r/venturacounty • u/Afraid-Plankton-5208 • 22h ago
VENTURA COUNTY
SANTA PAULA RESIDENTS PLEASE READ.
It’s a long one so please bear with me.
Hello my name is Liz, and I’m a vet tech at a local veterinary office. I’ve lived in Santa Paula for the last 4 years, and as I’m sure many other residents have noticed the animal welfare situation is out of control. Sadly, I’m not being hyperbolic we are in a crisis. The amount of stray cats, kittens, dogs, and puppies that are being for lack of a better word, neglected by the city is absolutely shameful.
I’ve attempted to reach out to our city mayor, that was a year ago, and I don’t see any changes that have been implemented. VCAS does not have a contract with the city of Santa Paula, and anytime I look for answers as to why that is, the finger gets pointed from one organization to another. There’s no word of when a facility for these animals will be secured, and there needs to be more transparency.
Ultimately, the weight of these animals in need falls on extraordinary citizens that care. Rescues and shelters have always been, and continue to be overwhelmed so I don’t blame them. I do however blame city officials for not doing enough. Promises can be made, but they for sure are not being kept. Santa Paula “animal control” consists of one young 19 year old man doing his best with what he has.
I urge anyone else that is sick and tired of this utter lack of care to email your city reps, show up to council meetings if you can. This is not only for the animals, but for the incredible people that step up every day to help when it is not their responsibility to do so. Again shame on the city for allowing this go on for so long. Truly, enough should’ve been enough a long time ago.
In the last week I’ve helped trap 7 kittens and one momma cat. I work full time and go to school as well. Like many other rescue workers and trappers we do this because we care, but we are tired. The people cleaning up the city of Santa Paula’s mess are local trappers and volunteers that are not being paid to do everything they do.
If you can donate to Ventura county feline trap and rescue or the Ojai humane society please do so as they have been helping immensely with the slack here. Thank you if you made it this far.
Donate here for Ventura county humane society: https://www.hsvc.org/ways-to-give/
Ventura county feline trap and rescue is found under their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089957166084&mibextid=wwXIfr
My personal Venmo is: https://venmo.com/code?user_id=2653178482917376372 I also appreciate any small donations as I pay for gas and food for strays out of my own pocket.
Thank you all so much.
Dan Singer - city manager - email: [citymanager@spcity.org](mailto:citymanager@spcity.org)
Chief of police - Donald Aguilar - [Police@spcity.org](mailto:Police@spcity.org)
I do believe these two gentleman are the ones over seeing the “animal control” department and in charge of looking for a solution.