Advocacy group wants to address overcrowded San Jose animal shelter – The Mercury News

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Concern about overcrowding at the San Jose Animal Care Center spurred a group of local residents to start an advocacy group called Sustain Our Shelters.
San Jose’s Animal Care Center on Monterey Road has provided shelter and field services for San Jose, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Milpitas and Saratoga residents since 2004. As of Oct. 16 the shelter was housing 459 animals, according to its website. Its desired capacity is less than 300.
Erin Cizan, senior public information representative for animal services, said the shelter is currently at 90% capacity.
Sustain Our Shelters’ immediate goals are to get San Jose’s public spay and neuter program reinstated; to restart its trap-neuter-release (TNR) program for feral cats; and to get the daily window for surrendering stray animals extended beyond the current five hours a day. The TNR program was temporarily halted in May due to staffing shortages at the shelter.
The shelter still provides spay/neuter services for the animals already in its care, and it also continues to provide spay/neuter services for sick or injured feral cats and kittens, who are treated and released.
“We have over 100 dogs waiting for spay/neuter surgery,” said Cizan. “We have to get those numbers down before we can open our doors to the public.”
Animal services staff said pet surrenders have remained consistent over the years and actually decreased
from 2021, but there has been an uptick in pet owners asking for euthanasia.
“The few owner surrenders have definitely been economically driven,” said Cizan. “That we are getting more requests for euthanasia is also an economic problem, because it’s cheaper for us to do it than a private vet.”
With 127 members as of Oct. 21, Sustain Our Shelters is looking to “create a better life for animals by actively aiding Silicon Valley animal shelters to provide programs, care and adoption services and raising awareness of issues that affect our pet and community animals,” said spokeswoman Rebekah Davis-Matthews.
Now active on various social media platforms, Sustain Our Shelters got its start with a post on Next Door from members concerned about reduced services at the San Jose shelter, according to Davis-Matthews.
“We decided that we needed to attract more people to our cause to help spread the word, which is why we recently started a Facebook group,” she said.
Staffing shortages are also of concern to members.
“The shelter needs to be fully staffed,” said Davis-Matthews. “There are two positions that have been open for months. They are also short of vet techs.”
The San Jose Animal Care Center has one full-time medical director and two part-time veterinarians, according to Kiska Icard, division manager of animal services.
“There’s a nationwide shortage of veterinarians and vet techs,” Icard said. “You need a team to do the high-volume surgeries, and we’re trying to rebuild the entire team. And a critical element of that team is registered veterinary technicians.”
Members of Sustain Our Shelters “have varying connections to the shelter and the rescue community,” she added. “Each of us brings a unique perspective and background to the group.

“My own background is that I am a kitten foster/overnighter, have trapped feral cats and have gotten them fixed and returned, volunteer at the San Jose shelter with cats, and run a number of lost and found pet groups on Facebook,” said Davis-Matthews.
While their backgrounds may differ, the members of Sustain Our Shelters are working toward a common goal to be “collaborative and supportive with the community to get greater awareness and better resources for the shelters,” said member Aly Abramowitz at a recent Zoom meeting.
For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/sustainourshelters.
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