Shelter mismanagement and failure by the county to conform to a strategic plan and audits have resulted in animal suffering

The Companion Animal Protection Society, a national nonprofit based in Thousand Oaks, CA, has just released a short documentary entitled A CAPS Investigation of OC Animal Care, which exposes the incompetence and mismanagement of one of California’s largest municipal animal shelters. OC Animal Care, located in Tustin, serves 14 communities in Orange County.

A CAPS Investigation of OC Animal Care is one in a series of short documentaries about some of California’s largest municipal animal shelters. We are releasing these short documentaries in the lead-up to the debut of The Crisis at California’s Municipal Shelters, a comprehensive documentary about the failure of many of the state’s public shelters to provide humane care for homeless animals.

Orange County, California, has been plagued by a string of scandals, with horrible consequences for the animals and no accountability for the culprits. For a long time, the appeals of community advocates and an Orange County Grand Jury report went unanswered. Two Orange County Supervisors, Janet Nguyen and Vicente Sarmiento, eventually brought about important reforms, but much more needs to be done.

CAPS interviewed community members who have a deep understanding of this shelter’s operations and have spent countless hours poring over the shelter’s data. What these and other advocates uncovered is an unending series of disasters:

• Employing a human resources bureaucrat with no shelter experience as shelter director
• Using “official” statistics that appear to have been entirely fabricated
• Employing a severely inadequate number of kennel workers
• Keeping dogs in their kennels for days on end without going for walks or out into the play yards
• Insisting on keeping visitors out of the kennel areas to cover up staffing shortfalls and filthy kennels
• Placing animals on the euthanasia list for mild, treatable medical problems
• Using flimsy excuses to suspend the feral cat Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program
• Sending bunnies, guinea pigs, and hamsters to a snake rescue group to meet an unfathomable fate

All the while, the shelter was leaning hard on cash-strapped rescue organizations and sending more than 128 dogs to Woofy Acres, which is the subject of a horrific animal cruelty case.

A good example of the blueprint for a well-run shelter is the county’s Animal Care Strategic Plan, developed at great expense and unanimously approved in 2018.  CAPS’ goal couldn’t be more reasonable: Orange County should implement its own Strategic Plan. It’s the right way to complete the good reforms brought about by County Supervisors Janet Nguyen and Vicente Sarmiento, who listened to their communities’ concerns.

Watch A CAPS Investigation of OC Animal Care

Learn more about CAPS’ efforts to reform California’s municipal animal shelters through outreach and legislation and watch the trailer for The Crisis at California’s Municipal Shelters.

About CAPS

Founded in 1992, the Companion Animal Protection Society (CAPS) is the only national nonprofit dedicated exclusively to protecting companion animals from cruelty in pet shops and puppy/kitten mills. CAPS addresses animal suffering through investigations, outreach, legislation, legal advocacy, consumer assistance, rescue, and shelter reform.