Animal Shelter Gets ASPCA Praise, Funds

Only three months after the city opened its $500,000 animal shelter for stray cats, dogs and rabbits, it has received some favorable notice from a national animal rights group.

The shelter, along with Friends of San Clemente Animals, has received a $15,000 grant from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to begin an education program to spread awareness of the humane treatment of animals.

The 6,300-square-foot shelter is the first participant in the new program that will usher in a year of improvements and community education projects.

Over the year, the ASPCA also will send volunteers to help build an enclosed room for rabbits now held in outdoor cages. The volunteers will also help with fund-raising events and conduct landscaping work around the shelter.

“This is going to be a fabulous year,” said Friends of San Clemente Animals representative Barbara Elsner.

In the Rancho San Clemente Business Park, the shelter includes heated floors, 48 dog runs, three cat condos and three large exercise areas.

It serves both San Clemente and Dana Point, which helped fund the shelter when it entered into a joint agreement with the city last year.

Friends of San Clemente Animals, along with the Animal Rescue Foundation of Dana Point, also helped with funding and now assists in running the shelter.