$1,500 authorized for initial installation of five scanners with locations including Dog Park, City Hall, and Humane Society

Reuniting lost pets with their owners could be made a little easier, and ease the burden on local animal services, after a decision by the Buellton City Council in its Thursday, Jan. 8, meeting, the first of 2026.

After a presentation by Linda Greco, the president of the Santa Barbara County Animal Care Foundation (SBACF), and Sarah Aguilar, the director of the county’s Animal Services, the City Council members voted to set aside $1,500 for the installation of five DIY (Do It Yourself) Pet Microchip Scanners, to be placed at different spots in the city: City Hall, the PAWS Dog Park at the corner of La Pita Place and Dawn Drive, the Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society on Commerce Drive, and two more sites to be determined.

The Pet Microchip Scanner is a device that can get information on the animal through scanning a microchip embedded in the animal. The SBACF plans to install 20 of the scanners, inside a mounted plastic box, at various sites around Buellton.

During her presentation, Greco explained that any individual using the scanner could find out who the owners are, where they live, and can contact them to return the pet without it going into the county system.

“It’s exciting that it empowers our community to be a part of the story,” she said. “They can be a part of that reuniting with the animal. They get to be a part of that ‘win-win,’ instead of taking it to Animal Services and then wondering what happened to it.”

Aguilar also addressed the council, adding the benefit it gives to those working in Animal Services.

“The volume of stray animals is far more than we get of any other type of intake,” she said. “In 2025, we took in nearly 4,300 animals who entered system as strays. We found that most strays are found within a mile of their homes, and if taken to the shelter, that means their taken into the system, which makes it harder to be reunited with them.

“The microchip scanners can allow pets to be reunited with their owners without having to go to animal services to reunite, and take away an extra layer of process.”

Also after a question from Councilmember Hudson Hornick about the role of the Santa Ynez Valley Humane Society in Buellton with strays, Vice Mayor Carla Mead, who chairs the SYVHS board, noted that the facility is not officially equipped to take in strays and must send any they get to the county facility in Santa Barbara.

The proposal drew a positive reaction from the council.

“I think this is a wonderful idea, to the point of doing the right thing,” he said, and said he was for authorizing an amount to get five machines installed. City Manager Scott Wolfe said the amount for $1,500 could be authorized with a location to two recommended.

Aguilar had earlier offered “heat maps,” that show the locations of found strays, but Wolfe suggested the PAWS Park at La Pita Place was an obvious choice, while Councilmember John Sanchez suggested the Humane Society, and City Hall was given as another location. Two other sites would be determined.

Councilmember Elysia Lewis moved to approve the financial authorization and the issuance of heat maps, with scanners to be built at the three approved locations. Sanchez seconded and the motion passed 5-0.

In other business:

  • In the first of two proclamations, the council recognized the month of January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month. After Mayor David Silva read the proclamation, Ann McCarty, Executive Director of the North County Rape Crisis and Child Protection Center and member of the Human Trafficking Task Force, said a few words.
  • “Human trafficking not a distant problem, it is happening in our community, and it thrives in silence,” McCarty said. “This [proclamation] is doing more than issuing a piece of paper … you’re sending a message that the city is watching, that there is no safe haven for those who exploit or harm others. You’re telling survivors they’re seen.”
  • The second proclamation was to declare the following day, Friday, Jan. 9, Law Enforcement Appreciation Day in the City of Buellton.
  • Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Sgt. James Kurowski was on hand to accept the proclamation, saying, “Thank you to the board, thank you to the audience, and we look forward to our continued relationship and service to Buellton.”
  • The council approved budget amendments from operational changes related to the Fiscal Year 2025-26 Budget through the first quarter ending Sept. 30, 2025. Finance Director Shannel Zamora said the latest amendment put the city at an operational deficit of $594,132.

The City Council meets next on Thursday, Jan. 22, at 6 p.m.