|
Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center
VENTURA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA (Ventura County Star) - Starting June 1, Santa Paula will have its own shelter for stray dogs and cats and will not take them to the county facility in Camarillo.
The new shelter at Santa Barbara and Seventh streets will save the city $40,000 a year, Police Chief Steve MacKinnon told the City Council on Monday night. The council Monday unanimously approved the shelter plan.
MacKinnon said the city spends about $100,000 a year to contract with the county to use the Camarillo shelter. The Santa Paula shelter is expected to cost $60,000 a year.
The new shelter will help pet owners in Santa Paula, who can pick up their animals there rather than drive to Camarillo.
MacKinnon said the shelter will open June 1 because that's when the city's contract with the county ends.
The Santa Paula shelter will be a no-kill facility, said members of the Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center, a nonprofit that will run the center. It will be in a vacant building that volunteers have been preparing to get ready.
The group hopes the shelter will be a model for other cities in the county.
"We want local communities to 'own' and solve their own pet overpopulation problem ... and opening a local shelter is one step in the right direction," the group says on its Facebook page.
The group is looking for donations of leashes, cat trees, litter boxes, paper towels, blankets, bowls and other pet supplies. It also needs volunteers to help clean the kennels, bathe dogs and manage adoption events.
City Council members said they approve of the new shelter but had some concerns. They wanted assurances the nonprofit had plans in place to take care of problems such as noise from barking dogs.
Group members assured the council they would minimize the noise, including soundproofing where dogs are kept. The group also will meet with neighbors before the shelter opens.
Copyright 2013 Ventura County Star
(Copyright
Terms)
Updated 425 days ago Article ID# 1510899
Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center
Visit Website
|
