Ed. Code, § 92657

The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:

(a) In 1998, the State of California enacted Senate Bill 1785 (Chapter 752 of the Statutes of 1998) to create new minimum standards for California animal shelters and establish the state’s policy that no adoptable or treatable animal should be euthanized.

(b) Since 1998, many California communities have made meaningful strides to reduce the deaths of homeless animals. Public and private sources have funded more low-cost programs for dog and cat spaying and neutering. Animal shelters have sought to modernize their facilities and practices to keep animals healthier during their time at the shelter. Public education campaigns have promoted the importance of adopting pets, and a growing number of private rescue groups have been formed, increasing the degree to which they assist shelters in finding new homes for animals.

(c) Although the number of deaths in California’s animal shelters fell from more than 500,000 in 1998 to an estimated 180,000 in 2018, the state’s longstanding policy goal has not yet been achieved in every community.

(d) The University of California houses the nation’s premier animal sheltering research, service, and teaching program. The shelter medicine program at the University of California, Davis promotes a welfare-centric, life-saving approach to the management of animals in shelters, focused on prevention and grounded in science. The program has been working with shelters across California since its inception, providing advice covering facility design, shelter management, animal husbandry, and myriad veterinary health issues that are unique to sheltering environments.

(e) With an intentional focus on and partnership with communities around California, the state will be well positioned to achieve the state’s policy goal that no adoptable or treatable animal should be euthanized.