West Valley Animal Shelter To Reopen On March 15 After Closing Due To Pandemic
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — The West Valley Animal Shelter is set to reopen on March 15 after temporarily closing last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Los Angeles officials said Wednesday.
"Since last summer, I have fought to get the West Valley Center reopened as a city-operated animal shelter, and I'm very glad to let our residents know that we succeeded," Councilman John Lee said in a statement.
"Without this facility, the entire San Fernando Valley would only have one city-operated animal shelter and neither I nor the Valley's millions of taxpaying residents were okay with that outcome."
Following the April closure, some people speculated the shelter, located at 20655 Plummer St. in Chatsworth, might be turned into a nonprofit Community Resource Center offering limited services including adoption, but would no longer be a place for residents to contact for intake, surrender or other animal issues.
"COVID-19 has upended our lives and our sense of normalcy, and it has reinforced the necessity of facing unprecedented challenges with creativity, compassion, and resolve," Mayor Eric Garcetti said. "Reopening this shelter will help save the lives of countless animals in the West Valley and ensure that they each have a home where they are loved, cared for, and valued."
The Los Angeles Department of Animal Services has a total of six shelters. The other five are:
- the East Valley shelter at 14409 Vanowen St. in Van Nuys;
- the Harbor shelter at 957 N. Gaffey St. in San Pedro;
- the North Central shelter at 3201 Lacy St. in Lincoln Heights;
- the South Los Angeles shelter at 1850 W. 60th St. in Chesterfield Square; and
- the West Los Angeles shelter at 11361 W. Pico Blvd. in Sawtelle.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)
