Scathing audit reveals 'inhumane' conditions at San Jose animal shelter

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The city auditor issued a scathing report about San Jose's animal shelter, saying the conditions there are "inhumane."

The 134-page report, presented to the city council by city auditor Jose Rois on Tuesday, claims "evidence of mismanagement and overcrowding." 

The report also said the animal shelter, which has an annual budget of $15 million, is housing "several hundred animals" and is consistently over capacity.

In addition, city auditors found that overworked shelter employees "ignored rules and record keeping, to the detriment of the animals in the shelter."

Rois told the council that when his team audited the shelter in July and August, there were 700 animals on sight, when the capacity was only for 500 animals.

He added that the "average length of stay for animals has increased in recent years."

His audit also found that almost 60% of the shelter animals have rabies certificates that expired, violating a state law.

"There have been numerous stories about that," said Rebeckah Davis Matthews, who gathered outside City Hall. "Animals that needed medical attention for a broken limb. And it took so long for the shelter to do anything that the rescue rescuers had to pull them. And then, eventually, they needed amputations because they weren't treated sooner." 

A shelter employee told the council that she saw many cases of "neglect and patients being inadequately treated for pain resulting in animal suffering. I wrote several emails to management and never received a response." 

Other speakers complained the volunteer system was flawed and turning away qualified and eager candidates. Some residents, like Mike Wagner, who called for a change at the top.

"The audit clearly shows that this management team is clearly in over their heads," he said. 

The city of San Jose, including Mayor Matt Mahan, said it "welcomed" the criticism and said that some improvements have been made at the animal shelter since the audit was released. 

"We've invested in things over the past few years for the care of the animals," San Jose Director of Public Works Matt Loesch said. "We now have twice-a-day feedings, where before we were only feeding once a day. We have a foster program for dogs, cats and underage kittens that has been reinvigorated."

There are 39 audit recommendations, with 21 being high priority. 

City Manager Jennifer Maguire said in a statement that she hopes to meet the March and June 2025 deadlines for implementing the recommendations. 

As a municipal shelter, San Jose does not turn away sick or injured pets, or pregnant cats, which increases the number of unhealthy pets coming into the shelter, Maguire said.

About 29% of stray pets arrive in the category of unhealthy or untreatable, she said. 

In raw numbers, that's almost 4,000 this year compared to almost 2,000 last year. 

The San Jose animal shelter is hosting a downtown adoption location on Friday at the San José Downtown PAWp-Up at 93 E. San Carlos Street. 

The location will be open from noon to 6 p.m. each day until Jan. 6.

All adoption fees are waived for pets adopted at the Downtown PAWp-Up.