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.
In a recent newsletter, Mayor Matt Mahan said the move will help strengthen community-based services and improve outcomes for animals. But the decision comes after years of scrutiny over conditions at the facility, raising questions about whether the restructuring signals meaningful reform.
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.
“This is good news, but it should not have taken three and a half years and the extremes we’ve had to go to make the city do something,” O’Doherty told San José Spotlight.
Previous reporting by San José Spotlight found the city’s animal shelter has faced years of scrutiny over its operations. A 2024 city audit described conditions at the facility as “inhumane,” citing overcrowding, unsanitary kennels, inadequate medical care and poor record-keeping.
In January, animal welfare advocates escalated those concerns by threatening legal action against the city, alleging in a letter that officials failed to address longstanding problems despite repeated warnings and the audit’s findings. An attorney with Ryther Law Group, representing Partners in Animal Care & Compassion, previously told San José Spotlight the firm has documented multiple instances of animals being denied adequate care.
Legal action pending
O’Doherty said attorneys are preparing to file a writ of mandate — a court order that asks a judge to compel the city to take specific action — with plans to formally serve the city in the coming weeks.
City officials have previously said they’ve implemented meaningful reforms and operational improvements following the 2024 audit, including updated protocols, staff training and increased oversight.
Another local animal welfare advocate familiar with shelter operations — who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation — said concerns remain about how the facility is run day to day. They pointed to recent issues such as dogs being transported for spay and neuter services, but returning without being fixed due to paperwork errors.
“This is good news, but it should not have taken three and a half years and the extremes we’ve had to go to make the city do something.”
Kit O’Doherty, Partners in Animal Care & Compassion
The advocate also raised concerns about transparency, saying changes in how data is reported including information on animals that arrive dead from the community and require disposal making it harder to assess outcomes, obscuring the full scope of what animals are experiencing in the community.
“(The city) has done a poor job in managing animal welfare,” the advocate told San José Spotlight.
The differing perspectives underscore a growing divide between city officials, who point to recent improvements, and advocates who say longstanding issues at the shelter have yet to be fully addressed.
“The city is operating on some agenda … but that agenda has nothing to do with improving the shelter,” O’Doherty said.
Contact Maryanne Casas-Perez at maryanne@sanjosespotlight.com or @CasasPerezRed on X.
This story originally appeared in San Jose Spotlight.