The Yucca Valley Town Council met Tuesday night (4/1) in regular session at the Yucca Valley Community Center starting at 5:00 p.m.
Two proclamations were made at the start of Tuesday night’s meeting. The first declared April Sexual Assault Awareness Month in partnership with Partners Against Violence, a nonprofit in the Morongo Basin that provides support for survivors of sexual assault and violent crimes.
It is also Child Abuse Prevention Month, and the San Bernardino County Children’s Network says that there were nearly 32,000 referral calls made in 2024 to their child abuse hotline. 436 of those originated from Yucca Valley.
The San Bernardino Child Abuse hotline is 1-800-827-8724.
Yucca Valley Animal Shelter Update
From that point on in the meeting the Yucca Valley Animal Shelter took up most of the council’s attention. Town Staff presented their first update on the Yucca Valley Animal Shelter which is currently in the middle of a 90 Day Operational Review.
Town Manager Curtis Yakimow and Deputy Town Manager Shane Steuckle led the presentation which began with a brief history of the shelter and a photo tour of the facility.
They also shared some statistics from earlier annual reviews of the Yucca Valley Animal Shelter, which had only received one public comment from 2019 to 2023. Extensive public comment has been made at the last three Town Council Meetings, however, and the meeting on April 1st doesn’t buck the trend.
Town Staff says that recent public comments and input were focused on reducing the euthanasia rates and increasing live release and returns, establishing and implementing a volunteer and pet fostering program, and creating significant outreach to animal rescue groups. Deputy Town manager Shane Stueckle says that rescue group outreach is paramount in changing the town’s live release and return rates.
The Yucca Valley Animal Shelter is classified as an “open admission shelter,” which means it accepts any animal that is brought in.
According to data shown at the meeting, from the years 2013 to 2024 the YVAS on average accepted just over 1,000 dogs a year. The euthanasia rates for the shelter have hovered around the mid-20% since 2016, with a noticeable jump from 26.2% in 2021 to 43% in 2022, and peaking at nearly 54% in 2024.
That means approximately 513 of the 969 dogs admitted to the shelter in 2024 were euthanized instead of being returned or adopted.
Staff noted that shelter programs, adoptions events and shelter hours have not changed during that time period. Alongside euthanasia rates, adoption rates had a 13% decrease from 2018 to 2024, along with a similar drop in “Return to Owner” rates. That’s the number that goes up whenever a dog or cat has been reclaimed and returned to an owner.
Staff also shared comparisons to other shelters in the area such as Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino City, Moreno Valley, Twentynine Palms and Riverside County.
Stueckle also shared employment data for the shelter, which operates seven days a week with six full time employees and two part timers. He noted that the town doesn’t have a dedicated Field Officer, and in some rare occasions the shelter has had to lock the doors during business hours due to employees being dispatched to the field.
Inefficiencies at the shelter were also addressed in the first update, including the fact that all intake forms and pet paperwork is done by hand and on paper. Steuckle says that an evaluation of the staffing structure and resources will be necessary to continue to implement changes to the shelter, and town staff has already stepped up with animal rescue group outreach as well as beginning the bureaucratic process of creating a volunteer and foster program.
Euthanasia changes taking place at Yucca Valley Animal Shelter
One of the changes that received the biggest reaction from the audience during the presentation had to do with how animals are being euthanized. Steuckle says that as of Friday, March 28th, all animals will receive sedation prior to euthanization. Audience members cheered and clapped at the news.
While not specifically addressed by Town Staff, Shelter Manager Doug Smith was brought up multiple times by residents when referring to personnel changes needed at the shelter. In a story broke by Z107.7’s Adeline J. Wells, previous employees say they witnessed inhumane euthanasia practices by Shelter Manager Doug Smith.
During public comment many residents expressed that while the transparency was appreciated, the troubling numbers meant that the town and its residents had a lot of work to do, with many in attendance offering help to the town in the form of consulting on shelter software, fostering, and other operational activities.
At one point a resident specifically addressed Deputy Town Manager Shane Steuckle, who did not turn to the commentor and continued to stay faced toward the screen at the front of the room for the duration of the public comment period.
The Town is expected to release a full video of the meeting later today. Z107.7 will update this story with a link when it becomes available. We will also update this story with spreadsheets of the data presented at the Town Council Meeting.
This is the first of two planned updates on the shelter. The second is expected May 6th with the complete report to be delivered by June 3rd, 2025.
