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Residents, former staff and vets urge San Jose to hold animal shelter management accountable and restore spay/neuter services
Summary
Speakers at the public hearing said San Jose’s animal shelter has failed animals and the public in recent years, pressing the council to replace leadership, restore trap‑neuter‑return (TNR) and low‑cost spay/neuter services, and require faster public reporting on the shelter audit’s remedial steps.
San Jose — Multiple residents, volunteers and a former animal care attendant told the City Council at the budget hearing that the San Jose Animal Care Center needs immediate management changes and restoration of core services, particularly low‑cost spay/neuter and trap‑neuter‑return (TNR) programs.
"There's a lot of really big dogs there that are just left and no one's coming for them," Lori Landis, who volunteers at the shelter, told the council and asked for restoration of a low‑cost spay/neuter program. Several speakers including neonatal ICU nurse Diane Foxon and volunteer Lynn described recent incidents they said showed insufficient medical staffing, weekend veterinary coverage gaps and animals dying after intake.
A former shelter worker described multiple operational breakdowns: delayed responses for injured animals, limited weekend veterinary care, and staff departures by those who raised concerns. "I witnessed 3 loose dogs, 1 visibly injured, wandering into traffic... There was also no vet on-site because there are no vets working on the weekend," a former animal care attendant said.
Advocates and volunteers urged the council to hold shelter leadership accountable, to require the shelter’s medical director and senior managers to report back publicly on corrective actions and to restore community-targeted services the public relies on during kitten season and other peak periods.
Ending
Several public commenters requested the council require the public works and shelter directors to return to council with a progress update in September rather than later in the year. No formal budget action on the shelter was taken at the hearing.
