Animal rescue founder sues San Jose over conditions at city's shelter
Dozens of animal advocates gathered outside the San José Animal Care Center on Wednesday evening, demanding greater transparency and improved conditions for animals housed at the city-run facility.
The demonstration coincided with the shelter's second community town hall, where officials said they planned to discuss shelter data, operations and answer questions from the public if time allowed.
The growing calls for accountability come as a local animal rescue founder has filed a lawsuit against the City of San Jose, alleging serious deficiencies in shelter operations.
Kit O'Doherty, founder of the nonprofit Partners in Animal Care & Compassion, claims the shelter has engaged in improper euthanasia practices, failed to provide adequate care for animals and retaliated against volunteers and advocates who raised concerns.
"We have exhausted all standard protocols for raising and elevating concerns," O'Doherty said.
The lawsuit seeks a court order requiring the city to implement significant operational changes and release public records related to shelter operations.
O'Doherty, who said she volunteered at the shelter every Saturday for three years, alleges she documented unsanitary kennel conditions and other concerns before losing access to nonpublic areas of the facility.
"When I was sounding the alarm about the condition of the kennels, which were atrocious, I took pictures," she said.
A spokesperson for the city manager's office declined to comment on the allegations.
"Due to ongoing litigation, we are unable to provide comment on this matter," Danielle Torralba, spokesperson for the city manager's office, said in a statement.
The lawsuit follows years of scrutiny surrounding the shelter. In May, a report from the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury identified ongoing challenges related to transparency, data reporting and community trust at the shelter, while noting that overcrowding conditions had improved.
In a 2024 interview, Matt Mahan attributed some of the shelter's challenges to overcrowding.
"We're not adhering to protocols such as data management and animal husbandry, in part, because we're over capacity," Mahan said at the time.
The lawsuit also arrives as the city prepares to transfer oversight of the shelter from the Public Works Department to the Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services Department on Aug. 1. In a recent newsletter, Mahan said the change is intended to strengthen community-based services and improve outcomes for animals.
Advocates at Wednesday's protest also raised concerns about a recently implemented no-photography policy. They allege two volunteers were removed after taking pictures of animals in an effort to help them get adopted.
"The community is rallying because the community understands, 'Hey, we're paying a lot for this shelter, and we happen to really love our community's animals,'" O'Doherty said.
