The Healdsburg animal shelter on Westside Road, run by the Humane Society of Sonoma County (HSSC), just chose a new partner for animal control — aka, the job of responding to the wilier, out-of-shelter situations involving animals wandering around town. For the past decade, ever since the Humane Society nonprofit took over our local shelter, they’ve been working with a Petaluma-based org called North Bay Animal Services for animal-control calls.
But now, the county’s official animal services department, called Sonoma County Animal Services (SCAS), will take over. Karrie Stewart, who manages the Healdsburg animal shelter, explains that this county agency will work as a subcontractor under the Humane Society to handle “all field services for the City of Healdsburg, including stray and injured animal pickup as needed, licensing and more.”
Both city and county leaders are celebrating the new partnership as a big win. From their joint press release:
“We’re thrilled to strengthen our partnership with HSSC by providing pet licensing and field services in Healdsburg,” said Brian Whipple, Director of Animal Services for SCAS. “By combining our professional field services with HSSC’s exceptional sheltering expertise, we are setting a new standard for animal welfare in Sonoma County.”
HSSC will continue to work closely with the Healdsburg Police Department, Fire Department, and other city agencies to support animal-related concerns.“
The Healdsburg Police Department values our ongoing collaboration with HSSC and welcomes this new partnership with SCAS,” said Matt Jenkins, Chief of Police for the City of Healdsburg. “Together, we are ensuring compassionate care and safety for both animals and our community.”
And the shelter’s interim executive director, Neville Hormuz, told me over email: “This animal care partnership fits perfectly with our long-established collaboration with SCAS to expand the reach of spay/neuter services in the County, and our joint efforts to build a broad, collaborative spay/neuter coalition across all County shelters.” Sounds like a fit… 🐾
Note from Simone: This piece originally appeared in the weekly email newsletter I write for the Healdsburg Tribune, called Healdsburg Today. Subscribe here!
