Newly completed Newport Beach Animal Shelter opens its doors
Dozens of volunteers, members of the Friends of the Newport Beach Animal Shelter and first responders came together Thursday to celebrate the ribbon-cutting for the new and permanent Newport Beach Animal Shelter on Riverside Drive.
Many attendees wore blue shirts bearing the shelter’s name, and some toted around their pets. Valerie Schomburg, an animal control officer who oversees the city’s temporary shelter, brought the shelter’s mascot, a Chihuahua-pug mix name Bubbles, to make a public appearance at the event alongside other Newport Beach dignitaries.
Mayor Noah Blom remarked that he saw previous Mayor Kevin Muldoon in the crowd and noted the project had seen a number of hands bring it to fruition.
Discussions to establish what is now the city’s first permanent animal shelter started in 2018 after the Friends of the Newport Beach Animal Shelter formed in 2017.
Previously the city contracted its services through to providers such as the Orange County Humane Society — ending their contract with that provider in 2015 — before it eventually pivoted to what became a temporary animal shelter at 20302 Riverside Drive.
Board members, including former councilwomen and mayors Nancy Gardner, Jean Watt and Evelyn Hart, said in 2017 the city was supportive of animals but that some strays that came in needed more expensive veterinary attention to be adopted.
At the time, talks were already underway to keep the animal shelter nearby on Riverside Drive, which is zoned for kennels.
The group purchased the property for the new shelter for $1 million in 2020 and broke ground on the $2.9-million shelter in January 2022. Fundraising took almost five years. The city and the Friends of the Newport Beach Animal Shelter approved a gift agreement in December. The city is responsible for managing, operating and maintaining the shelter.
The city’s animal control department, which is folded into its police department, will continue to operate the new shelter, as it has operated the temporary shelter.
The 1,565-square-foot, single-story shelter, with its light blue walls, has a 755-square-foot kennel that can house up to 29 dogs. It also has four parking spaces in front, new gates and fencing and other improvements.
The shelter, which is expected to begin operating in a few weeks, will be a no-kill facility.
Through a representative, Assemblywoman Diane Dixon offered her congratulations to FONBAS for seeing the project to completion, describing the shelter as a “remarkable” story that came about because the community cares about its animals.
“Several years ago, I was wondering if we were ever going to get to this point,” said Newport Beach Police Chief Joe Cartwright. “It was a challenge, and I could tell you, the FONBAS group is the best of us. I was at all of their meetings, and I could tell you they serve this community as a dedicated partner ... and that fits with our mission. Our mission is to serve the community, and that also includes the animals. We could not be more proud than to take this operation forward.”
Cartwright thanked donors and the Friends of the Newport Beach Animal Shelter for their efforts, describing the money raised as “astronomical.”
Described by Lanford as the heart of the operations of the shelter, Schomburg thanked the city, her command staff and volunteers. Schomburg remarked on the city’s previous outsourcing of services and said that at the time she felt the lack of care just wasn’t what Newport animals deserved.
“We can’t keep taking animals there and giving city funds to a place that just does not care about the animals, so [Tom Fischbacher, who was Schomburg’s lieutenant at the time] told me, ‘Stop crying and we will figure it out,’” Schomburg said, eliciting laughter from the crowd. “So, we are now 7½ years later — thank you. That is what a leader does. He said, ‘We’ll figure it out.’
“Everyone who’s here, I’m just speechless. Thank you, I’m just honored to be the ‘face’ of this, and if you think we did good things now, just wait,” Schomburg said.
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