Orange County Supervisor Janet Nguyen headed a measure to reform OC AnimalCare by increasing hours, appointing a community liaison to interface with the public and requiring monthly website posting of data like intakes, adoptions and euthanasia.
The items unanimously passed the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday and will take affect within four months. Supervisor Vincent Sarmiento co-authored the measure. The upgrades bring a pre-COVID era back to the shelter when it was more accessible and transparent to the public. Orange County was the last major municipal shelter to allow open public visitation last year. It previously required selecting animals online and making appointments to view them.
Supervisor Janet Nguyen is a strong animal advocate and authored two 2024 shelter bills in the California State Senate to increase public transparency. SB 1478 which became law, set a standard for veterinarian reporting on medical charts. Her second bill, SB 1459, passed the Legislature but was not signed by the governor. It required monthly posting of website data, similar to what passed the Board on Tuesday.
“One of my biggest priorities during the past 16 months has been increasing the quality of life for shelter animals,” Supervisor Janet Nguyen said. “Although my term on the Board has just started, I wanted to quickly fix some major concerns that rescues and volunteers have been telling me. The shelter needs to be fully open. We need to know what is happening there and data is key.”
Public viewing hours are currently 2 – 5 p.m. weekdays and 12 – 5 p.m. weekends. It will change to 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. seven days a week.
Supervisors Janet Nguyen and Vincent Sarmiento also successfully passed a measure that asked the County CEO to research trap, neuter and return (TNR) policies of feral cats in Southern California counties. Although the law states that animal abandonment is a misdemeanor, many counties have continued with the program. Orange County previously engaged in TNR.
Supervisor Janet Nguyen represents the First District of Orange County Board of Supervisors, which is the cities of Cypress, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Westminster and the unincorporated areas of Midway City and Rossmoor.