Animal house Posted: Thursday, June 7, 2012 6:00 pm Pulling soiled towels from a hamper and loading them by the armfuls into a washing machine, kennel attendant Lavonne Gonzales with the Santa Clara County Animal Shelter contemplated the joys of caring for hundreds of animals that live, eat, play and poop under the same roof. With a washer and dryer hook-up capable of powering half of the 10 daily laundry loads generated by a facility that takes in more than 3,000 animals a year, shelter volunteers are frequently forced to go to the laundromat and load poopy blankets, chuckled Gonzales. Remember that one time at the laundromat when the turd fell out of the towel and onto the floor? said Shelter Supervisor Brigid Wasson, making light of her occupation's unappetizing hazards. Yeah, you gotta shake it before you put it in the wash, advised Gonzales. Built in the early 1970s and located at 12370 Murphy Ave. in San Martin, the Santa Clara County Animal Shelter is something of a domestic Noah s Ark that houses not only dogs and cats, but also abandoned horses, geese, ducks, peacocks, sheep and goats. With an overall adoption and reclaim rate of 80 percent in 2011 (the national average is slightly more than 50 percent), the organization managed to place 100 percent of the healthy animals that came through its doors last year. Now approaching its 40th year, however, the aged facility plagued by a slew of structural deficiencies is showing its wear and tear. http://www.gilroydispatch.com/news/san_martin_c...076-6dcc-5883-9121-bec8be732852.html?mode=print (1 of 5) [6/8/2012 8:03:00 AM]
With a hodgepodge ventilation system, jailhouse-style cat cages, limited parking, a surgery room that feels like a walk-in closet and old drains that sometimes clog and regurgitate refuse, the time has come for an extreme shelter makeover. We do a good job with what we have, but it s a challenge, said Wasson, vanishing into a dark employee break room that has the ambiance of a stuffy catacomb. Inside, flies hover overhead. A small metal grate in the cement floor leads to the same common drainage system that collects excrement from all kennels. It's disgusting, said Wasson, pointing to a mousetrap sitting in plain site next to the base of the refrigerator. Having a better staff area to take a break would boost morale. Is this where you would want to eat your lunch? Alas, a glimmer of encouragement is twinkling on the horizon for the shelter, which is fueled by 50 volunteers and services 3,200 dogs, cats and other furry houseguests annually. Last year, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors authorized a construction project and capital building campaign that will hopefully jump-start the process of erecting a new regional shelter for South County. The initial phases entail establishing a nonprofit that could accept donations for a new shelter facility, outlining a fundraising plan and conducting a $250,000 programming study that will ascertain the needs of the new shelter. When the study is finalized Nov. 1, the next steps will be to organize a financial timeline, spearhead a fundraising campaign and begin the process of drawing up design plans, for which the county has designated $461,000. As for location, the leading contender is the site of the former county courthouse on the corner of Highland Avenue and Monterey Highway in San Martin. http://www.gilroydispatch.com/news/san_martin_c...076-6dcc-5883-9121-bec8be732852.html?mode=print (2 of 5) [6/8/2012 8:03:00 AM]
Kevin O Day, Santa Clara County Agricultural Commissioner, doesn't have concrete cost figures for the new shelter, but estimates $12 million to $20 million will have to be generated through aggressive fundraising and private donations. He said the county s current annual operating budget for the shelter and all county animal care and control field services is about $1.4 million. So far, county officials have already visited Humane Societies and various shelters throughout the South Bay and Silicon Valley to collect advice, reap inspiration and cherry pick their favorite ideas. Whenever there is a project of this magnitude, it's wonderful to have people who can share in their experience of what went well and what didn't work for them, said O Day. With animal welfare and a pleasant customer experience being the overarching goals, a plethora of possibilities for the new shelter are on the table for consideration. O Day lists pet daycare; a multipurpose room that can be used for volunteer training or to conduct classes for new pet owners; an in-house coffee shop and/or pet store; bigger outdoor recreation areas for exercising and walking dogs/horses; a built-in dog park; beefed-up livestock accommodations; and a state-of-the-art clinic equipped to handle complex animal medical and behavioral conditions. The San Martin Animal Shelter currently cannot cater to spay/neuter services for the public, and must contract with 14 area vet clinics to accommodate its in-house population. While giving a tour in late April, Wasson exhibited a positive attitude about working with what she's got. She doesn't sugarcoat reality, however. http://www.gilroydispatch.com/news/san_martin_c...076-6dcc-5883-9121-bec8be732852.html?mode=print (3 of 5) [6/8/2012 8:03:00 AM]
The feline room, which can house up to 50 occupants, has a subpar HVAC system. Wasson likens it to having 50 cats in the equivalent of an airplane cabin. The same goes for the cat quarantine area: The shelter needs better ones, and more of them. It's like everybody in the hospital being in the same room, Wasson says. The dog kennels, which are not air conditioned, can be stifling in 105-degree summer weather (even with portable fans). With the capacity to accommodate 60 canines, the chain-link enclosures are noisy, hard to sleep in and stressful for timid dogs who get bullied by bunkmates over food. In the new shelter, Wasson wants Plexiglas cages with individual drains instead of a common gutter system. That way, volunteers won t have to spray excrement out of the cages and toward the visitor's walkway. Another major issue? Technically, the San Martin Animal Shelter only accepts animals that come from within county limits. We get an awful lot of animals that were found on San Martin Avenue, said Wasson. We always joke that if there were that many animals on San Martin Avenue, there would be a parade of animals every day. Gilroy and Morgan Hill residents, for example, are supposed to call their respective police departments. When asked if he thinks the new shelter should accommodate animals found in Gilroy and Morgan Hill, District 1 Supervisor Mike Wasserman confirmed the county is studying possible financial partnerships. http://www.gilroydispatch.com/news/san_martin_c...076-6dcc-5883-9121-bec8be732852.html?mode=print (4 of 5) [6/8/2012 8:03:00 AM]
While regionalization usually saves money, he also reminded the devil is in the details and it comes down to dollars. O Day said he doesn t want to presume the two cities will be able to participate in the funding and ongoing operational expenses of the new shelter, but that s our hope and vision, he said. It's time for a new shelter, he concluded. Let's start taking the first steps down that new path. http://www.gilroydispatch.com/news/san_martin_c...076-6dcc-5883-9121-bec8be732852.html?mode=print (5 of 5) [6/8/2012 8:03:00 AM]