There’s been a 180-degree turnaround in the South County Animal
Shelter’s situation. Just six months ago, county officials were
talking about cutting hours.
There’s been a 180-degree turnaround in the South County Animal Shelter’s situation. Just six months ago, county officials were talking about cutting hours.
Now, they’re trying to find a way to create an after-hours trauma center and to provide around-the-clock pet care. We applaud the change in attitude and we think a lot of the change can be credited to the shelter’s dedicated staff and volunteers.
Not only did they rally to the shelter’s defense when its hours were threatened last year, they’ve served the animals and the facility quietly and well for years.
The county’s plan is to create a for-profit, privately run pet trauma center on the shelter site that could serve clients from South San Jose to Hollister.
The county’s share of profits from that venture would go toward building a new shelter, which is sorely needed.
It sounds great, but we hope all South County officials take this opportunity to fix the gaping hole in the animal shelter’s services: the lack of animal services contracts with the cities of Gilroy and Morgan Hill.
Currently, because the county and cities have not been able to come to terms, residents of Gilroy and Morgan Hill cannot legally take stray animals to the South County animal shelter.
The closest shelter that will accept animals from residents of Gilroy and Morgan Hill is in Santa Clara, a good 30- to 40-minute drive north.
This leads to strays and unwanted pets being dropped off at the shelter after hours, further increasing their chance of getting lost, injured or sick, or to animals not being dropped off anywhere at all.
It’s a ridiculous situation. Animals don’t respect borders. We have a fine animal shelter smack dab in the middle of South County. All South County residents should be able to use it.
We urge officials from the cities and the county to redouble their efforts to find away to improve service to all South County residents.
The push to improve services and increase hours at the South County Animal Shelter make this the perfect opportunity.
