San Jose is changing up which department oversees its animal shelter months after advocates threatened legal action over alleged neglect.
The San Jose Animal Care Center will move from the Public Works Department to operate under Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Aug. 1. City officials said this will improve coordination and build on recent progress, such as reducing shelter overcrowding. The move consolidates oversight of animals citywide under the parks department, which also oversees programs at Happy Hollow Park and Zoo and Emma Prusch Farm Park. The animal shelter was originally under the parks department when it opened in 2004.
“This transition reflects the administration’s strategic goal of optimizing and aligning, as needed, the city’s service delivery and performance systems with City Council priorities, resident and business expectations, long-term operational sustainability and our organizational structure,” Danielle Torralba, spokesperson for the City Manager’s Office, told San José Spotlight.
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Animal advocates say the move is long overdue. Kit O’Doherty, director of nonprofit rescue organization Partners in Animal Care & Compassion, said the restructuring is a step in the right direction. She said the shift away from the Public Works Department shows something wasn’t working right, and points to ongoing legal action against the city as a factor in pushing officials to act…