Funding the Campus Expansion
The support of our community is crucial to sustaining and expanding the services described here. SCCAS is unique among county shelters because we blend municipal funds and private charitable dollars. There will never be enough homes for all the animals who come to us unless we can reduce the need for rescue, and it is the private funding that helps us implement successful preventive measures.
Campus Expansion Plan
Those of us who saw Disney’s Lady and the Tramp as children grew up in an era when the term “Dog Pound” conjured up images of a dank prison where hapless strays and abandoned animals met a sad fate. Fortunately, the work of caring for domestic animals has undergone enormous change since then. Education and enlightenment have rendered the grim “Dog Pound” model defunct.
Shelters such as the Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter have become comprehensive centers and have set important “best practices” standards in veterinary care, stress management and adoption procedures.
Our proactive services and outreach programs have expanded at a steady pace. We’ve made remarkable headway in improving the lives of animals and people in our community, but this doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It takes funding and personnel – staff and volunteers – and it takes space, moving us to expand both our physical plant and the programs that have made us one of the most successful and inspirational county shelters in California.
Rather than adding more kennels, we are seeking to minimize the number of animals needing housing and improve animal welfare beyond the walls of the Shelter. Our strategy is based on addressing the root causes – emphasizing prevention, providing much-needed resources, and supporting more positive, effective placement – so that the need for in-house shelter care is reduced.