The meeting was called to order at 7:06 P.M..  There were 20 people in attendance.

The Mission Statement, Minutes of the March meeting were read and the Treasurer's Report given.

Walter announced that there would be a CERT meeting on Monday, April 19th and 2 way radio communications would be tested.

Cathy stated that the Food Bank for Maple Falls is a go. They are hoping for a lockable storage unit but also need to take care of a small mice problem. Cathy will give a further update at the next meeting.

Norma stated that Water District #19 is moving forward with more street lights, especially for the 2 "S"curves, more lights for Cimmaron and new lights for Blackfoot Place. The district is also getting ready to roll out their Comprehensive Plan.

Emily Culpepper with the Humane Society, stated that if there were any community outreach programs we would like them to be involved in to please contact them, with that we invited them to participate in the Youth Bike Rodeo.

The Humane Society stated that the number of animals brought into the shelter was half the amount in 2009 compared with 2008.  The number of welfare checks and stray animals is half, but the number of vicious animal cases have doubled (but some could be duplicate cases).  Most numbers have been cut in half which they are very pleased with.

The totals for our area so far this year:

      59 animals coming into the shelter (31 strays, the rest were owner surrenders) 

      115 dispatches, many of which were for barking dogs and 12 vicious animals.

There are no limitations on the number of dogs one can own out in the county. It was suggested that perhaps this should be taken before the County Council to see about restrictions put in UGA areas because there is a problem with "backyard breeders" in Whatcom County.
There is also a need for people to contact the Council to keep the Humane Society in control of Animal Control.

Patricia Maas, with We Snip stated that they are performing an aggressive Spay & Neuter program; whatever needs to be done to get the animals fixed they are doing (ie., free food, pick up and take home and follow ups).  We Snip wanted to "meet people where they are at" to make sure their pets were taken care of.
They start their surgeries at 6AM. They operate on a maximum of 29 animals a day. 5000 surgeries have been done in Whatcom & Skagit Counties so far.

The first time they came to the Kendall area no on showed up. They assume that some were afraid of getting in trouble and some didn't have any money. WE SNIP are speaking to the schools and information is getting to the kids as what options families have for their pets.
They will try to come up again in the summer some where along the Mount Baker Highway.

Patricia stated that if you are on public assistance you can get spay/neutering for free. If you are not on public assistance, but have a mama cat, they will fix the mama for $35 and do all the kittens for free.
Other services that they offer: Shots, flea treatments, and micro chipping.  Micro-chipping is $20.
The earliest they will see a pet is at 12 weeks for kittens and 4 months for puppies. They will also fix animals that are already in heat and will take aggressive dogs as they have a special way of handling them.
They hope to implement a transport system that will help people bring their pets in for surgeries.
If your neighbor won't take their pet in for spay or neuter, but they will let you do so, We Snip will perform the surgery for free.
 
County law states that you must license your dogs and a leash law is in place.
911 will page animal control if an officer is needed. Animal Control  is on duty 24/7, but they only have 3 officers so be aware of that when you are asking for assistance.  You can call and remain anonymous, unless the incident is taken to court.

Refreshments were available. The raffle was won by Walter.

Thanks were given to Dave for the brownies, Pat for coffee and Norm for running the raffle and putting up the signs.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by Joyce Sappington, Secretary