TABLE OF CONTENTS
REPORTS OF THE STANDING COMMITTEES
AND OTHER COMMITTEES
As Considered by
The Council of the City of Toronto
on May 13 and 14, 1998
BOARD OF HEALTH
REPORT No. 6
1Interim Arrangements for the Provision of Animal Services in 1998
City of Toronto
REPORT No. 6
OF THEBOARD OF HEALTH
(from its meeting on March 24, 1998,
submitted by Councillor John Filion, Chair)
As Considered by
The Council of the City of Toronto
on May 13 and 14, 1998
1
Interim Arrangements for the Provision of Animal Services in 1998
(City Council on May 13 and 14, 1998, adopted this Clause without amendment.)
The Board of Health recommends that:
(1)there be no expansion of contracting out of animal services in the City of Toronto; and
(2)the Medical Officer of Health, the Chief Administrative Officer and the City Solicitor be authorized to extend
the existing contract with the Toronto Humane Society for animal shelter services in Wards 19 to 26 (the former
City of Toronto), subject to the existing terms and conditions, to December 31, 1998.
The Board of Health reports, for the information of Council, having:
(1)approved the 1998 revised operating budget of $4,295,600.00 for the provision of Animal Services in 1998 and
forwarded this matter to Budget Committee for consideration of funding;
(2)requested the Medical Officer of Health to report back to the Board of Health for its July 1998 meeting on the
provision of animal shelter services in wards 19-26; and
(3)adopted the Business Plan prepared by the Toronto Animal Services Team as a basis for developing the provision of
animal services in the City of Toronto.
The Board of Health submits the following joint report (March 12, 1998) from the Medical Officer of Health and
the Chief Administrative Officer respecting an interim arrangement for the provision of animal services in 1998:
Purpose:
To recommend a 1998 budget and provide an outline for the provision of animal services on an interim basis, pending the
results of a comprehensive review of options for the long term provision of animal services in the City.
Source of Funds:
The recommended 1998 budget for animal services will fund existing arrangements for animal services provision.
Additional funds already allocated to the Amalgamation Office for service delivery rationalization will be used as needed
for a comprehensive review of service delivery options.
Recommendations:
It is recommended that:
(1)The 1998 revised budget of $4,205.6 thousand as outlined in this report be adopted;
(2)the Board of Health adopt the Interim Plan to deliver Animal Services, as outlined in this report;
(3)the CAO and Medical Officer of Health be authorized to take the necessary steps to extend the existing sheltering
services contract with the Toronto Humane Society to December 31, 1998 pursuant to the City's purchasing policy;
(4)under the direction of the CAO, resources be provided from Finance, Audit and the Amalgamation Office to conduct a
comprehensive review of options for the delivery of animal services across the City; and
(5)this report be forwarded to the Budget Committee for consideration.
Background:
At the Board of Health meeting on February 23, 1998, the Board deferred consideration of the Animal Services program
component of the 1998 Operating Budget to its March 23 meeting. The Board requested the Acting Medical Officer of
Health to report back on an interim arrangement for the provision of animal services in the City of Toronto which could
include an extension of the existing sheltering services contract with the Toronto Humane Society.
The Board also heard deputations from the Toronto Humane Society and the Animal Alliance of Canada regarding the
proposed Animal Services budget. The Board directed the Acting Medical Officer of Health to consult with the
appropriate staff and report back with a review of the two business plans for the delivery of animal services prepared by
Toronto Animal Services and by the Toronto Humane Society.
Comments:
Toronto Animal Services, which combines local municipal animal care and control agencies from the former six
municipalities, has developed a Business Plan that identifies how a harmonized municipally run animal services program
can be achieved in the new Toronto. The Toronto Humane Society has developed and circulated a proposal to provide all
animal services under contract with the new Toronto.
The two plans were compared in terms of cost and services provided, based on available information. The comparison of
services has been done by Animal Services staff and the financial comparison has been done by Finance staff.
General Approaches Within the Two Plans:
Until amalgamation, all municipalities in Metro Toronto operated their own municipal animal service program, and,
except for the former City of Toronto, each municipality also owned and operated its own animal shelter. In the former
City of Toronto, the Department of Public Health's Animal Control Services provided all animal control by-law
enforcement functions and related field services, while the sheltering of the City's animals was contracted to the Toronto
Humane Society. The current sheltering agreement ends on May 31, 1998.
The managers of the six former municipal animal services have been meeting regularly since 1989, and throughout the
years have worked toward harmonizing animal care and control legislation and field services. In 1997, the group
developed a Business Plan to describe how a harmonized animal services program could be delivered across Toronto,
using the existing municipal animal centres and staff in conjunction with a sheltering arrangement with the Toronto
Humane Society for the housing of animals from Wards 19 to 26 (former City of Toronto).
Under their proposal, the Toronto Humane Society would become the sole animal care and control service provider in
Toronto, providing all shelter services as well as field services yet to be defined on behalf of the city.
Service Comparison:
Since there are fundamental differences in mandate between the two agencies, there are also significant differences in the
way each has approached the delivery of animal services. The Toronto Humane Society is a charitable organization
focussed on the welfare of animals. This is reflected in its mission statement, "to promote the humane care and protection
of all animals and to prevent cruelty and suffering". The proposed mission statement of Toronto Animal Services, which
represents the unified municipal animal service agencies of the six former municipalities, is "to promote and support a
harmonious environment where humans and animals can co-exist free from conditions that adversely affect their health
and safety". This mission statement reflects the City's responsibility for public health and safety while recognizing the
needs of animals and the valuable contributions they make to the lives of many City residents.
Animal service delivery incorporates a multitude of activities ranging from promoting responsible pet ownership to animal
licensing, and from investigating noisy dogs to rabies prevention.
The two major components of a comprehensive animal care and control program are the sheltering of animals and the
delivery of field services that meet community needs. Animal sheltering includes services such as: the receipt of owned,
stray and impounded animals; their care and maintenance while in the shelter; and their dispositions through redemption
to owners, adoption to new owners, or euthanasia. Field services include: enforcement of municipal animal care and
control legislation, response to animal-based complaints; resolution of animal-based concerns and disputes; impoundment
and collection of animals (dead and alive); and protecting the public from biting and aggressive animals.
The Toronto Humane Society Plan proposes enhancement of a number of shelter services but provides insufficient
information on the type and level of field services which would be provided. This information has been requested from the
Toronto Humane Society. The Toronto Animal Services Plan proposes to adopt the "best practices" from each municipal
agency in order to harmonize shelter and field services, including continuation of a sheltering arrangement with the
Toronto Humane Society for animals from Wards 19 to 26 (former City of Toronto).
A preliminary comparison of the services currently provided by the City and by the Toronto Humane Society is provided
in Appendix A, based on currently available information. Further information about the services provided under both the
Toronto Humane Society and the Toronto Animal Services plans would be required in order to conduct a more precise
comparison.
Financial Comparison:
The Finance staff were requested to do a financial comparison between the Animal Services Business Plan (1998-1999)
and the Toronto Humane Society's (THS) Proposal - " Consolidation of Animal Control Services in the New Toronto"
dated September 1997.
At this point in time, it is not possible to do a detailed financial comparison of the two business plans for a number of
reasons, some of which are:
(1)The level of services addressed in each report do not appear to be comparable. For example, it is not clear how THS
proposes to deliver its field services. This is a key component to the Animal Services model.
(2)There is a lack of detailed financial information on the services presented in both business plans. Program profiles are
required outlining: a description of each service; objectives; benchmarks; and financial resources required to deliver each
service.
(3)There are unknown costs, such as the disposition of existing staff, the transfer of assets, and tax implications.
(4)Questions remain about the indirect costs. In their analysis, the THS uses an 18 percent overhead factor (or
$950,000.00/year) in arriving at the Municipal Animal Services gross operating budget, while Animal Services have
estimated their overhead at $100,000.00/year or 2.2 percent.
Notwithstanding the above, there is financial information that can be confirmed to date, such as the status of the Animal
Services 1998 Operating Budget Request, the 15 percent proposed target reductions and the possible impact the reductions
could have on the budget.
1998 Animal Services Budget:
Following the February 23 Board of Health meeting, the Animal Services budget submission was presented to Budget
Committee and referred back to staff in order to identify management savings within a framework of status quo service
levels; the original submission had proposed a "levelling-up" within the existing budget. The Budget Committee received
the second submission, along with a deputation on the matter from the Toronto Humane Society, and requested an
additional report from the CAO by March 31, 1998 regarding the provision of animal services. Further consideration of
the Animal Services budget proposals was deferred to that date.
The Animal Services 1998 Net Operating Budget Request is $4,493.8 thousand. This request represents an increase of
$109.7 thousand over their 1997 Net Operating Budget Request. The base budget increase relates to a $29.3 thousand
increase in salaries and benefits plus an $82.0 thousand decrease in user fees.
The 1998 request of $4,493.8 thousand represents the financial resources required to harmonize Animal Services delivery
across the new city. This means that in some cases there would be a levelling up of services, as was indicated in their
business plan. It should be noted that these estimates include the $726.0 thousand required to cover the cost of the THS
purchase of service contract.
In response to the 1998 15 percent budget reduction target requested by the CAO, Animal Services brought forward 10
proposals to be considered. Those proposals are detailed in Appendix B. It should be noted that these proposals were
brought forward in two parts, some of which have not yet been reviewed by the Budget Committee.
The proposals for a 15 percent target reduction can be summarized as follows:
1998 Annual
ImpactImpact
($000)($000)
Revenue Harmonizationproposal #1 25.050.0
Amalgamation Savingsproposals # 2, 3, 4 & 8 203.4356.8
Efficiency Savingsproposal # 5 250.0428.4
Service reductionsproposals #6, 7, 9 & 10 295.8410.6
Total - reduction proposals: 774.2 1,245.8
17.2%27.7%
Noted below are the specific proposals reflected in the proposed recommended budget.
1998Annual
ImpactImpact
($000)($000)
1998 Net Request: $4,493.8$4,493.8
Proposals #1, 2, 3, & 4:
Staff have indicated that these proposals could be taken without
service implications. This level of funding would allow Animal
Services to proceed with their Business Plan. These proposals
have been recommended by the CAO and have been supported
by the Budget Committee. (123.4)(196.8)
Sub- total4,370.44,297.0
1998 Annual
ImpactImpact
($000)($000)
Proposal # 8:
Relates to savings achieved through amalgamation, i.e. reduction
in management. This proposal has been put forward as being
achievable but has not yet been reviewed by Budget
Committee.(105.0)(210.0)
Sub-total4,265.44,087.0
Proposals #9 and 10:
The closure of the East York and the York Animal Centers.
Although these proposals are categorized as a service level
impact, staff have indicated the situation is manageable. (59.8)(119.6)
Total- Recommended Budget: 4,205.63,967.4
The $3.7 million annual operating cost of the Toronto Humane Society's proposal cannot be compared with the Animal
Services budget at this time due to differences in service types and levels that have yet to be determined. It should be
noted that their net cost of $3.7 million does not include either their significant one-time costs ($3.0 million) or the added
costs to the city of winding down the municipal service. It should also be noted that the THS proposal also includes
reducing the number of shelters from six to four.
The recommended Animal Services budget of $4,205.6 thousand is subject to Budget Committee approval of the
outstanding reduction proposals and represents a 6.4 percent decrease for 1998 and an 11.7 percent decrease on an
annualized basis. Proposal #5 which pertained to renegotiating the contract with the Toronto Humane Society (THS) for a
1998 savings of $250.0 thousand originally recommended by the CAO has now been excluded from the above
recommended budget. Finally, proposals #6 and #7 were not supported either by the CAO or the Budget Committee.
Interim Arrangements:
As noted above, additional information is needed to enable a proper comparison of the two approaches. The scope of this
work should be broadened to include review and consideration of all options for animal services delivery, as part of the
City's approach to alternate service delivery.
The following approach is recommended on an interim basis pending the results of the proposed review:
(1)That the interim arrangements to deliver services in 1998 include the following:
(a)That animal services be delivered at 1997 levels in all communities of the City, subject to any organizational or service
changes approved by City Council in the 1998budget.
(b)That the Toronto Humane Society continue to provide shelter services for animals from Wards 19-26 (former City of
Toronto) from June 1 to December 31, 1998 under contractual terms acceptable to the CAO.
(2)That animal service delivery be examined as part of the City's alternate service delivery process and that such
examination include the following considerations:
(a)What are the City's animal care and control needs?
(b)What are the key elements in an animal care and control program for a city of 2.4million residents?
(c)How many of those key elements are currently being delivered?
(d)Does the current service delivery model provide "value for money"?
(e)How does Toronto animal service delivery compare with that in municipalities of similar size and demographics?
(f)What other options for animal service delivery exist, and what are their advantages and disadvantages for the City of
Toronto?
(g)What option for animal service delivery would best meet the service and fiscal needs of the City?
(h)If the City were to entertain proposals from external contractors to provide all or part of animal services, what process
should the city follow to solicit and evaluate such proposals?
Conclusions:
Although no definitive comparison of the proposals is possible at this time, it is evident that each group has developed its
own expertise and experience. While the Toronto Humane Society's expertise lies primarily with animal welfare and the
sheltering of animals, the municipal animal service plan reflects knowledge and expertise about neighbourhood animal
issues and the animal service needs of each community. A more detailed review of the options for animal services delivery
is required, pending which a recommended 1998 Animal Services budget should be forwarded to the Budget Committee
and the current contract with the Toronto Humane Society extended to December31, 1998.
In the interim, the proposed plan will provide stability to the current providers of animal services while laying out some of
the essential elements for a comprehensive service review.
Contact Name:
Dr. Sheela Basrur
Medical Officer of Health
Tel:392-7402
Fax:392-0713
E-mail: sbasrur@city.toronto.on.ca
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The Board of Health reports, for the information of Council, also having had before it the following appendices and
communications, copies of which are on file in the office of the City Clerk:
-Appendices A and B referred to in the report (March 12, 1998) from the Medical Officer of Health;
-(March 20, 1998) from Ms. Denis Casey, Acting President, CUPE Local 79;
-(March 23, 1998) from Mr. Jack Slibar, Chief Operating Officer, Toronto Humane Society;
-(March 23, 1998) from Mr. Larry Katz, Researcher, CUPE Local 416;
-(undated) from Mr. Rob Sinclair, Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals;
-(March 23, 1998) from Ms. Ainslie Willock, Director, Animal Alliance of Canada;
-(March 24, 1998) from Ms. Liz White, Director, Animal Alliance of Canada; Mr. Barry MacKay, International
Programme Director, Animal Protection Institute; and Mr. Rob Laidlaw, Executive Director, Zoocheck Canada Inc.; and
-(undated) from Casey Conklin, Withrow Park Dog Owners' Association.
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The following persons appeared before the Board of Health in connection with the foregoing matter:
-Ms. Barbara Tait, President, Etobicoke Humane Society;
-Mr. Ian Stuart, Etobicoke Humane Society;
-Casey Conklin, Withrow Park Dog Owners' Association;
-Mr. Brian Cochrane, CUPE Local 416;
-Mr. Larry Katz, CUPE Local 416;
-Mr. Jack Slibar, Chief Operating Officer, Toronto Humane Society;
-Ms. Andrea Harrison, Volunteer, Toronto Cat Rescue;
-Ms. Denis Casey, CUPE Local 79;
-Mr. Rob Sinclair, Director of External Resources, Ontario Society for the Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals;
-Ms. Rebecca Taylor, Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Scarborough Adoption Centre;
-Ms. Liz White, Director, Animal Alliance of Canada;
-Ms. Nathalie Karvonen, Executive Director, Toronto Wildlife Centre; and
-Ms. Ainslie Willock, Animal Alliance of Canada.
Respectfully submitted,
JOHN FILION,
Chair
Toronto, March 24, 1998
(Report No. 6 of The Board of Health was adopted, without amendment, by City Council on May13 and14, 1998.)
