Los Angeles County officials are considering an upgrade to outdated, overcrowded county animal shelters that could include relocating facilities.
Supervisors Hilda Solis and Michael Antonovich proposed that county staffers come up with a master plan that identifies the best locations for shelters and includes a redesign of facilities to better serve animals.
Solis said she visited the Baldwin Park Animal Care Center and found it strained beyond capacity. The center handles an average of 600 to 700 animals a day, with “some days as many as 1,000 pets,” Solis said.
She commended the staff at the center, who are “doing as much as they can, given the limited resources.”
Solis hoped the review would help “shine a light on the facility,” which she said is hard to find and sits at the end of a road that is little more than a muddy pathway in an unincorporated area of the county near Baldwin Park.
The county shelters were built between 38 and 68 years ago and conditions make “animal disease control, disinfection, odor control and other environmental concerns difficult to manage,” according to the supervisors’ proposal, which says overcrowding and limited parking also makes adoptions difficult.
The board directed staffers to report back with short- and long-term recommendations.
— City News Service