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Residents press Riverside County on animal-shelter capacity and new disposal contract; county says rendering halted since 2022
Summary
A public commenter accused the county of incentives to euthanize animals and resell byproducts; Riverside County animal services director Mary Martin told the board the county has not used rendering since 2022 and that animals are buried in landfill while county expands lifesaving programs.
A Riverside County resident accused county leaders at the Nov. 18 Board of Supervisors meeting of permitting practices that incentivize euthanasia and the resale of animal byproducts and urged the county to lease warehouse space as overflow kennel capacity.
Mary Martin, director of Riverside County Animal Services, responded to the allegations, telling the board that county shelters have not used animal rendering since 2022 after EPA changes required filters that the local rendering plant could not afford. She said animals have been removed and buried in landfill since the rendering plant stopped operating, and that staff continue to pursue life-saving programs, transports and volunteer recruitment to reduce euthanasia.
The claim and the response: Jennifer Quinn, identified in public comment as a 40-year resident of Nuevo, said the county’s contracts create a hidden incentive to euthanize by labeling animals “unadoptable” and allowing their removal under rendering contracts; she asked the board to fund immediate overflow kennel space by leasing vacant warehouses and to require developer fees to support shelter capacity. Martin said TLC Bridal Removal Services has not rendered animals since 2022, that county shelters have not sent animals to rendering since then, and that current practice is removal and burial in landfill.
Board members and staff used the exchange to press for continued transparency. Several supervisors urged adoption, fostering and volunteer support, and described county-run mobile spay/neuter clinics and veterinarian outreach intended to reduce intake and improve placements. The chair asked animal services to provide written responses and follow-up to the questions raised during public comment.
The board approved related consent items on the agenda, and members recorded a 5–0 vote on several items later in the meeting. No formal policy was adopted at the meeting to require developer fees or to create an immediate county-funded overflow facility; the public speaker’s proposals were entered into the record for staff follow-up.
