriate, and if
so, do everything you can to ensure the success of the replacing administration.

33. Links to some pertinent No Kill Shelter
Alliance materials
• OCAC protest promotional video
• Email with JVR shelter strategies with responses and forwarding email to city managers, city council members, and mayors from cities
contracting with OCAC
• Letter to Supervisor Spitzer with data and other relevant links
• First presentation with Supervisor Bartlett
• First Voice of OC editorial
• Second Voice of OC editorial Part 1
• Second Voice of OC editorial Part 2
• Second Voice of OC editorial Part 3
• Sharon Logan Voice of OC editorial
• Rose Tingle Voice of OC editorial
• Logan vs OCAC Lawsuit
• Logan vs OCAC settlement agreement
• Logan vs OCAC motion to enforce
• Second complaint to CA Veterinary Board with link to original letter
• JVR Shelter Strategies Strategic Plan
• First BOS speech
• Second BOS speech

34. It always takes a village…
• Summer Parker
• Rose Tingle
• Cynthia Typaldos
• Steffen Baldwin
• Gino Gochicoa
• Jim Gardner
• Kristen Auerbach
• Tawny Hammond
• Jose Ocano
• Mike Kaviani
• Francis Battista
• Ellen Jefferson
• Danielle Parker
• Rachel Strachino
• Stephanie Ellison
• Hayley Ann Liebzeit
• Miriam Penna-
Cathorall
• Jacquelyn Rae Peter
• Nik Peter
• Howard Finkelstein
• Lorin Legrant
• Bryan Pease
• John Grasberger
• Sarah Lamere