All Creatures Great and Small:
The San Martin
Animal Shelter—
Old and New
Written & Photographed By Craig Lore
A
ll things are looking bright and
beautiful for the San Martin
Animal Shelter. In June of 2019,
Santa Clara County broke ground at 80
Highland Avenue and Monterey Road in
San Martin in preparation for the new
37,000 square foot Santa Clara County
Animal Service Center, set on 4.5 acres
of land. The new facility is scheduled to
open in 2021.
“There are major design changes
for the new shelter,” Lisa Jenkins said.
Jenkins is the Program Manager of
Animal Care and Control for Santa Clara
County, which includes Field Services
and the Animal Shelter.
104
“We added an open-air dog park
with real grass and a live oak tree.
Right when you walk in, you’re seeing
dogs having fun, engaging in play and
having a good time. As long as I’ve
been in this business, I still stop to
watch dogs at play. In the dog park,
people will see the dogs unstressed and
how they really are; they can envision
them in their own lives,” she said.
The new facility will hold up to 60
dogs in “dog dorms,” and up to 110
cats in “cat condos.”
“Cats don’t do well in cages. They
have behavioral needs to climb and
stretch, so we’ll have several different
GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
WINTER 2020
social rooms where they’ll be free
ranging and can climb, perch, and look
out the window. The rooms will have
indoor/outdoor access where they’ll can
get out in the sunlight and lounge on
the patio,” Jenkins said.
And the best light is what both
people and animals will get. The
new building will let in natural light
wherever possible—allowing animals
to adjust to a normal diurnal pattern
of day and night—instead of using
artificial lights on a set schedule. A
state-of-the-art ventilation system will
constantly monitor the air quality
and kick in automatically to correct
gmhtoday.com