On Tuesday, May 14, 2013, San Bernardino County Chief Executive Officer Greg Devereaux announced at a Board of Supervisors budget planning meeting that he was recommending the County allocate $10 million dollars as a the County’s proportionate cost share to replace the County’s animal shelter facility located in Devore. The County intends to meet with cities in the Central Valley Region to identify if they have an interest in partnering with the County to build a new shelter facility.
This is a wonderful opportunity to move the shelter to a more visible and accessible location within the County. According to the County, a site has not yet been identified, but cities who wish to participate in the project may have land for the proposed new shelter which could reduce their cash investment to participate as a partner in constructing the new animal shelter facility.
As we have written before, the County of San Bernardino has one of the lowest euthanasia rates of the shelters within the County and only the City of Upland and City of Rancho Cucamonga have better outcomes for animals when compared to the County. Ten other shelters/jurisdictions actually have higher euthanasia rates than the County, by percentage. This new facility will continue to allow the County to better serve people and pets from the Community.
The City of Upland combined with the City of Rancho Cucamonga handle fewer animals per year than Devore. It makes sense that the fewer you intake, the better job you can do finding homes. Plus those two cities have a much more affluent citizenry and that usually means more adoptions from a shelter. Please express your support for a new shelter, it is long overdue.
