San Jose's animal shelter is being audited by the city following numerous allegations of mismanagement and of more animals than usual dying at the center, either by natural causes or being euthanized.
Many of the complaints come from workers within the shelter, like Jennifer Flick. She volunteers at the shelter and runs the animal rescue group called Scritch Kittens.
"We have seen animals being put up for adoption with undiagnosed medical problems," Flick said.
This and other allegations prompted the mayor and city council to order an audit of the shelter and how it's being run.
"We have to have a very clear assessment of current performance, benchmark against other shelter, and then set some performance goals and actually hold the management of the animal care center accountable to increasing the live release rate, increasing spay and neuter, and delivering the outcomes that our animals deserve," Mayor Matt Mahan said.
Matt Loesch, director of public works, which oversees the shelter, said every shelter has seen more stray animals recently. In San Jose, the animals coming in are sicker than before.
"There's been a deterioration of the quality of the animal as it comes into the shelter over the last few years," Loesch said. "And the volume at the shelter has increased quite a bit. Making the job to care for these animals very challenging."
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Loesch said the shelter just completed a voluntary audit from an outside agency last year and welcomes the one by the city.
He said the shelter's goal is for all of its animals to find a permanent home.
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