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Orange County Supervisors are moving forward with a slate of reforms at the county’s embattled animal shelter after years of complaints from residents and activists about poor conditions for pets in the county kennels and a lack of animal viewing hours.
But while supervisors unanimously agreed to expand shelter hours, appoint a new community liaison and require more transparency around what happens to the animals, they were split over whether they should neuter and release feral cats.
Supervisor Janet Nguyen brought the proposals forward alongside Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento.
“I want to make it clear, I want our shelter to do well,” Nguyen said at Tuesday’s meeting. “I want it to be successful. I know it is successful, but there are places I think we can implement and make changes to.”
No officials from OC Animal Care were called up by supervisors to speak to their concerns.
Could Catch and Release Return For Feral Cats?
County Counsel Leon Page told Supervisors he thinks a trap and release program for cats could be considered animal abandonment, which is illegal.
But, supervisors agreed it’s worth studying what neighboring jurisdictions are doing.
“We all know that just because a business or another county or another agency does something, doesn’t mean it’s lawful – so we have to be careful in that regard,” Foley said.
Trap, neuter and return — often referred to as TNR or trap and release — is the practice of trapping feral or community cats living outside, spaying or neutering the animals to prevent reproduction and returning the cats back where they were found since they’re unsocialized to people.
OC Animal Care used to offer catch and release services before the COVID-19 pandemic, but officials nixed the program over concerns that releasing cats back into the community could be considered animal abandonment.
[Read: Why is There No Catch and Release Program for Orange County’s Cats?]
During Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, Page emphasized his concerns about bringing a trap and return program back to Orange County.
He referenced California penal code section 597s, which classifies the abandonment of any animal as a misdemeanor — unless the animal is native to California wildlife.
“Until the legislature addresses this, I don’t know how I can help this board get around the plain language of penal code section 597s,” Page said at the meeting.
“Even if another law firm came back with a different view, what does that do to your animal care employees? And are you asking them to break the law by utilizing a TNR program?” he said.
Board members eventually voted unanimously to direct county staff to research catch and release programs run in surrounding counties and jurisdictions to see what they are practicing.
The City of Los Angeles, San Bernadino County, Riverside County and Ventura County all offer some form of trap, neuter and return programs for feral and community cats, according to their respective websites.
Orange County staff is expected to return to the board within 60 days with a report on neighboring counties’ practices for catch and release programs.
“We need to at least make an effort to see if there is a legal, viable way that we can do this safely,” Sarmiento said. “If there is a way we can do this through our animal care efforts, I would certainly be supportive.”
Complaints Over Cut Hours
The shelter has faced consistent complaints over the past few years about how difficult it is to visit the pets up for adoption.
Until January 2024, there were no open visiting hours for the shelter.
Previously, residents looking to adopt a pet had to view pictures online and schedule an appointment in advance.
Even after partially reopening, shelter staff were criticized for keeping visiting hours down to just three hours on weekdays and five hours a day on weekends.
Now, the shelter will be going back to its pre-COVID hours of allowing visits between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. with the potential to add evening hours in the future.
“You don’t have that connection to these animals if you’re just looking at pictures and then making an appointment,” said Nguyen, who previously called for reform at OC Animal Care.
“We need to go back to pre-COVID hours and allow more of an opportunity for other folks in different time frames to just walk in and see if they want to adopt an animal that day.”
Supervisors directed county staff to create an implementation plan within the next four months for expanding viewing hours to 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. daily.
Advocates have criticized shortened viewing hours in addition to not offering trap, neuter and return services for years. Over 25,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the shelter to fully reopen to the public without restriction.
[Read: More OC Residents Keep Pressing The County Animal Shelter to Reopen Kennels to Public Visitors]
Margot Boyer, a Yorba Linda resident who started the petition in 2022, said she would have never adopted her Chihuahua from OC Animal Care in 2018 if she hadn’t been able to walk through the kennels.
“The way my dog was adopted is a prime example as to why the shelter should be open the way it used to be,” Boyer said at the meeting.
Both Nguyen and Sarmiento expressed similar sentiments about being able to physically visit the animals.
The shelter has been facing concerns about its operations since the 1990s, according to an Orange County Grand Jury investigation published in 2023.
Other Changes Expected At OC Animal Care
Supervisors also directed the animal shelter to create a new community liaison position and start posting monthly data online.
The community liaison is expected to work with the community and help inform the public about happenings inside the shelter.
Additionally, OC Animal Care used to post monthly statistics about intakes, adoptions and euthanasia online but ended that service in 2021.
Currently, the shelter only offers quarterly statistics.
Nguyen said returning to monthly data posting would increase transparency between the shelter and the public.
“We already have the data,” she said. “It’s just as simple as putting it on the website monthly.”
Angelina Hicks is a Voice of OC Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.
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