Residents and neighborhood leaders told the San Bernardino City Council they want the city to select a new animal-services director and improve the shelter’s public reporting.

Lydia Savala, who complimented recent paving work, asked the council to move quickly to hire a director with a plan for regular metrics and more transparency about animal intake. “One of the most important numbers to be revealed … is the total animal intake,” Savala said, arguing that regular disclosure would have highlighted escalation in 2021–22.

Savala told the council only about “50% of the information was being provided on a regular basis” and urged at minimum quarterly publication of intake figures so trends are visible to the public and to staff.

Claire Reager, who said she lives in a Loma Linda mobile home park, described repeated contacts with animal control about stray cats and urged the city to adopt humane, proactive policies rather than allowing animals to suffer. “Animals, especially cats, if they are not taken care of, they die a slow death,” Reager said, describing a cat that appeared severely underweight and later went missing.

Why it matters: Speakers framed this as both an animal-welfare and public-health issue and asked for a director who will provide consistent metrics — intake, outcome, and shelter capacity — on a monthly or quarterly basis.

Council action and next steps: Public comments requested that the council prioritize selecting a director and require more timely public reporting; the transcript of public comments does not record a council vote or staff response on this topic.

Speakers offered to assist with data analysis and encouraged the council to adopt reporting standards that would allow residents and neighborhood groups to track changes over time.