The Advisory Council met on Wednesday, November 20, 2024
View or download the agenda (109 KB PDF).
View recordings of the November meeting and previous AC meetings.
To submit comments or ask questions at any time, please email advisorycouncil@californiaforallanimals.com.
In 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom allocated $50 million to reduce euthanasia of healthy and treatable animals in California animal shelters. The funding, administered by the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine program, was designated for disbursement through 2026. The complete language of the trailer bill can be found at https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=EDC&division=9.&title=3.&part=57.&chapter=6.&article=6.4 and in the Resources section of this document.
The California for All Animals program operates according to the following guiding principles:
- Equity: Address the needs of communities who have been marginalized and oppressed, communities in urban and rural areas and communities with lower disposable income, understanding the impact of structural racism on animal welfare
- Partnerships/Sustainability: Leverage this initiative to attract other support (e.g., community, philanthropic, local government, corporate)
- Transparency: Work with stakeholders statewide; develop criteria, procedures, and accountability measures
- Community: Recognize the wisdom that exists within communities and uplift solutions led by community members working inside and outside the shelter
- Adaptability: Understand that flexibility and adaptability are central to responding to the changing needs of communities
- Learning: Cultivate humility and learn from community members doing the work
Organization
The Advisory Council was established to provide guidance, input and support to the California for All Animals program. The Advisory Council consists of seven (7) members selected through an open application process. Applicants must be residents of California and have expertise, knowledge or lived experience of issues affecting California residents and pets. Expertise in the following areas were given priority consideration in the selection process:
- Veterinary professional (DVM, RVT, or veterinary assistant)
- Attorney or paralegal with expertise in housing, social services, and/or animal welfare
- Experience working for a California grantmaking organization or foundation with programs in the state
- Employee or volunteer from a 501 c (3) registered organization that houses and cares for animals in foster homes (but does not qualify for grant funding)
- Employee or volunteer of a private shelter without a municipal contract, private shelter with a municipal contract, municipal shelter or animal control agency**
- Human services social worker/case worker with practical experience in housing/homelessness, health care, or other social services
- Experience working for a government agency at the local or state level
- Experience with grantmaking through a racial equity and social justice lens
Members of the Advisory Council provide input and feedback on the program implementation plans, grant guidelines and funding priorities for California for All Animals. Members will review grant application packages and provide input and vote on grant award decisions.
**To avoid conflicts of interest, members who work for organizations that have received or applied for grants may not vote on any grant decisions but are able to comment and advise on other aspects of the program. To ensure range of expertise and input, there will be no more than two employees of former/potential grantees on the Council at one time.
Compensation
The members of the Advisory Council will receive a stipend of $100 per day when participating in prep work and meetings. Members will be onboarded as contractors with the University to receive payment for their service on the Council. Members will provide quarterly submission of days worked in order to receive payment. Any travel expenses incurred for any in person meetings will be reimbursed according to UC Davis travel expense policy.
Meetings
The California for All Animals Advisory Council will meet at least four times per year. Meetings of the Advisory Board will be held virtually and will be open to the public. The meeting agenda will be posted on the website one week prior to the meeting and available for public viewing. Meetings will be recorded and available on the website one week after the meeting date. A minimum of four Council members must be present to make grant funding decisions. If members are unable to attend an upcoming meeting, they must provide advance written notice via email to advisorycouncil@californiaforallanimals.com.
Meeting Calendar September 2023-May 2025
Advisory CouncilFebruary 15, 20259AM-11AMvirtual
| Meeting | Date | Time | Location |
| Advisory Council | September 13, 2023 | 9AM-11AM | virtual |
| Advisory Council Grant Review | November 15, 2023 | 9AM-11AM | virtual |
| Advisory Council | February 7, 2024 | 9AM-11AM | virtual |
| Advisory Council | May 22, 2024 | 9AM-11AM | virtual |
| Advisory Council | August 21, 2024 | 9AM-11AM | virtual |
| Advisory Council | November 20, 2024 | 9AM-11AM | virtual |
| Advisory Council | May 14, 2025 | 9AM-11AM | virtual |
Agenda
At least 72 hours before a meeting, an agenda will be publicly posted which specifies the time and location of the meeting and a brief general description of each item to be discussed at the meeting.
Public Comment Period
A public comment period, not to exceed 30 minutes, will be scheduled for each meeting of the Advisory Council. Members of the public who wish to make a statement or comment on an agenda item may participate in the public comment period. Such community members wishing to use the public comment period are encouraged to notify staff at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting. The order of participation during the public comment period will be in the chronological order of requests received by staff. Community members who submit their requests after the 48-hour advance notification deadline or who sign up for the public comment period on the date of the meeting will be extended the opportunity to speak if time permits within the overall 30-minute period and at the discretion of the Council after all community members who complied with the advance notification deadline have been heard.
Quorum
Five members shall constitute a quorum.
Advisory Council Members
In alphabetical order by first name:
| Dianne Prado | HEART LA | Orange County |
| Donell Randolph | Friends of Oakland Animal Services | Alameda County |
| Geraldine D’Silva | Human and animal welfare consultant | San Diego County |
| Jill Tucker | Cal Animals | Nevada County |
| Kylie Ramos | San Francisco SPCA | Fresno County |
| Megan Conn | Community Foundation of the Northstate | Shasta County |
| Sheila Donya Koukhan | Companions and Animals for Reform and Equity (CARE) | Riverside County |
Resources
- One of the deliverables to the State was a report on the progress of the program. This report was submitted in March 2023: https://www.ucop.edu/operating-budget/_files/legreports/2022-23/animal_shelter_assistance_program_ucd_legrpt.pdf
- California for All Animals provided a grant to the San Francisco SPCA to conduct a survey on veterinary access to care available in animal shelters in California. The results are here:
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/5ae46f84f8c3438d9c32126d54681936
- Trailer Bill
ARTICLE 6.4. Animal Shelter Assistance Act [92657 – 92658]
( Article 6.4 added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 144, Sec. 67. )
92657.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) In 1998, the State of California enacted Senate Bill 1785 (Chapter 752 of the Statutes of 1998) to create new minimum standards for California animal shelters and establish the state’s policy that no adoptable or treatable animal should be euthanized.
(b) Since 1998, many California communities have made meaningful strides to reduce the deaths of homeless animals. Public and private sources have funded more low-cost programs for dog and cat spaying and neutering. Animal shelters have sought to modernize their facilities and practices to keep animals healthier during their time at the shelter. Public education campaigns have promoted the importance of adopting pets, and a growing number of private rescue groups have been formed, increasing the degree to which they assist shelters in finding new homes for animals.
(c) Although the number of deaths in California’s animal shelters fell from more than 500,000 in 1998 to an estimated 180,000 in 2018, the state’s longstanding policy goal has not yet been achieved in every community.
(d) The University of California houses the nation’s premier animal sheltering research, service, and teaching program. The shelter medicine program at the University of California, Davis promotes a welfare-centric, life-saving approach to the management of animals in shelters, focused on prevention and grounded in science. The program has been working with shelters across California since its inception, providing advice covering facility design, shelter management, animal husbandry, and myriad veterinary health issues that are unique to sheltering environments.
(e) With an intentional focus on and partnership with communities around California, the state will be well positioned to achieve the state’s policy goal that no adoptable or treatable animal should be euthanized.
(Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 144, Sec. 67. (AB 132) Effective July 27, 2021.)
92658.
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature that a five-year program, which shall be known as the Animal Shelter Assistance Program, be established to support the state’s policy goal that no adoptable or treatable animal is euthanized, and that the program be administered by the University of California pursuant to all of the following principles:
(1) The program shall provide support to all California animal shelters in the form of outreach, regional conferences, and provision of web-based resources based on current best practices. Best practices may include, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(A) Reducing intake by providing other solutions to keep animals safe and healthy in their homes, which may include spay or neuter as part of that approach, as well as vaccination, microchipping, and setting up technology and communication to help pet owners rehome their own pets instead of taking them to a shelter.
(B) Improving animal health and care in the shelter, which may include adequate housing, good ventilation, appropriate treatment and isolation facilities as well as good husbandry practices to help animals stay healthy, lower costs, and increase adoptions.
(C) Removing barriers to live outcomes, which may include technology, staffing and capacity solutions, and expanding spay or neuter capacity to keep up with outflow. This may also include systems to reunite lost pets and developing an adoption presence in the community.
(2) The program shall offer in-person assessments and in-depth online training to California city, county, or city and county animal control agencies or shelters, societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals, and humane societies, upon request and as feasible.
(3) As a supplement to its outreach and programmatic support, the program shall administer a grant program to aid implementation of best practices in California animal shelters. All funds shall be awarded on the basis of need as determined by an open, competitive process that ensures objectivity, fairness, and sustainability. All California city, county, or city and county animal control agencies or shelters, societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals, and humane societies shall have access and opportunity to voluntarily compete for the funds. The program shall do all of the following:
(A) Develop criteria, procedures, and accountability measures as may be necessary to implement the grant program.
(B) Administer the grant program to ensure that priority is given to underserved populations, including both urban and rural areas and low-income communities, where achievement of the state’s goal that no adoptable or treatable animal is euthanized has not yet been met.
(C) In developing criteria, procedures, and accountability measures, include a focus on preventing pet overpopulation, such as measures to offer no or low cost spay or neuter services.
(4) For purposes of this section, a society for the prevention of cruelty to animals or a humane society shall be a California corporation, duly incorporated in the State of California, in active status, as described on the business search page of the Secretary of State’s internet website, and exempt from federal income taxation as an organization described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(5) For purposes of this section, the program is encouraged to prioritize assistance for California city, county, or city and county animal control agencies or shelters, societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals, and humane societies that are current on relevant data reporting required under law, and that offer the greatest likely return on one-time investment of state funds.
(b) In designing and promoting the services outlined in subdivision (a), the program shall seek input from relevant stakeholders to ensure that program services and grants effectively reach a wide geography throughout the state, and that regions in northern, central, and southern California, including both urban and rural areas, are adequately considered, with an emphasis on addressing the lifesaving needs within these regions.
(c) The program may give additional consideration to working with communities that do any of the following:
(1) Seek to maximize the number of animals whose lives can be saved.
(2) Demonstrate partnerships among public, private, corporate, or nonprofit entities.
(3) Emphasize volunteer engagement and community outreach components for purposes of increasing the sustainability of the program’s investments.
(d) (1) On or before March 31, 2023, the University of California shall report to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature and the Department of Finance on the program. At a minimum, the report shall include all of the following information:
(A) The amount spent on each type of activity set forth in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of subdivision (a).
(B) Pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), a summary of the outreach activities that were supported by funds.
(C) Pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), a list of shelters that received in-person assessments and in-depth training.
(D) Pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a), a list of grant recipients, along with each recipient’s grant amount, the amount of matching funds, if any, and a description of the funded activities.
(E) An analysis of the program’s impact on the number of animals that are euthanized for all shelters participating in the activities described in paragraphs (2) and (3) of subdivision (a). The analysis shall include annual data on the number of animals that were euthanized at least five years preceding the establishment of the program and throughout the duration of the program. To the extent possible, the analysis shall use the best available data to estimate the number of treatable and adoptable animals that are euthanized in the state. The University of California, Davis Koret Shelter Medicine program may require any data from program participants as needed to complete this analysis.
(F) A long-term plan to sustain any improvements in euthanized rates once the one-time funding expires and continue progressing toward the state’s policy objective that no adoptable or treatable animal be euthanized.
(G) Financial information on the University of California, Davis Koret Shelter Medicine program, including funding by source, spending by program and function, and end-of-year fund balances. The report shall include this information for the 2018–19 through 2023–24 fiscal years.
(2) On or before March 31, 2026, the University of California shall submit a second report to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature and the Department of Finance on the program. At a minimum, the report shall include all of the information described in paragraph (1).
(e) Subject to the conditions and requirements established elsewhere in statute, the State Department of Public Health and the Department of Food and Agriculture shall provide to the program, upon proper request, data that will help ensure effective administration of the program.
(f) Toward these ends, the Legislature requests the Regents of the University of California to establish the Animal Shelter Assistance Program and direct the University of California, Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program to administer the program pursuant to, and consistent with, the principles and goals stated in this article.
(Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 144, Sec. 67. (AB 132) Effective July 27, 2021.)
