Valley Animal Center

The goals and mission of the Valley Animal Center are to help reduce the dog and cat population through spaying/neutering, adoptions and educational programs, not euthanasia. It is much more complicated to reach the goal and no one shelter or organization can do it alone. It takes everyone working together to end the killing: humane societies, private shelters, private spay/neuter, foster and adoption groups, government agencies, volunteers, community groups, and most importantly, the community as a whole.

Many great things have been achieved in recent years for animals. Euthanasia rates are down from 17 million per year in 1987 to approximately 5 million last year. Spaying and neutering statistics have climbed to 65 percent for dogs and 85 percent for cats. There have been many crucial improvements for animals in Fresno County alone.

The construction and opening of the Valley Animal Center, the opening of a new high volume, low cost spay/neuter clinic, the expansion of several other no-kill shelters and the formation of new groups dedicated to helping animals. When we first opened our doors in 1992, as the California Feline Foundation, there were no other organizations for animals except for animal control agencies.

The Clovis Project

The Central Valley ranks 3rd in the nation for the highest euthanasia rate! The sad fact is that thousands of dogs and cats are surrendered or picked-up by animal control agencies in Fresno County and approximately 40,000 are euthanized annually.

Because of this horrendous situation, the Valley Animal Center has teamed up with Clovis Animal Services to try to eradicate the use of euthanasia in their shelter by taking in many of their treatable and adoptable animals whose time is up and who are slated for euthanasia, bringing them to our shelter for a chance at finding a forever home.

While here at the shelter, each animal is spayed and/or neutered, tested for any diseases, vaccinated, micro-chipped and given any other medical treatment it may need. The animal then remains at our shelter until it is adopted.

Since this program’s inception in 2005, the use of euthanasia on healthy and treatable animals from Clovis Animal Services has declined by more than 40%. The Valley Animal Center and Clovis Animal Services are now more committed than ever to end the use of euthanasia on all healthy and adoptable animals in their shelters by 2011.

As we embark on this program, called the Clovis Project, we will be able to share our successes with other communities and shelters and use this as a blueprint on how no-kill shelters and animal control agencies can work together to make significant changes in the welfare of animals.