Volume 2 Issue 1 March 2000
Published QUARTERLY by
SOUTHWEST TEXAS ANIMAL
CARE & CONTROL ASSOCIATION

Inside This Issue

What's Happening?

Membership & Certification Update

Attention!!!!!!!

Meeting Notice 

Newsletters

From the President's Desk 

Rescue at Sea

From the Desk of Dr. T

Educational Opportunities

Animal Capture Competition

What's Happening?

The STACCA/TDH annual conference will be held May 5th and 6th, 2000 in Kerrville, TX. Watch your mail for registration information.

There are many exciting things planned for this conference. Your conference committee has been busy planning the best conference ever to include activities like an animal capture competition and the silent auction, not to mention wonderful speakers and topics. Don't miss it!

"Bobby's Brigade" will be cooking again this year, too. If you haven't sampled this "chefs" delicious food, then you don't know what you are missing!

Conference registration fees are as follows:

$20 - members

$35 - non-members

$40 - after April 8, 2000 (members & non-members)

The "official" hotels for the conference are:

Best Western 

2124 Sidney Baker

(830) 896-1313

(800) 677-9477

$59 Double/Triple/Quad (includes a "full" breakfast)

In order to get this rate, reservations for the Best Western MUST be made by April 15, 2000 

Y.O Ranch Resort Hotel

2033 Sidney Baker

(830) 257-4440 

(800) 531-2800

$64.00 Single/Double

$74.00 Triple/Quad

Room rates for the Y.O. are "space available" only

Get your registration in early. We have a great conference planned and you will not want to miss it!

Membership and Certification Update

Membership cards, certification cards, and certificates have been completed and are enclosed with this mailing. If you did not receive your certificate or membership card and should have, please resubmit documentation to:

STACCA

P. O. Box 310231

New Braunfels, TX 78131-0231

Remember, you must have 10 (ten) CE hours per year to keep your certification current. If your certification card is NOT enclosed in this mailing, your certification expired on 12/31/99. To renew, please complete the enclosed form, with supporting documentation, and return to STACCA.

Also, if the label on your envelope does not show a 2000 date, your membership has expired. To get your full STACCA benefits, please return the enclosed application for renewal.

ATTENTION!!!!!

If you have a training manual and did not get the updated laws at the September conference, they are still available. Contact Dr. Tull at 830-278-7173, or e-mail at Catherine.Tull@tdh.state.tx.us and she will make sure you get a copy. 

Meeting Notice

There will be a general membership meeting at the annual conference. Please join us. You will be voting on officers at that meeting, so plan to be there. Remember that your officers are your VOICE in STACCA!

Newsletters

Newsletters will be published quarterly. However, we cannot do this without YOU. If you have something you feel would be of interest to STACCA members, or if you would like something published in the newsletter, please let the editor know. We welcome stories about your shelter/operation, and anything you feel would be of interest to other STACCA members. Let us hear from YOU! The editor can be reached via e-mail at jomessick@earthlink.net, or by fax at (210) 646-7132.

From the President's Desk

For those of you that do not know me, my name is Triple Kocurek, and I am currently the president of STACCA. I want each of you to know that this is your association and your input is very important to its survival and continuation. I want to dare each and every one of you to read this newsletter from cover to cover as it were and each article in it. Your thoughts are important.

As we plan for this year's conference, you need to think about where you want this association to go in the future and the services you expect from it. Each year so many members talk about doing something for CE or an idea for ....... and then they leave and it stops. I myself have been guilty of this and I know it is not always easy to work things into our busy schedules. I do not want to scare anyone off nor am I trying to criticize anyone. We as a group need to talk out our ideas and help each other with our goals. 
I am currently working on a list to be distributed at the conference or to be mailed to each member with the names of those who are willing to help others with training, advice, legal information/research, or anything else where you feel your experience or training would benefit someone. This could also go towards specialized equipment that you could loan or rent another agency. I would like to get a copy of this list to every small non-member department that may have a need for it. I cannot take full credit for this idea as several people have brought it up but I have decided to run with it. Anyone, who thinks they might be able to help, please me call 830-796-3578. We are not always in the office but there is a recorder on this line. 

Almost all of us work for a Government agency and should have access to e-mail through your city/county computer department you just need to ask. Once you get it, or if you have a personal account let me know at triple@indian-creek.net. I would like your name, agency, and office phone number, and any other information you are willing to share. 
I have been asked about our Association by people in animal care careers, and I am currently researching what guidelines would be needed for vet-tech and others to receive CE credits from STACCA. Even if we cannot meet those requirements at this time, it is a goal for the future. Anyone you know in the animal care industry who might be interested, I urge you to share this newsletter with him or her (feel free to make as many copies as you need). Also, please share the conference information, as it becomes available. 
As I said in the beginning, this is your forum and your help is needed to make it something you can be proud of. I am personally committed to making this the largest and best association in the State of Texas - bar none - and your input is vital to this goal. 

Thank you,

Triple 

Rescue at Sea

Years ago, in a small fishing village in Holland, a young boy taught the world about the rewards of unselfish service. Because the entire village revolved around the fishing industry, a volunteer rescue team was needed in cases of emergency. One night the winds raged, the clouds burst and a gale force storm capsized a fishing boat at sea. Stranded and in trouble, the crew sent out the S.O.S. The captain of the rescue rowboat team sounded the alarm and the villagers assembled in the Town Square overlooking the bay. While the team launched their rowboat and fought their way through the wild waves, the villagers waited restlessly on the beach, holding lanterns to light the way back. 

An hour later, the rescue boat reappeared through the fog and the cheering villagers ran to greet them. Falling exhausted on the sand, the volunteers reported that the rescue boat could not hold any more passengers and they had to leave one man behind. Even one more passenger would have surely capsized the rescue boat and all would have been lost. 
Frantically, the captain called for another volunteer team to go after the lone survivor. Sixteen-year-old Hans stepped forward. His mother grabbed his arm, pleading, "Please don't go. Your father died in a shipwreck 10 years ago and your older brother, Paul, has been lost at sea for three weeks. Hans, you are all I have left." 

Hans replied, "Mother, I have to go. What if everyone said, 'I can't go, let someone else do it?' Mother, this time I have to do my duty. When the call for service comes, we all need to take our turn and do our part." Hans kissed his mother, joined the team, and disappeared into the night. 

Another hour passed, which seemed to Hans' mother like an eternity. Finally, the rescue boat darted through the fog with Hans standing up in the bow. Cupping his hands, the captain called, "Did you find the lost man?" Barely able to contain himself, Hans excitedly yelled back, "Yes, we found him. Tell my mother it's my older brother, Paul!"

~Dan Clark ~

From the Desk of Dr. T

This week, as I was visiting one of my external customers, I was asked if I had seen the news story on TV about a certain shocking incident. Since I do not get TV news at home I was told that recently in the news a police department (to remain anonymous) shot a Pit Bull dog inside someone's home, without cause, during a search. They were looking for drugs. This reminded me that on several occasions I have herd that excessive force has been used on animals when it was unnecessary. This is invariably done by a law enforcement agency that does not have a good working relationship with their animal control colleagues. It has also been reported to me that many times animal control personnel are called in advance of a "raid" to clear the area of "guard dogs". This is obviously a dangerous mission and ACO's do not have the protection of bulletproof vests.

I believe it would be prudent for us, as a region, to gather information from our ACO community and distribute suggestions that have proven effective and what to avoid. I strongly believe that every law enforcement agency would greatly benefit from presentations given by professional animal control officers (YOU!) as to common sense methods to avoid excessive force. After the entertaining and informative presentation at our last monthly CE meeting in Universal City by Fire Chief Ross Wallace, it would also be appropriate for ACO's to include their local firefighters in their effort to provide continuing education to their fellow public service team.

On a different note, I would like to solicit your input on the steps needed to establish animal control in a city or county that has never had a formal means to address this service in their community. I am working with a county that wants to implement an animal control program and they are starting from scratch. I put together a plan that was divided into phases for the development of an animal control program for the county. However, I would appreciate your suggestions as to the logical steps for the progression from nothing to an action plan with a definite process defined (step by step). I believe that in the near future our office will attempt to put on a special workshop for the development of a guide for the implementation of animal control in unchartered territory. Anyone with experience in the establishment of animal control from scratch is strongly encouraged to call my office, TDH Region 8 Uvalde, 830-278-7173 or e-mail me at Catherine.Tull@tdh.state.tx.us and share your knowledge and experience with us.

One more comment; our Kerrville Conference is really shaping up with some terrific speakers and topics. I hope that you will be motivated to attend, even if your budget is on a diet. It is my biased opinion, that everyone in animal care and control in our region should put this conference as a "Must Do" event on their calendar. As a professional in your community, you need to participate.

TDH, Region 8 Continuing Education and TrainingOpportunities

March 15, LRCA Workshop. Gonzales

March 22, LRCA Workshop. New Braunfels

March 28-30, Diseases in Nature Conference. San Antonio. Contact: Jim Schuermann at 512/458-7255.

April 13, CE Meeting. Kerrville

May 5-6, ACO Conference. Kerrville

June 8, CE Meeting. Bandera. Topic: Evidence Collection

July 13, CE Meeting. Devine Topic: Media Relations

August 10, CE Meeting. Gonzales Topic: Reports/Paperwork for Animal Seizures 

September 14, CE Meeting. San Antonio

October 12, CE Meeting. Victoria

November 9, CE Meeting. Leon Valley

December 14, CE Meeting. Live Oak

Educational Opportunities (Outside Region 8)

April 5-6, Advanced ACO Training Course. Arlington. Contact: Jay Sabatucci at 817/264-4492.

April 6-7, Basic ACO Training Course. Harlingen. Contact: Greg; 956/444-3224.

April 9-11, Texas Federation of Humane Societies 10th Annual conference. Houston. For more information call, 512/282-1277.

April 25-26, Advanced ACO Training Course. Houston. Contact Gary or Celia; 713/767-3300.

Animal Capture Competition

Now is the time for the best of the best (or at least those of us who do not mind making a fool of ourselves in front of our peers) to choose a partner and start practicing for the championship of the year. If you think you can do it find a partner and join us at the 2000 STACCA Conference for the ACO Capture Competition. The cost for this event is $10 per person, and the first place team prize is a pair of belt buckles custom designed for this event.
Anyone interested should contact Triple at 830-796-3578 or Janie at 830-257-3100. A full set of rules will be available shortly and will be sent to anyone who requests it, or can be ordered on line from triple@indian-creek.net. 

If you need a partner let us know and we will put you into a "pool" and find one for you.