Animal welfare advocates are threatening legal action against San Jose, alleging officials have failed to correct longstanding problems at the city’s animal shelter despite a scathing 2024 audit and years of public complaints.
Attorneys representing Partners in Animal Care & Compassion, a nonprofit animal rescue organization, sent the city a formal demand letter Jan. 13 alleging violations of state civil and penal codes related to humane animal care. The letter gives the city until Jan. 31 to respond before advocates pursue litigation.
“We are still reviewing the demand letter, it would be premature to comment on its specifics directly,” City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood told San José Spotlight.
Sarah Thompson, an attorney with Ryther Law Group representing Partners in Animal Care & Compassion, said the firm has documented multiple instances of animals being denied adequate care.
“We have evidence of routine surgeries at the shelter resulting in the suffocation of animals,” she told San José Spotlight. “We have evidence of animals coming into the shelter in desperate need of urgent medical care who are not being provided that care.”
The law firm’s letter alleges animals have been left without food or water, unmonitored after surgery and handled in ways that violate basic safety and “fear-free” principles. It further claims the city may be violating the Hayden Act, a state law requiring shelters to release adoptable animals to nonprofit rescues upon request and prohibiting the euthanasia of treatable animals. Thompson said the firm has evidence the city is euthanizing adoptable cats who have treatable conditions such as ringworm.
Kit O’Doherty, director of Partners in Animal Care & Compassion, said she has been raising concerns about the shelter for more than three years, while helping implement a national dog enrichment program.
“For at least since I’ve been there, which is three and a half years, these are longstanding problems,” O’Doherty told San José Spotlight. “Every time they respond, they say the same thing. It’s like a canned response of, ‘We’re doing everything we can, change takes time. The animals are our top priority.’ And we all see through it.”
She said the letter calls on the city to immediately implement recommendations from a November 2024 audit — which described conditions as “inhumane,” citing overcrowding, inadequate sanitation and a lack of written procedures — and provide documentation proving compliance. If the city fails to respond by the end of the month, O’Doherty said they are prepared to pursue further legal remedies.
Public Works Director Matt Loesch, whose department oversees Animal Care and Services including the San Jose Animal Care Center, said the city is committed to improving conditions.
“The city remains actively focused on meeting the needs of the animal shelter and providing the highest level of humane care possible,” Loesch told San José Spotlight. “Our most recent annual report reflects meaningful improvements in animal care and conditions. While progress takes time, the health, safety and well-being of animals in our care remains our foremost priority.”
The legal threat follows years of public scrutiny of the shelter. Data previously reported by San José Spotlight showed shelter animal deaths reached a five-year high in 2023. Last year, San José Spotlight reported on a pattern of retaliation against shelter employees and volunteers who spoke out against inhumane practices.
O’Doherty said conditions inside the shelter are often distressing.
“You would walk in and the smell would hit you so bad,” she said. “The kennels were covered in feces and urine. That’s inhumane.”
She said the letter is the final option after meetings with city staff, councilmembers and the city manager failed to produce change.
“We’ve turned over every stone,” O’Doherty said. “So the last resort is basically legal action.”
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