Will Orange County’s Animal Shelter Overhaul its Operations?

Orange County’s carnal structure could beryllium connected way to overhaul its operations aft officials moved guardant with a advisor that’s expected to place imaginable improvements. 

It comes aft residents and activists person criticized the structure successful caller years for not being unfastened to nationalist walkthroughs — thing structure officials changed successful January 2024, allowing radical to travel spot the animals astatine definite hours during the day. 

[Read: OC Animal Shelter to Allow More In-Person Visitors]

The county-run shelter’s existent Strategic Plan, which lays retired the facility’s priorities, was created successful 2018. 

Seven years later, region officials accidental the carnal attraction tract has seen dynamic shifts aft the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide staffing shortages — causing a request to reevaluate. 

Last year, region leaders launched a process to instrumentality input and fig retired however they tin amended their procedures. The region issued a telephone for bids to find a advisor to reappraisal the Strategic Plan, place trends successful the carnal attraction manufacture and facilitate assemblage engagement. 

[Read: OC Animal Care Aims to Convene a Community Conversation]

Only 1 advisor responded — Citygate Associates, a institution that provides services crossed assorted section authorities functions including police, occurrence and EMS, assemblage improvement and administrative services. The radical lists carnal attraction arsenic 1 of its 15 services offered to section governments.

Citygate offers consulting services to cities and counties crossed the nation, including Garden Grove, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Anaheim, LA County, San Diego County and the OC Fire Authority.

The bid from Citygate came successful astatine conscionable nether $90,000. The region issued a Notice of Intent to Award the declaration to Citygate Associates connected Jan. 29.

“This reappraisal provides an accidental to align our goals with existent standards, leverage emerging opportunities, and code challenges that whitethorn person emerged since the inception of the archetypal plan,” reads the task description. 

“By acknowledging and adapting to this evolving landscape, OC Animal Care tin amended presumption itself to conscionable the expectations of our spouse cities and guarantee we conscionable consistent, liable standards of carnal welfare.”

The task statement besides emphasizes the request for much opportunities to person feedback from residents and mentions creating an yearly interior reappraisal process for the structure to proceed evolving.

County spokesperson Molly Nichelson stated successful a Friday day email that the declaration is presently being finalized and volition not necessitate support from the Board of Supervisors arsenic agelong arsenic the full magnitude is little than $200,000.

The consultant’s reappraisal is estimated to beryllium completed by September, according to the task description.

Rose, a 4-year-old pit bull boxer mix, stands successful her kennel astatine OC Animal Care successful Tustin connected Jan. 21, 2025. Credit: ANGELINA HICKS, Voice of OC

Fourteen cities crossed Orange County declaration with OC Animal Care for patrol services and favored licensing.

It’s a installation that’s undergone harsh disapproval implicit the past respective years for not afloat reopening to the nationalist aft the COVID-19 pandemic and operating adoption visits with an appointment-based system.

After different municipalities and businesses reopened aft pandemic-related closures, the carnal structure was dilatory to reconstruct visiting hours. 

Critics spent years calling for a much unfastened shelter, arguing that the shelter’s appointment-based strategy was decreasing the fig of adoptions portion besides expanding termination rates.

Currently, the structure kennel areas are unfastened for nationalist entree regular from 2 to 5 p.m. Visitors tin docket adoption visits from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. regular but can’t locomotion astir the kennels extracurricular visiting hours.

Most recently, the structure announced a six-month aviator programme that’s expanding play visiting hours to 12 to 5 p.m.

[Read: OC Animal Shelter Expands Weekend Visiting Hours]

OC Animal Care, an carnal adoption halfway successful Tustin, is location to galore animals needing adoption from dogs and cats to hamsters and bunnies. Credit: GIL BOTHWELL, Voice of OC

Michael Mavrovouniotis, an Irvine nonmigratory and erstwhile structure volunteer, has been calling for the structure to travel its 2018 Strategic Plan for years.

“The region bureaucracy wants to walk payer dollars to bring immoderate random advisor to make a ‘new’ plan,” Mavrovouniotis stated. “They accidental it’s due to the fact that of COVID. Do different region agencies person support to neglect astatine their occupation — and usage COVID arsenic the excuse?”

He said the structure doesn’t request a caller program since the erstwhile 1 was created by starring experts successful the tract of carnal sheltering.

The erstwhile Strategic Plan was created by JVR Shelter Strategies, an carnal shelter-focused advisor that works with some municipal and backstage shelters.

Mavrovouniotis said structure officials should rotation retired the 2018 program earlier trying to signifier a caller one. 

“If the region is superior astir fixing the shelter’s problems, let’s enactment connected implementing the existing Strategic Plan alternatively of wasting much clip and money.” 

Angelina Hicks is simply a Voice of OC Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow. Contact her astatine ahicks@voiceofoc.org oregon connected Twitter @angelinahicks13.