It’s long past time for county, Gilroy and Morgan Hill officials
to come to an agreement that provides for seamless animal control
services for all South County residents.
We’re always encouraged when citizens demand accountability from their representatives. A recent case in point was a letter to the editor demanding action from Santa Clara County officials on an animal services needs assessment study’s recommendations. While we agree with the letter writer’s call for accountability, when it comes to animal services, we believe that the county needs to take care of basics before it even considers luxuries.
The first basic that is lacking in Santa Clara County’s animal control services is an adequate animal shelter facility in South County. The San Martin facility is too small to meet the needs of the people and animals of South County.
Even infrequent visitors know that kittens often have to be housed in cages in the lobby because not enough cages are available in the room set aside for cats awaiting adoption. Each dog kennel at the shelter, according to the study, on average houses 2.3 dogs.
The second basic that is lacking is adequate staffing at the shelter. Currently, the shelter has one veterinarian for every 103 animals. The shelter has not replaced staff positions cut in recent years.
The third basic that is lacking is adequate hours at the San Martin Animal Shelter. The facility is closed on Tuesdays and has no evening hours. It’s open to the public just 34 hours a week. If the county wants to facilitate animal adoptions – and for the sake of the animals and the county budget, that should be its goal – the shelter must be open hours that are convenient for the public.
Finally, South County is lacking seamless animal control services. Currently, while animals don’t respect the borders between Gilroy, Morgan Hill, and the unincorporated parts of the county, residents are expected to do so. This means that Gilroy or Morgan Hill residents who find a stray animal can’t take it to the San Martin animal shelter; only residents in unincorporated parts of the county can do so.
It’s long past time for county, Gilroy and Morgan Hill officials to come to an agreement that provides for seamless animal control services for all South County residents.
When it comes to the study’s recommendation for an after hours emergency care animal clinic, we believe that if it is really a pressing need, the private sector would be meeting that need. We also suspect that the private sector is the proper place for those services. Given the failure of the county’s recent sales tax measure, such a clinic is a luxury the county cannot currently afford.
Clearly an adequate shelter facility that is properly staffed and open to the public for longer hours and seamless animal control services are the county’s highest animal services priorities, especially in light of its current budget crunch.
Let’s make sure county officials take care of first things first when it comes to animal services.
