By District 3 Supervisor Lisa Swarthout and District 4 Supervisor Sue Hoek
Nevada County is responsible for providing animal shelter services. Having a shelter to take care of our animals is a core service that serves both public health and safety. When animals need a place to go, we have a place to care for them until they find a new home.
We partner closely with the Sheriff’s Office, who provides animal control services to unincorporated areas that protect animals from neglect and inhumane treatment, and Sammie’s Friends, a local nonprofit who has managed the County’s shelter operations at the County’s McCourtney Road facility since 2010.
Our partnership with a nonprofit allows us to go beyond the services normally offered by local governments at animal shelters.
The County met with Sammie’s Friends Board just over a week ago and feedback has been nothing but positive: no dogs have been euthanized for space or behavior reasons, hundreds of volunteers continue to support the shelter, and barriers to adoptions have been reduced that lowered the number of animals in the shelter by almost half. And while there is still work to be done, the teams and plans are in place to improve animal shelter services for the benefit of the community and our animals.
The County’s current facility is small and outdated, but we are excited to be working with the City of Grass Valley and City of Nevada City on a joint animal shelter.
Joining operations is good government. Our responsibility is to provide the best possible services in the most cost-effective way for our residents. Joint shelter operations do just that.
Although facility projects, governments and funding don’t move fast, we are all committed to moving forward this vision for our community as quickly as possible.
A new shelter would mean improved opportunities to showcase our adoptable pets, or even opportunities for increased donations and volunteers. We have a strong animal community here, but more now than ever, adopting animals is hard.
The new shelter would be located on a 23-acre property the County recently purchased on La Barr Meadows Road and could be built in the next four or five years. Until we get there, the community can continue their support too – spay and neuter your pets, adopt a dog, donate or help volunteer at the shelter.
Working together is more than good government; it builds a great community. Let’s focus on continuing our positive progress – if for nothing else, for the animals!
District 3 Supervisor Lisa Swarthout represents the Brunswick Basin, Cedar Ridge, the City of Grass Valley, Squirrel Creek, and the La Barr Meadows/Allison Ranch Road neighborhoods, including where the County’s future animal shelter facility is planned. District 4 Supervisor Sue Hoek represents communities of Lake Wildwood, North San Juan, Penn Valley, Rough and Ready, Spenceville, unincorporated areas along Highway 20, south down to the Perimeter Road area, and the McCourtney Road/Retrac Way area, including where the County’s current animal shelter is located.