In the first month since Marin Humane assumed temporary management of Petaluma’s animal shelter in early April, its new leaders said they have been busy addressing overcrowding as they assess the space and shelter operations.

This comes after the city ended its contract on March 2 with North Bay Animal Services, which had overseen Petaluma’s animal control and shelter services since 2018, as well as those of other nearby jurisdictions.

On March 18, in response to concerns over North Bay Animal Services’ management, the city announced it had selected Marin Humane, an independent nonprofit that provides animal-shelter services for Marin County, to take over as a temporary operator. (See "The Backstory" below.)

During an in-person interview in late April, shelter employees who previously worked for North Bay Animal Services and then signed on with Marin Humane estimated there were at least 40 dogs and cats at the Petaluma shelter when Marin Humane assumed control on April 1. A City Council staff report from early March estimated 68 animals at the shelter.

Either way, there were far too many animals for how the shelter was designed, said Nancy McKenney, CEO and president of Marin Humane. Based on the number of dog kennels at the facility and other considerations, the organization recommends keeping 10 dogs at a time, she told Petaluma Voice.

Mark Scott, the former executive director of North Bay Animal Services, did not return an email inquiry.

In their first week, Marin Humane staff began assessing the site, developing records, and getting animals checked by veterinarians, McKenney said. “We’ve looked at this as a disaster response.”

They also asked former North Bay Animal Services employees to stay on, and five now serve as temporary hires for at least the remainder of the six to eight weeks that Marin Humane is currently contracted to oversee the shelter, McKenney said. She added that she’s willing to ask the city to extend the temporary contract through July, after which a permanent provider will be named.

Staffers began contacting partner shelters to transfer animals out, including moving some to the Marin Humane campus in Novato. 

“We house the dogs now in every other run to give them more space because there were so many. They were agitating each other, they were here for a long time,” McKenney said. “The stress of the animals, well, it was palpable.”

There are now about 18 animals in the organization's care in Petaluma, according to the latest update. Staff are hopeful about the turnaround here, as they employ some of the same techniques and tools they use the next county over, McKenney said.

For one, they practice what’s called “Capacity for Care,” a framework developed at UC Davis that both defines the expectations of a confined animal’s well-being and ensures that staff have the capacity to provide a high level of care for a well-functioning, humane shelter, according to the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program.

“People think that we're saving more animals when we're filled,” said Keri Fennell, vice president of shelter operations. “But when you're filled, you can't provide the care. They get sick, behavior issues. So when the population is how it is now” – with fewer animals – “we actually are saving more because we can process them through. … It's quality over quantity.”

On the animal control side, some Marin County-based staff have been sworn in to help the two former North Bay Animal Services animal control enforcement officers now working for Marin Humane. Including additional field staff, there will be a total of 14 workers capable of responding to animal control calls, said Shiny Caldwell, Marin Humane director of animal services.

Until early May, only two Petaluma-based animal control officers were available to field daytime calls, with the Petaluma Police Department in charge of night calls, Caldwell said. 

The new operators are also looking to increase their availability to the public after temporarily closing in early April and limiting their public operating hours.

“We have modified our website to have a webpage about the Petaluma program,” with updates posted every Wednesday, McKenney said. “We have made a commitment to the city and to the community to be as transparent as possible.”