San Bernardino Animal Services receives $200k in grants

The City of San Bernardino Animal Services Department has been awarded two grants totaling $200,000 to help support their efforts to grow their volunteer network and return lost pets to their owners.

The State’s “California for All Animals” initiative has awarded San Bernardino $180,000 to fund dedicated volunteer and foster coordinator positions. By adding these positions to the department, Animal Services will be able to increase the number of volunteers providing care to the animals at the shelter and grow the number of foster homes for pets in the community.

“This will have a tremendous effect on the individual attention the pets under our care receive,” said Animal Services Director Kris Watson. “Our Shelter volunteers and foster families make a huge difference for our animals. These new positions will enable us to expand the number of volunteers and foster caretakers.”

The Animal Services Department also announced receiving a $20,000 grant from the California Animal Welfare Funders Collaborative. These funds will help increase the number of pets returned to their owners through expanded bilingual notifications of lost pets at the shelter, free microchipping in the field, and other assistance, such as funding minor fence repairs at homes to keep pets on their property.

Both grant awards are managed by the UC Davis Koret School of Shelter Veterinary Medicine.

Individuals interested in serving as a foster caretaker for adoptive pets can contact San Bernardino Animal Services at: [email protected]. To sign up as a shelter volunteer, please visit Volunteer Information – City of San Bernardino (sbcity.org)

The City of San Bernardino Animal Shelter is located at 333 Chandler Place, San Bernardino, CA 92408 and is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. For more information, call (909) 384-7272.