We're diving into warm, fuzzy, heartwarming tales and the essential services from Elk Grove Animal Services Manager, Sarah Humlie. She shares about the work of the Elk Grove’s Animal Services team to support Elk Grove’s four-legged residents. But that's not all – John and Kristyn share a success story from the Enhanced Winter Sanctuary, promote a resource for residents to safely sell their stuff online, and share a call for nominations for the Stars of Service awards program recognizing the extraordinary individuals who go above and beyond to make Elk Grove a better place. Join us for an episode filled with heart, hope, and the vibrant spirit of Elk Grove.
Rate, review and subscribe to the Elk Grove Citycast to get more information about the people, programs, and services shaping the City.
We're diving into warm, fuzzy, heartwarming tales and the essential services from Elk Grove Animal Services Manager, Sarah Humlie. She shares about the work of the Elk Grove’s Animal Services team to support Elk Grove’s four-legged residents. But that's not all – John and Kristyn share a success story from the Enhanced Winter Sanctuary, promote a resource for residents to safely sell their stuff online, and share a call for nominations for the Stars of Service awards program recognizing the extraordinary individuals who go above and beyond to make Elk Grove a better place. Join us for an episode filled with heart, hope, and the vibrant spirit of Elk Grove.
Rate, review and subscribe to the Elk Grove Citycast to get more information about the people, programs, and services shaping the City.
Announcer: Welcome to Elk Grove CityCast, the podcast about Elk Grove. In each episode, we'll dive into hot topics, share what's happening in the city, and introduce you to some of the people making a difference in this place that we call home.
John Hull: Hi everyone, I'm John Hull. Welcome to the Elk Grove CityCast. Joining me is the City of Elk Grove's Public Affairs Manager, Kristyn Laurence.
And Kristyn, great to be with you once again. As we talk about what is happening here in the city of Elk Grove.
Kristyn Laurence: Great talking with you too, John.
John Hull: Well, we've had our first 70 degree day of 2024 just a couple of weeks ago. And it did remind me that perhaps the cold and rain of the winter might be finished. That until the first weekend of February and then guess what? We had 70 mile an hour gust and about an inch and a half of rain and, and tree limbs blown all over the place. So anyway, all that to say, you got to give us an update on the first winter. at Elk Grove's Winter Sanctuary. That's where we house the unsheltered and have done so what the last three months of, am I correct?
Kristyn Laurence: Yeah we actually opened the Enhanced Winter Sanctuary November 1st. And just to take a step back, you know, I heard on the forecast the other day that Pucksitani Phil said that we were due for an early spring. Okay. But this last weekend storm doesn't give you any indication that that's on the way.
I believe there's an old adage about March weather patterns....in like a lion, out like a lamb, or vice versa...so the weather is still pretty uncertain. But in any case, we're really grateful for The fact that many of our unhoused community members have a warm place to stay thanks to the Enhanced Winter Sanctuary, the facilities located at the old Rite Aid building on Elk Grove Boulevard and Waterman, and it's been operating 24/7 since November 1st. And we'll continue to offer a place to stay and services for up to 30 unhoused community members through the end of March. The program has proven to be a valuable way to connect with those who need assistance. And we are hearing more about how it's actually changing lives from our Facility management team from The Gathering Inn, a local non profit.
Stories like Luke's, who was one of the very first people that entered our program in November. And Luke was able to transition to sustainable housing and move into an apartment with his daughter right before the holidays, so.
John Hull: That's a great story.
Kristyn Laurence: Yeah, it's doing great things and all of that is possible through the help of the community and the funding from Measure E, the city's sales tax. And so we are grateful to Elk Grove residents who supported that measure and allowed us to make programs like this one possible.
John Hull: Well, Kristyn, based on what we heard from City Manager Jason Behrmann last month here on the CityCast, that building there at Waterman and Elk Grove Boulevard, will become a branch of the Sacramento County Library and construction, I guess we'll be starting later this year. So is there going to be like another. Winter Sanctuary to serve the unhoused next winter?
Kristyn Laurence: Well, as you pointed out, the Enhanced Winter Sanctuary will continue operating at this location through March 31st. So that will be our seasonal operation. And while it won't be hosted at the same facility next year, because the site is planned to be the home of the new library, and construction work will be starting late spring/ early summer this year, staff's already on the lookout for an alternate site to host the program again next fall. And I think we can expect a more comprehensive update on the program when it wraps up its operations later this spring.
John Hull: Now we'll have a whole lot more questions about Elk Grove for Kristyn later in this episode of the CityCast. And we encourage our listeners to contribute ideas for future Elk Grove CityCast topics. You can email us with your ideas and your questions. to publicaffairs@elkgrovecity.org. That again is publicaffairs@elkgrovecity.org.
Did you know February is Spay Neuter Awareness Month and National Cat Health Month? All of us who love our pets, do what we can to care for them. And yet there is the need for the city to step in when needed to also care for the animals that like us humans call Elk Grove, our home. Joining us Elk Grove's, animal services manager, Sarah Humlie.
Sarah, great to have you here on this episode of the City Cast. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background in animal services?
Sarah Humlie: Hi, thank you for having me. I'm happy to be here. I have been in animal welfare for about 12 years and five of those with Elk Grove. I have run nonprofit shelters. I've run nonprofit shelters with government contracts and now municipal shelters. I also started a high volume spay and neuter clinic. So I've been doing this a while and really have a passion for it.
John Hull: When did the city actually open that shelter?
Sarah Humlie: We opened in 2019, October 2019. So we're still fairly new with the city.
John Hull: Yeah, just inside of five years. It says here on the city website, elkgrovecity.org. you write that we are here to ensure that all animals within our community are treated humanely by way of a series of services and programs. Now, could you talk a little bit, Sarah, about your services and programs?
Sarah Humlie: Yeah, we provide shelter to lost and stray pets. We provide adoptions for pets who are unclaimed by owners. We provide spay neuter services, free microchipping, pet licensing. We do free vaccine clinics. We have a TNR program for community cats. That's where we spay or neuter them, vaccinate them, and then return them where they, to where they came from. And we also have field services for investigations of cruelty or neglect or other complaints about animals in the community. We're responsible for domestic, domestic animals within the city and wildlife goes to other services.
John Hull: Oh, that's interesting. We'll talk about all this here over the next few moments, but there is a frequent post on both the Nextdoor and the local Ring apps whenever somebody's either lost an animal or found one. So could you explain what a person should do first if they lose, they lose their dog or cat? And then secondly, if they find a dog or cat.
Sarah Humlie: Yeah, well the number one answer for both is to do a physical search in the nearby area. A lot of pets, when they go missing, don't go very far from home. And so if you've lost one, get out there, search, you know, talk to your neighbors, see if anybody's seen it around. And likewise, if you find one you know, if it's friendly and you can approach it, you know, leash it up if it's a dog and try and walk it around a little bit, ask the neighbors if anybody recognizes it or knows who it might belong to. Cause that is the fastest way. And one of the most common ways that people find their missing pet.
Secondly, post on social media, you know, social media has become so helpful for this. There are lost and found groups on Facebook for the local area, the local region. You can post on Nextdoor or the Ring app, like you said, to try and alert somebody or notify somebody that their pet has been found or lost so that people can be on the lookout for it.
And then. You'll also want to make sure if you've lost your pet, you want to make sure that your microchip information is up to date, so you can go to the microchip's webpage and check your phone number, check your address, and make sure that if someone finds it and scans that, that they're going to be able to reach you.
John Hull: What else did you want to say about helping us in the case of a lost or found pet?
Sarah Humlie: Yeah, well, there are a couple other steps. So, you know, if you search the area and haven't found your pet or you haven't seen on social media, you can also create a lost pet profile. We have links on our website. So do all the other jurisdictions. And that allows shelters to see the profile of the pet. And so if it does end up in a shelter, they can see that you're also looking for it. And then, of course, check area shelters for your pet to see if they're there. And keep checking back because you know, sometimes pets will come in days after they went missing and that will be when they show up at the shelter. So if it's not there on day one, keep checking.
John Hull: And I believe I recently read that you actually helped to reunite a cat with its family, and the family had actually moved out of state. Tell us about that.
Sarah Humlie: Yeah, that was a fun story. It had a really happy ending. The family had lived here in Elk Grove and about a year and a half ago they were in the process of moving and their cat went missing like just days before they were moving and they weren't able to find the cat before they relocated and they went all the way across the country to Tennessee and lo and behold a year and a half later, someone posted their cat on Nextdoor ended up bringing it into the shelter and they still had friends or family in the area I think that were that saw it and recognized the cat and notified them and so the owner was calling us and we were able to reunite that cat with the help of one of our staff members mothers was traveling back east and she was able to fly that cat. She volunteered to fly the cat back to northern Alabama where the owner was able to drive down and reunite with the cat. So really happy story and we were happy to reunite that cat. with her family.
John Hull: Great, great story. So the, the microchip now has become a, a thing, right? I mean, this is, this is part of pet ownership, correct?
Sarah Humlie: Yes. And in Elk Grove, we actually require your pet to be microchipped to get, to be licensed. You have to pay an exemption fee if you don't want to microchip your pet. But we try and make it easy and we provide free microchips for anybody that lives in the city and they can come down anytime the shelter is open and get that done.
John Hull: Okay, so let's now get into licensing. That is a requirement, right? For all the residents of Elk Grove?
Sarah Humlie: Mm hmm. Yes. Dogs and cats, we require them to be licensed. And licensing really does two things. One, it helps the, if the animal ends up in the shelter, it helps us identify the pet and reunite it with its family. And two licensing verifies that your pet remains up to date on rabies vaccinations. And as we know, rabies is a deadly disease that is like just under the surface in every community. Wildlife in all counties across California harbor rabies. And keeping domestic pets vaccinated against rabies is our number one line of defense to keep people from getting infected with rabies.
John Hull: Okay, excellent. Alright, so we have kind of covered, have we covered all the bases then about finding a pet or losing a pet and what, what people should do? Is there anything else that we've left out?
Sarah Humlie: Well, I just wanted to touch on the fact that if you find a pet, you can also take it into, or should, you know, if you're not, if after a local search, you haven't found its home, like you can take it to a veterinarian office or to the animal shelter to have it scanned to see if it does have a microchip, you know, but the number one preventer of lost pets is to have a collar and ID tag right on that pet, and that's going to get it home, you know as fast as possible.
John Hull: And that makes too much sense. Yeah. But, but you're right on. That's exactly right. There's some other things on your, I went through your whole website and I found a lot of. Interesting questions and a lot of things that you do and I want you to talk about this. So let's start with vaccinations. Do you, does the animal services department actually offer free vaccines?
Sarah Humlie: We do. We offer them quarterly. At our drive thru vaccine clinics and we offer them for free and those dates are always posted on our website so people can check when the next one's coming up and they can sign up and get an appointment for those.
John Hull: Okay, excellent. Next thing I noticed, and this is something that's hard for me to even talk about or think about, yet we have indeed witnessed mistreatment of animals. And so what, Sarah, should we do if we suspect that an animal is being neglected or mistreated by its owner?
Sarah Humlie: Yeah, so if citizens have that concern, you can always call them the non-emergency dispatch line and report it and we'll have an animal service officer go out and investigate. People are allowed to remain anonymous if they want to, but they do have to just provide the address of where that animal lives and a brief description of their concern.
John Hull: Okay, okay. Now, of course, animal cruelty is indeed a crime, correct?
Sarah Humlie: It is.
John Hull: Yeah. Yeah. So how bad does that have to be before Elk Grove police would get involved?
Sarah Humlie: Well, I would say that Animal Service Officers will always perform a welfare check on an animal if you have any concerns. So, you know, a citizen doesn't have to worry about if it rises to the level of a crime or not, in order to report it. So, you know, if they have a concern, they can go ahead and report it through our dispatch system, but crimes for animals are typically things like, depriving an animal of food, water, or shelter for long periods of time, allowing an animal to suffer with a serious injury and not providing treatment or veterinary care for it or actively causing harm or injury to the animal through abuse or, you know, illegal blood sports or things like that. So there are various levels. There are misdemeanors, there are felonies for this and our animal service officers are trained to investigate and prosecute if, if necessary.
John Hull: Okay, in our introductory statement that you made, you talked about wild animals too, because there are animals that do indeed roam the city of Elk Grove quite freely, and I'm talking about feral cats, raccoons and even turkeys, frequent visitors. So do your people there at animal services get involved in controlling any of those animals?
Sarah Humlie: Yeah. Well, like I said, yeah, we don't deal with wildlife. People can call the wildlife services for that. There are some like rehab groups and things, but we deal in domestic animals and that does include free roaming and unowned cats, right? Cats are allowed to be free roaming in the city of Elk Grove and we have a number of programs that help with feral cats. Primarily that is our TNR program. Because a lot of these cats whether they're unfriendly, unsocial with people, or friendly, but just happen to live outside you know, if they're being, if they have a source of food, water, shelter, like, they’re allowed to be there. So we put them through our TNR program, which means citizens can trap the cat in a humane cat trap. They bring it into us. We'll provide spay neuter surgery for it. We vaccinate it, and then the cat will be returned to where it was living. In rare instances, for instance, like, if the area the cat was living is, like, being demolished for major construction or things like that, we also can defer them to our barn cat program, which is you know, natural pest control for people that adopt these cats and want to put them in a barn or warehouse to help with rodent control, and that is an adoption pathway for those cats who may not be really social to be pets.
John Hull: You know, if you drive up and down Highway 99, it seems like there is one billboard And it's the one just past Calvine that has an advertisement encouraging animal adoptions at all the animal shelters. So if someone is really interested in adopting a pet, what would that process actually look like?
Sarah Humlie: Yeah, we definitely always need adopters. So I hope people come out for that. We try and make it quite easy. People are free to come browse the animals at our shelter. If they see one they love, they can meet with it. Our staff are also trained to help talk to them about what their lifestyles like and what their life is like and help match them with a pet that's going to maybe be a good fit for that. And then when you meet with the new pet our adoption counselors will just talk you through like animal care, make sure you're kind of versed and prepared to take on the care of the animal and you fill out a brief application. And then in most cases you can take that pet home that day. And if you live in Elk Grove, we even give you a free one-year pet license along with that adoption.
John Hull: That's great. Yeah, that's terrific. Okay, I was looking recently up online at photos of dogs up for adoption and there were quite a number. I was surprised how many. It was interesting to me how you could just say, okay I like a I'd like to see a dachshund ideally and it was amazing how every day I got an email back and what a wonderful service that is for people that want to adopt a dog or a cat or whatever.
All your dogs, by the way, when I was searching through the, all the photos, they look very well fed, well, very clean. So I've got to imagine it's quite a process that your staff goes through. When they come into your shop, right?
Sarah Humlie: Yeah, well thank you for noticing that we do try and keep them clean. Our staff spend a great deal of time every day providing care for the dogs and for all the animals in the shelter. But we do especially have a lot of dogs right now that are looking for adoptive homes. Staff are spending their time cleaning their kennels every day. Making sure they have comfy bed and toys and enrichment in their kennel to keep their mind occupied. We make sure they get walked that they have playtime outside in the yards. Our volunteers help a lot with that as well. And we keep up on their vaccines, flea prevention, treat them for any illness or injuries they may have and then if, if we get time on top of that, we even try and teach them basic commands, like sit, down, help them learn to walk better on a leash -- some of them know nothing about walking on a leash. So it's a lot of, it's time intensive and our staff really put their, their heart and soul into it. make sure that every dog is well cared for and can hopefully find that forever home.
John Hull: So, and that's terrific. That is so good. So we're interested in supporting your shelter and the work that you do. How can, how can we get involved and what kind of things would be most helpful to your team?
Sarah Humlie: Well, I would say that adopting a pet is the number one way to get involved and help because not only is it great for that animal, but it frees up space for us to help the next animal who needs us. But if you can't adopt, you can also consider fostering or volunteering in person here at the shelter. We have applications for those on our website, and those roles are always so helpful for us.
We have a wish list of items on Amazon that we're always accepting or excited to receive, and you can donate that way as well. And finally, if you can't do any of that stuff, or on top of all that stuff, one of the easiest ways to help us and get involved as well is just sharing our social media posts. That really helps us spread the word about some of the available animals and who knows like your shared post might be the one that puts it in front of that person that is going to see that as their perfect pet and come adopt it.
John Hull: That’s excellent. And I know some people that foster care their animals at various shelters and they love it. They just love it. The problem is sometimes they get a little too attached.
Sarah Humlie: That's right.
John Hull: But we get, yeah, completely get that.
Sarah Humlie: Another way people can get involved with our shelter is to come work for us. We've got several recruitments out now. We're looking for a full-time veterinarian. We're looking for a full-time animal service officer. And then throughout the year we usually have a position or two posted here. So if people are interested in getting into the animal welfare industry, we can be a great way to get involved in and you know, do a job where you get to help animals every single day.
John Hull: Well, thank you so much, Sarah Humlie for your work as animal services manager. And thank you, of course, for spending time with us today here on the Elk Grove CityCast. Thank you.
Sarah Humlie: Happy to do it. Thank you for having me.
John Hull: In this portion of the Elk Grove CityCast, we call it our rapid fire segment. It's where I put Kristyn on the spot with some questions about Elk Grove. Now, if you have questions you want to hear answers for, email us at publicaffairs@elkgrovecity.org. Again, publicaffairs@elkgrovecity.org.
Kristyn, I have a couple of questions here that are going to be kind of related to volunteerism. And, you know, there's a lot of really good-hearted people who live here that want to serve our city. And I hear there is actually a nomination period open for a new Stars of Service award program. So talk about that one.
Kristyn Laurence: Sure. April is known as National Volunteer Month, and it's a time to recognize the people that selflessly serve our communities to make them a better place to live. For a number of years, there's been a program called the Mayor's Volunteer Awards that has shifted a bit at our council's request, and it's rolling out this year as a new Stars of Service Award. And the City Council is accepting nominations for the program through February 29th. And it's intended to recognize the unsung heroes who contribute their time and talent to making Elk Grove a better place. The council relies on the help of community members to really find those people that usually like to work behind the scenes with very little recognition. And so and very little fanfare, so we're looking for help from the community to really identify those superstars and, and give them the recognition they, they deserve. There's six different categories for the awards, so if, if there are people that you know that are exceptional at serving residents, neighborhoods, or community groups. So if you know a service organization that really deserves to get recognized, we're looking for those nominations. Social and community service groups. There's a category recognizing individuals for arts, culture, and heritage. And also sports and recreation, right up your alley, John. You should be submitting a nomination for that. And then we have the service organizations groups and a category exclusively for young volunteer of the year. So some young people out there that are doing an outstanding job of making a difference where they live. Anyone can submit a nomination and they can go to the city's website to do that at www.elkgrovecity.org/starsofservice. And they can fill out a really short form. We're just looking for some information that identifies who those people are and explains why they are so deserving for a Stars of Service award. And the awards will be announced at a city council meeting in April.
John Hull: Okay, now, if somebody just isn't really plugged in to ways to serve, but they want to. Are there some ways though that they can get involved at the city?
Kristyn Laurence: Yeah, you know the great thing about Elk Grove is there's a lot of opportunities to give back And if someone's looking for opportunities to volunteer there are a number of ways to plug in. For instance, for instance right now We're looking for a new member on the Diversity and Inclusion Commission And these are appointed positions that help support the council's efforts to promote celebrate and educate the community about our diversity Applications are being accepted through February 21st for this opportunity, and it can be found on our city's website. There are some meeting obligations with that appointment, and it is an appointment, so they fill out an application and the mayor and the city council will consider those applications and, and this time around it's for a single opening seat. But it's a great way to really support and promote the city's diversity.
There's also, as Sarah mentioned, some opportunities to volunteer at the animal shelter. There's ways to contribute to the Enhanced Winter Sanctuary, at some city special events, and with a number of local non profit organizations. We have a pretty comprehensive list of opportunities and links available on our website at www.elkgrovecity.org/volunteer.
John Hull: My next question is somewhat related to all this that we've been talking about and it's the city is now taking registrations for Elk Grove 101. Now what exactly is Elk Grove 101?
Kristyn Laurence: Yeah, this is a new program, and registration literally just opened last week, and it's geared to those who really want to take a deeper dive into how the city is run. Maybe they want to consider joining a commission or committee, or they want to run for office at some point, or they just really want to know and understand more about how things work in the city of Elk Grove. And they can join Elk Grove 101, it's a free 7-week course that'll meet on, most of the time, it's gonna meet Tuesday nights at District 56, I believe there's one city tour that's scheduled on a Saturday, but it's gonna feature guest speakers covering a variety of municipal topics. It's open to anyone 18 and older and dinner and classroom materials are provided. The class is going to be limited to 30 participants in this inaugural group and classes start on April 2. So if anyone's interested, we're accepting registration until March 1st and they can register at www.elkgrovecity.org/EG101.
John Hull: All right. And here's my final rapid fire question for this podcast. Residents have made, I know a lot, some of them are my neighbors they've made a New Year's resolution to clean out and organize their living spaces. And that, of course, means tossing, donating, or even selling some items online or through sources like the Citizen’s Classified Ads, Facebook Marketplace, or Craigslist. So, what sources can the city offer to help them clean out the clutter and sell the stuff safely?
Kristyn Laurence: Yeah, we heard some really great tips from our Waste and Recycling Manager in November about our bulky waste pickup service. This is really helpful. Residents can set up an appointment with Republic Services and kind of prepare a pile to be picked up curbside on their regular service day if they have a lot of stuff that they're trying to clear out and they're not really sure what items are recyclable and which aren't. The service enlists staff that sort through those materials and a good chunk of it might be recycled. The rest maybe heads to the landfill, but it's a great resource if you have a lot of stuff and you're not sure what can be recycled and what can't. You can call Republic Services at (916) 635-2500 to schedule a bulky waste pickup. The service is absolutely free and available for residents up to three times a year.
And then if you're looking to sell something, sometimes that can be scary if you're making a transaction with somebody that you don't know, you've never met, if you're selling, like you said, and through the citizens ads or through some of these online sources. And you may want to take advantage of the Community Exchange Zone. It's in front of the Elk Grove Police Department. And it's a spot that was created way back in 2019 to provide a safe place for the community to conduct online sales and even custody exchanges. It offers a dedicated security camera that records 24 hours a day. It's free to use and you can find signs labeled Community Exchange Zone in the parking lot in front of 8400 Laguna Palms Way. So it's just there to help you feel a little bit safer if you're doing those sales transactions with online sources.
John Hull: That's a great service and I'm glad the City has done that.
Well, thank you again, Kristyn, for answering all of our questions we have for this month's CityCast. And folks, if you have any questions for Kristyn, please email them to us at publicaffairs@elkgrovecity.org for Kristyn Laurence. I'm John Hull. Thanks for tuning in.
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