The City of Chula Vista has been involved in animal control since 1923.  Over these years the role of animal control in the city has changed greatly.  As the city has grown, additional animal services have been provided to keep pace with a growing population and an increasing number of owned animals.  Our shelter has played a pivotal role in the community over the years.  In 2022 took in over 3300 animals (with nearly 3100 being dogs and cats) . We also house and contract animal services for the City of Lemon Grove and National City. Starting July 1, 2023 we will begin servicing Imperial Beach. 

The current shelter opened on October 19, 2001, it was designed to house up to 342 animals, although that number has reached as high as 592 at any one time. On any given day we welcome more than 200 guests who come to look for lost pets, adopt a new pet, buy a license, attend a low cost spay/neuter clinic, or simply come to look at the animals and learn more about our services.  Animals housed at the shelter receive personalized care and comprehensive medical treatment to keep them safe and healthy.  

• One of our biggest priorities is reuniting lost pets. Approximately 22% of our animals returned home in 2022, which equates to over 700 animals back at home with their families.

• 38% of dogs brought to CVACF return home
• 3% of cats brought to CVACF return home 

• Unfortunately, not all pets return home. For those that are not reclaimed, we work hard to find a new home for them, even if it takes a year (or longer)!
  • In 2022, approximately 49% (over 1500) of those needing new homes were adopted by our community.
  • Nearly 400 were transferred to partnering shelters and rescues that have the available space and/or special resources.
  • Over 500 kittens go through our foster program annually
  • Our goal is to provide our best for our residents until a family can be found.

   

• Animal control officers ensure the safety of people and animals in the community. They respond to all sorts of calls from a snake caught in a net, to assisting families with one too many accidental litters, or even a goat roaming a busy intersection! They respond 24/7 365 a year to animal related emergencies.  On a daily basis they counsel and advise pet owners on welfare issues that have been brought to our attention. Our dispatch receives over 10,000 calls per year.
  
• Spaying or neutering your pets is one of the MOST IMPORTANT WAYS You can help! Nationwide, there is a serious pet overpopulation problem, and San Diego County is no exception.  As a result of donated contributions CVACF is able to offer low cost spay/neuter clinics for low income residents. 
• In addition to caring for animals, we also work with the community through outreach, education, enforcement and humane services. CVACF educates the community about responsible pet ownership to help reduce the number of homeless pets.
• Our amazing medical team has worked to increase the types of special care provided, including necessary, life-saving surgeries and more in-depth treatments for difficult disease such as Parvo, Panleukopenia and ringworm.

Learn more about the services we provide here. Visit our most recent Annual Report for more information on how we are doing.

Partners

We are thankful for the multitude of partnerships, donors and grant opportunities we have been afforded over the years:

• HEART of Chula Vista and Dr. York for the many years of spay and neuter support
• Hills Science Diet for continuing to supply our pets and adopters with quality food
• UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program and the fantastic grant awarded to provide return home assistance for pets, as well as community microchip and vaccination clinics
• Michelson Foundation and CalAnimals for the 2023 grant awarded for microchip/vaccination and spay/neuter clinics
• ASPCA and Subaru, including our local Dalton Subaru in National City, with grants covering adoption fees for all dogs and cats in October (Subaru Loves Pets Month)
• Friends of the Chula Vista Animal Care Facility and Holleman Foundation for many years of grants and donations that have brought about a multitude of structural updates that positively impacted the lives of thousands of animals.

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San Diego Animal Welfare Coalition

The San Diego Animal Welfare Coalition comprises local animal shelters and rescue organizations, which consistently exceeds standards of care to save more lives – making us one of the strongest animal coalitions in the nation and a leader in the humane treatment of animals. The SDAWC member organizations work together for the purpose of saving animal lives, preventing animal suffering and eliminating animal abandonment.

Reporting

Members of the San Diego Animal Welfare Coalition share our stats quarterly to gauge how we (and our community) are improving and saving animal lives.  The statistics focus on a “Live Release Rate,” which is the percentage of pets that leave shelters alive. When comparing statistics be mindful of the type of shelter. The percentage can be lower in an open-admission shelter like ours because we take in every stray animal in our jurisdiction regardless of health, age, and behavior. The terminology used in the table follows the definitions prescribed by the Asilomar Accords and the San Diego Animal Welfare Coalition.
Most Recent Quarterly Asilomar Report for the Chula Vista Animal Care Facility

Getting to Zero

Together, the San Diego Animal Welfare Coalition has been working towards “Getting to Zero,” a movement to eliminate the need for unnecessary euthanasia of homeless pets in San Diego. All organizations have committed to working together to find solutions for the homeless pet population in San Diego County. The coalition achieved zero euthanasia in July 2015, marking the first time in San Diego County’s history -- and the nation’s top 10 largest cities -- that no healthy or treatable animals will be in danger of being euthanized.

Shelter and Community

None of this would have been possible without dedicated staff members and our community working together! 

It takes SO MUCH to allow our mission to thrive:

• Fostering
• Pet Health Clinics
• Adopting
• Spay and neuter
• TNVR
• Volunteering
• Donations (both monetary and in-kind)
• General support (even sharing our message helps!)

Our mission would never have made it this far without ALL of these! We at Chula Vista Animal Care Facility have SO much more in mind for the future! We hope our amazing community is willing to join us in our future endeavors and continue to work towards providing the best for the animals in our care and our community.