Santa Clara, Calif. – October 31, 2006 – A new Animal Care Center will open in Santa Clara on Tuesday, November 14, to provide licensing, field services and homeless animal sheltering to the residents of three cities – Campbell, Monte Sereno and Santa Clara. The facility will also be open to residents from throughout Santa Clara Valley who want to adopt pets, are looking for lost animals, or who want to participate in educational programs.

The 17,000-square-foot facility is located at 3370 Thomas Road and is operated by the Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority (SVACA), a joint agency of the City of Campbell, the City of Monte Sereno and the City of Santa Clara. It can accommodate more than 128 cats and 40 dogs at any one time and features several unique animal areas:

• Cat condos will allow cats to climb and get accustomed to roaming loose in rooms as they would in a house.
• Dog habitats provide a homelike setting rather than confining the canines to cages or kennels.
• Indoor and outdoor dog play areas for exercise, behavior assessments, and getting acquainted with other dogs and potential owners.

The $6 million Animal Care Center also is equipped with “green building” features such as a solar water heater, energy efficient air conditioning and lighting, and extremely high air quality.

“Our goal is to have all of our adoptable animals placed in new homes with no euthanasia of adoptable animals,” said SVACA Executive Director Dan Soszynski. “We believe the new center will help us find homes for even the most hard to place animals, and we will work closely with other local animal agencies and rescue groups to meet this goal.”

SVACA officials estimate they will receive approximately 4,000 animals a year: 800 dogs, 2,000 cats, 700 wildlife and 500 others such as rabbits and birds.