County Agency to End Wildlife Rescues

To offset sharp budget cuts next year, Ventura County animal control officers will no longer rescue wounded sea lions, coyotes and other wildlife from county beaches, roads and hillsides, an official said Tuesday.

Kathy Jenks, director of the county’s Animal Regulation Department, told county supervisors that her agency will be unable to afford the $44,000 annual cost of picking up the animals.

Instead, Jenks said she will ask state wildlife officials to perform the task, which she said they are required to do under California law.

“This is something we just can’t do any more,” she told the supervisors during the budget workshop.

The supervisors started the series of budget sessions last week to find ways to offset $36 million in projected state funding cuts next year from the county’s $450-million general fund budget.

All county department heads have been asked to submit plans to reduce their budgets by as much as 12.5%.

Jenks was one of eight department heads--including the county’s tax collector and the county’s agriculture commissioner--to advise the board Tuesday on ways to slice spending.

Jenks said she is also considering cutting the department’s popular animal education program for children to meet the budget-reduction goal.

She said she could cut $46,000 from the department’s $2.5-million budget by reassigning animal regulation officer Patrick Musone, who started the program to teach children about pet care. He takes his large Irish wolfhound, called Big Dog, to his presentations at schools around the county.

The supervisors, however, said they would prefer that Jenks keep the education program and make cuts elsewhere.

“I don’t think there is any way in the world you could get rid of Big Dog,” said Supervisor Vicky Howard. “You would have a mutiny on your hands. All the children would tell their parents to save Big Dog. We would have a real revolution, I’m sure.”

Jenks said she would try to honor the supervisors’ request.

“We’re trying to work out a variety of things” to fund the program, Jenks told the board.

Also on Tuesday, county General Services Agency Director Peter Pedroff informed the board that he would like to close county parks on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays during the winter to help cut $2.9 million from his budget.

He also said he is considering reducing some of the recreation programs offered to youngsters.

“It will be very difficult,” he said, “but we have to make these adjustments.”

Treasurer-Tax Collector Hal Pittman told the board that he plans to reduce his use of temporary workers to offset a $98,000 cut in funding.

“I would not lay off full-time people,” he said. “But we would cut 10 to 12 part-time people.”

Agricultural Commissioner W. Earl McPhail told the supervisors that a 12.5% cut in his $1.7-million budget could hinder his efforts to monitor the effects pesticides have on field workers.

“We’ll have problems getting illness reports done,” he said.

Next week, the supervisors are scheduled to receive budget reports from county law enforcement officials.