Sunday, Apr. 19, 2009

Shelter's No. 2 now the top dog

Patton says she has the leadership qualities necessary to move ahead

Needing someone to redeem their troubled animal shelter, Stanislaus County leaders have turned to an expert on squeezing deadbeat parents.

Annette Patton knew she was grabbing a tiger by the tail when she recently moved from No. 3 in child support collections to No. 1 in animal services, a department that chewed up two predecessors and a county veterinarian.

"I did read all the newspaper articles," said Patton, referring to stories about grand jury investigations and ever-boiling friction between shelter officials and animal advocates. High disease and euthanasia rates in a crowded, deficient pound have caused even top-elected officials to call it "an embarrassment." Riverbank and Newman recently opted out of the county's animal control partnership with five other cities.

More important indicators point to an eventual rebound, Patton said.

The county hired a full-time veterinarian a few months ago. And Patton expects to oversee construction of a long-overdue, state-of-the art shelter that would ease overcrowding and curb disease. It would go up near the Stanislaus County Ag Center on Crows Landing Road, replacing the Finch Road pound that packs more than 400 pets into space initially intended for 262.

"It's very exciting to finally get a new shelter," Patton said. "How we treat our animals reflects on our community."

Bee research indicates that some of the disputed policies implemented by Patton's forebears may be bearing fruit. Though the shelter still puts down six times as many animals as those who find homes, the kill rate has steadily declined over 20 years, most markedly in the past five years.

"I spent a lot of time here making sure this is what I wanted," said Patton, who applied a year ago and became deputy director in November under former interim director Dave Young. She assumed his position when Young's contract expired April 1. Unlike him, Patton has no short-term contract and expects her bosses eventually to drop the "interim" in her title.

Some of those who proved most hostile to Young's predecessors -- animal advocates -- seem willing to let Patton show what she can do.

"She deserves a chance to have everyone cut her some slack," said Traci Jennings, president of the Humane Society of Stanislaus County. "One person can't walk in the door and change something that's been a problem for as many years as it has."

Different way of thinking

Susan Robinson, a longtime animal activist and former president of the Coalition for Cats and Dogs, would have preferred a complete stranger to county government, she said, with bold ideas and courage to shake things up.

"Public employees become long-term because they don't rock the boat," Robinson said.

Patton says she is thinking outside the box.

If nearly two-thirds of dogs in Stanislaus County aren't licensed, she asks, why not garnish their owners' wages until they pay up? Or intercept their tax refunds?

"There was a lot of conflict and controversy in child support," Patton said. "It just wasn't playing out so much in public."

Patton, 42, is a 1983 Ceres High School graduate who attended Modesto Junior College and California State University, Fresno, before taking a job with Stanislaus County collecting child support. She managed nearly 100 workers when she left for animal services 19½ years later.

Now she oversees 39 employees, some of whom helped her adopt a Shih Tzu a couple of years ago. Patton also has a 29-pound cat.

A hand-printed sign with phone numbers to Patton's work cell, personal cell and home is taped to her office door toward the rear of the shelter. "Contact me anytime," reads the note to her employees.

Former director Michael Rodriguez quit and former county veterinarian Debbie Greer was dismissed after a grand jury demanded their resignations in 2005. The next director, Mike McFarland, lasted 18 months, abruptly leaving in October 2007. Patton never met them.

"That's not important," she said. "I know what I can offer: strong leadership to move forward.

"It's not going to happen in a week or a month. It's going to take time to develop relationships and build trust."

On the Net:

www.stancounty.com/animalservices.

Bee staff writer Garth Stapley can be reached at gstapley@modbee.com or 578-2390.