Two years after an outside assessment concluded Sacramento’s aging Front Street Animal Shelter needed to be replaced, the building remained largely unchanged — but its new director said conditions for animals had improved despite overcrowding and the lack of major renovations.
On a recent tour of the shelter at 2127 Front St., the facility housed 177 dogs in 99 kennels. Smaller dogs were most likely to share space, with as many as five Chihuahua mixes in a single kennel.
The population was not unusual for Front Street, but it put the shelter near its capacity limits. Earlier in the summer, an influx of stray animals after Independence Day fireworks prompted free adoptions and a marketing push aimed at clearing space.
After two months on the job, Front Street’s new Animal Care Services Director April Stevenson said the shelter was far from the conditions described in an assessment two years earlier, even though the facility had undergone no major renovation.
April Stevenson, Sacramento’s Animal Care Services director, visits with a kitten available for adoption at Front Street Animal Shelter on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026.
A needs assessment published in September 2024 described parts of Front Street as a “doggy dungeon” and concluded the shelter was too small and outdated to adequately serve the animals in its care. Assessors said renovations alone would not solve the problems and recommended construction of an entirely new shelter.
“In regards to ‘doggy dungeon’ and some of these other negative terms that you heard, with you just walking through the kennels, could you say that these dogs look miserable?” Stevenson asked during the tour with The Sacramento Bee. “These dogs look happy, and even the cats.”
Since the report was published, Front Street had faced a basic problem: improving conditions without the millions of dollars needed for major renovations or a replacement shelter. Sacramento also had faced a structural budget deficit for two years, leaving little room for a major investment in the decades-old facility.
Some problems identified with the aging facility were still apparent.
Visitors look at dogs available for adoption at Sacramento’s Front Street Animal Shelter on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026.
Heavy guillotine doors leading outside remained, pathways were narrow, and barking dogs and traffic from the nearby freeway created persistent noise. Those conditions could add stress for animals, visitors and volunteers.
A modern animal shelter should operate at no more than 80% of its capacity, according to the 2024 needs assessment.
“The goal is to be, one day, one dog per kennel,” Stevenson said. “But that’s not going to happen here with what we have, with the amount of animals, with the amount of time they need to find the right home.”
The shelter also was in the midst of “kitten season,” when stray cats can have a second litter of the summer, adding more animals needing medical care, foster homes or adoption.
Kittens wait to be adopted at Sacramento’s Front Street Shelter on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026.
Front Street looks for improvements without a new shelter
A new shelter on at least 7 acres was estimated to cost $40 million to $80 million. Animal Care Services had an operating budget of about $10 million this year, while the city’s ongoing deficit made even an $8 million request for interim improvements difficult to fund.
Without money for major construction, Stevenson said the shelter had focused on staffing and operational changes.
One measurable improvement came in its backlog of service requests. Front Street said last month that pending requests had fallen by more than 90% after vacancies were filled and processes were streamlined. Stevenson said unresolved calls dropped from about 2,000 to about 100.
April Stevenson, Sacramento’s Animal Care Services director, gives a tour of Front Street Animal Shelter on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026.
Stevenson is in the final stages of hiring a shelter manager to replace Staycee Dains, and the City Council had approved a substantial salary increase for veterinarians in an effort to make the shelter more competitive with the private sector.
The operational changes followed a period of turnover in Front Street’s leadership. Former Animal Care Services Director Phillip Zimmerman retired two months before his scheduled March 2026 departure. Around the same time, shelter manager Staycee Dains left her position.
Before coming to Sacramento, Dains had faced accusations of racial discrimination, workplace bullying and abuse of power while leading the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services. She stepped down from that role in November 2024.
A $2.2 million bequest to Front Street and the creation of a capital campaign fund provided the shelter with an initial source of money for future improvements, though the total remained far short of the estimated cost of a new facility.
Community Development Director Matt Hertel, whose department oversees Animal Care Services, said Stevenson and her team were doing an “amazing job” using the facility “as efficiently and effectively” as they could while the city worked on a longer-term plan.
“Staff and volunteers are working diligently to make sure that these animals are having the best time they could possibly have while they’re here,” Stevenson said. “Are there improvements that we can benefit from? Sure, I’m definitely not saying we don’t need to change anything in the future, but these animals are happy.”
April Stevenson, Sacramento’s Animal Care Services director, holds a kitten available for adoption at Front Street Animal Shelter on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026.