📅 A public meeting was held to address the communities’ concerns regarding the City of Visalia’s Animal Services’ existing policies.  The meeting was attended on 9/12/24.attended by Maria Reveles on behalf of the Underdog Adventures team.

To view the powerpoint for this meeting, click here: 

https://www.visalia.city/news/displaynews.asp?NewsID=2841&TargetID=1

Please see updates from the meeting below:

💡 Meeting Highlights

  • Presented by Candace Harrington, Visalia Animal Services Shelter Manager
  • Focused on Shelter Services, Hold Periods, and Contracts with Other Cities
  • Visalia Animal Services Division, now part of the City’s Parks & Recreation Division, shared details on their operations and received public comments.

💡 How You Can Help

  • Volunteer at the shelter
  • Consider fostering when the program launches
  • Share the posts Visalia Animal Services Intake Post
  • Attend adoption events and spread the word

💡 Advocate for more funds by contacting your city council member

💡 Services Offered

  • Return to Owner (RTO): Prioritizing reuniting lost pets with owners
  • Adoptions: Matching unclaimed animals with new families
  • Rabies Licensing: Ensuring compliance with state law for dogs and cats over 4 months
  • Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR): Program to manage feral cat populations in Visalia

💡 Hold Periods

  • Hold days are business days only (closed days and holidays don’t count)
  • Stray Dogs: Held for 4 days, available for adoption/rescue on 5th day
  • Dogs with known owners: Held for 6 days, available on 7th day

💡 Adoption Events

  • Planning to host more frequent adoption events
  • Aim to increase community engagement and animal placements

💡 FOSTER PROGRAMS 

  • Foster Program is in development. 
  • Three types of fostering planned:
  1. Temporary (up to 2 weeks)
  2. Kitten/Puppy care
  3. Longer-term for difficult-to-place large dogs

💡Education Initiative

  • Focusing on providing more educational resources to the public
  • Topics may include responsible pet ownership, animal care, and local animal laws

💡Contracts with Other Cities:

  • Farmersville: Full services including sheltering, licensing, animal control, adoptions
  • Exeter: Similar services to Farmersville
  • Dinuba: Sheltering, licensing, reclaims, adoptions, and disposal services

NEXT MEETING: Next meeting will be held in November. We will post as soon as we have the date 👀

📞 Questions? Contact Visalia Animal Services at 559-713-4700 or contact your City of Visalia Elected Official. 

As Underdog Adventures, we’re committed to supporting and improving animal welfare in our community. We’ll continue to attend these meetings and provide updates. Stay tuned for more information and ways you can help! 🐶🐱💕

IMPORTANT: As animal lovers, we understand this topic is very important to many people. We welcome comments and productive conversations. However, we kindly ask everyone to be respectful in their interactions. No bullying or threatening behavior will be tolerated.

Remember: While Facebook comments can raise awareness, real change comes through community action and advocacy. Let’s channel our passion into positive efforts that make a difference for our animal friends.