Menifee resident Lori Clough and her dog Lily.
For months, local animal welfare advocate Lori Clough has been sounding the alarm about what she describes as a growing crisis in Menifee. The city’s animals are overcrowding the contracted shelter, Animal Friends of the Valley in Wildomar.
Clough, who has spoken at several City Council meetings since August, said the current system is failing both the animals and the community.
“We’ve been going every month and we make statements every month,” she said. “The city needs a shelter. We’ve got over 100,000 people here and the city’s growing. It’s needed. Definitely needed.”
Clough, along with fellow advocate Lupe Jenkins, became involved after noticing an increase in lost pets, abandoned animals, and online rehoming listings in the area. She said Menifee’s current arrangement with AFV is not meeting the city’s needs.
“Animal Friends said, ‘Oh yeah, we’ll do it,’” she said. “But they didn’t have the room. That shelter originally was built with 350 kennels… Why they ever committed to Menifee, I have no idea.”
According to Clough, Menifee ranks among the highest in animal intakes at AFV compared with the other five cities the shelter serves. She said overcrowding, staffing shortages, and limited spay and neuter services are worsening the problem.
Monique Middleton, chief of animal control at AFV, said intake levels vary by season. She explained that Menifee’s numbers are largely driven by animals that have not been spayed or neutered, resulting in accidental litters.
“If someone has a litter of puppies in the city of Menifee, and they don’t want to care for them and they end up bringing them to the shelter, that could be a litter of five, it could be a litter of 10,” Middleton said. “So those would be 10 intakes.”
Middleton said AFV currently houses about 120 dogs and 45 cats, noting that capacity depends on kennel size and whether animals can be housed together.
“Capacity is such a weird word, and the reason why I say that is because it depends on how many animals you can put in a kennel,” she said. “If we’re looking at a single occupancy, only putting one animal in a kennel, we’re looking at about a capacity of 120 dogs. But if we’re doing double occupancy, we’re looking at about 208 dogs.”
Clough has criticized AFV’s spay and neuter availability, saying residents are often forced to seek expensive private veterinary care.
“People go in to adopt an animal, but there’s no available appointment to get it fixed,” she said. “Then they have to pay $400 to $600 at a private vet.”
Middleton said AFV’s in-house veterinarian performs surgeries four days a week, completing up to 30 procedures per day, and that the shelter also partners with an outside veterinary hospital to handle additional cases. However, she acknowledged staffing challenges.
“There’s a veterinary shortage in California,” Middleton said. “We’ve been searching for a permanent vet for almost a year now. We just did interviews on two different vets, so we are very hopeful that maybe we’ll get a permanent vet really soon. ”
She said spay and neuter costs at AFV are significantly lower than private clinics, with female dog surgeries ranging from $160 to $240, depending on size.
Clough also raised concerns about euthanasia practices, alleging that adoptable animals are being put down due to lack of space.
Middleton said euthanasia decisions are made only after all other options are exhausted and that AFV works with more than 250 rescue groups.
“Our rescues can take any animal they want, good, bad, it doesn’t matter,” she said. “If we got to the point that we were at capacity and we had to euthanize by space, it absolutely goes by time at the shelter… It’s the fairest way we can do it. Even though it’s horrible. We hate it.”
Middleton estimated that AFV euthanizes an average of about eight dogs during months when available spaces are low, though she said the frequency varies. Records on the AFV website for December show that the facility sheltered 362 dogs. Of that amount, 155 dogs were adopted, 102 were returned to their owners, and 43 were sent to rescue partners. Eight placeable dogs were euthanized and 51 non-placeable dogs were euthanized.
In the same time period, the facility sheltered 273 cats. Of that amount, 165 were adopted, eight were returned to their owners, and 41 were sent to rescue partners. Twenty feral cats were euthanized and 39 non-placeable cats were euthanized. No placeable cats were euthanized.
Clough has been advocating for a city-run shelter, saying it would give Menifee more control and allow for expanded low-cost services. She suggested converting vacant warehouses into a shelter and holding city-led adoption events.
“The city doesn’t even have to build it from scratch,” she said. “They could get started now and expand later.”
Middleton said one of the most effective ways to reduce intake would be stricter enforcement of licensing rules for unfixed animals.
“If you don’t want to spay or neuter your dog in Menifee, you’re only paying $80 a year right now,” she said. “In cities like Lake Elsinore, it’s $200. Their intakes dropped tremendously after that.”
Clough also said her attempts to obtain shelter records through California Public Records Act requests have been denied.
Middleton said AFV responds to public records requests but that large, multi-year data requests can take a significant amount of time to prepare.
As Menifee continues to grow, Clough said the issue is only going to get worse without prompt action.
“It’s overpopulation, it’s people not taking care of animals, and it’s an education issue,” she said. “We’re not going away until we see something happen.”
One positive step for Clough and others was the City Council’s decision to put at least one aspect of the issue of animal control on an upcoming council agenda for consideration. Council members will consider an ordinance regulating the number of animals an owner can have in their backyard.
There has not yet been a date set for placement of that item on the agenda.
