Yucca Valley Animal Shelter changes a product of organized community action

The Town of Yucca Valley has been overhauling its operations of the Yucca Valley Animal Shelter. In addition to changes such as the creation of volunteer and foster programs, establishing rescue partnerships, and hiring new staff, the Town recently announced the impending retirement of controversial Animal Care and Control Manager Doug Smith.

Yucca Valley resident James Porter has been a vocal leader in the efforts demanding change at the shelter. Following the announcement, he stated that the development was met with approval from the network of community members.

“We were happy to see Doug retire; there are a lot of people in this group who think that he is the root of a lot of the problems at the shelter, and his exit is a welcome change. We are very optimistic that some of the positive progress that has happened over the last few months will take hold, be the direction of whoever the new shelter manager is, and we’ll see improvement.”

The efforts for change at the Yucca Valley Animal Shelter have largely been community-driven. In February, concerned citizens began attending the bi-monthly meetings of the Town Council to voice issues with the shelter and its management. This prompted the Town to announce a 90-Day Operational Review, during which the Town created and began to execute a variety of new improvement initiatives. The group of residents continued attending meetings and pushing for swifter change, which intensified following the story of Howdy, a Maltese that was neglected while at the Yucca Valley Animal Shelter. The subsequent protest on June 30 was a response to that issue and, as resident Allie Irwin noted on the date of the protest, a collaborative local effort.

“There’s a coalition of folks here now from all parts of the Basin at this protest. For example, the fellow on the megaphone is an organizer of Indivisible Morongo, and he is a dog lover and cares about the community. So he showed up with his megaphone to participate and help lead this on his own. We have developed a muscle for organizing and taking to the streets this year for hyper-local issues. We mobilize for national issues; we are now mobilized for local issues.”

Joshua Tree resident Melissa Spurr noted that community members have each contributed their unique skills to further the efforts for change. Some residents, such as Porter, have been influential in speaking at Council meetings and assembling concerned citizens. Others have contributed time researching, writing letters to the Town, submitting Public Records Requests, and organizing online. The citizens created a social media group dedicated to their efforts to improve shelter operations and another to coordinate around electing new leadership to the Council. 

“It’s amazing working on something local like this because there are people, just a really diverse group of people, people that I didn’t even know before this. And everybody seems to care about animals, no matter where they stand, politically, socially, whatever, everybody cares. And so that has been encouraging.”

Town officials, including Council members and Town Manager Curtis Yakimow, have voiced appreciation for public engagement through bureaucratic channels, such as Public Comment and direct communication with staff.

“That’s essential to any public government, and it’s the right of the taxpayer to know where their funds are going, how they’re spent. If they have information that they want to share with the council or the public, recommendations, it’s a great forum for them to do that in Public Comment.”

When asked about the future of this organized community action, Spurr remained positive.

“I’m very optimistic, cautiously optimistic about what the Town is going to do, but optimistic about the community. This whole process has shown me that we come together, we’re persistent, and we will be there every step of the way. I see improvements on the horizon. I think they’re motivated to change, and we’re motivated to help them where we can and keep an eye on the process.”