Advocates may take San Jose to court to force improvements at animal shelter

"While the city claims it has made progress in implementing the audit's recommendations, volunteers, rescue and foster groups and former employees paint a different picture: animals left without food or water, a lack of training, regular shortages of critical supplies, botched routine surgeries leading to deaths and the euthanasia of adoptable pets or those with treatable conditions. The latter, advocates say, constitute a violation of the state's Hayden Act."

"Welfare advocates, long highly critical of the San Jose animal shelter, are warning of a potential legal fight if the agency fails to improve animal care - accusing the city of neglect, gross negligence and repeating violations of state law. Advocates have been at odds with the city for years over the state of their beloved shelter, prompting an audit that confirmed the validity of many of their concerns about mismanagement, operating over capacity and inadequate care."

""We have exhausted all standard protocols for elevating concerns," Partners in Animal Care & Compassion founder Kit O'Doherty said in an interview with Bay Area News Group. "I just saw and directly experienced a very predictable pattern, no matter what the concern was. It could be a very small concern to a very grave one and the pattern is: deflect, deny, dismiss, delay, patronize, gaslight and ultimately concludes with some nonsensical explanation.""

Welfare advocates accuse the San Jose animal shelter of neglect, gross negligence and repeated violations of state law. An audit confirmed many concerns about mismanagement, operating over capacity and inadequate care. Volunteers, rescue and foster groups and former employees report animals left without food or water, lack of training, regular shortages of critical supplies, botched routine surgeries causing deaths, and euthanasia of adoptable or treatable pets that may violate the Hayden Act. A nonprofit rescue group sent a demand letter threatening all legal remedies unless deficiencies are addressed and state laws are followed. The city characterized commenting on the demand letter as premature and expressed appreciation for community supporters and partners caring.

Read at The Mercury News