The Santa Clara County Animal Services Shelter in San Martin opened in February and this month is their first time participating in Clear the Shelters.
The 37,000 square foot facility is described as an extreme upgrade, with state-of-the-art dog dorms, large play areas, and places to interact with your new animal.
“We put a ton of thought into thinking about the design to make it very comfortable for the animals,” said program manager Lisa Jenkins. “Very low stress, and also not just for the animals but for the visitors so that everybody here has a really good positive experience.”
Jenkins said the buildings fill a major need in south Santa Clara County.
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“In south county we have an extremely animal centric community,” she said. “Many animal lovers out here, and they really wanted a center like this.”
The San Martin shelter is the only one in the county to house livestock, with a 10-stall horse barn, and it can be used for large animals evacuated due to flooding or wildfires.
“A round pen to be able to work with the horses, and get them out and get them exercised and get to know them [in] our large pasture space.,” said Jenkins.
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The shelter has more than just pristine bells and whistles.
“All the things that we can to make it happy for them. Here, we have ambient music playing.” said Jenkins.
There are also multiple operation rooms to save hurt animals.
“When I first started over seven years ago, we were literally in a [small room] so we were so limited by space,” said veterinarian Dr. Elizabeth Kather. “But here again because of the space and more staff we’re able to tackle a lot more than spay and neuter.”
Employees say the facility serves the community much better than before for the animals – and the people looking to adopt them.
“Just come on down, you can meet the animal and we’ll go from there,” said Jenkins.
