Fresno reveals deal for animal shelter land — it’s costing the city only $1. Here’s why
Fresno Mayor Lee Brand announced a $1 deal Tuesday with Gap Inc. for land that will be used for a new animal shelter.
San Francisco-based Gap agreed to sell 4.8 acres to the city near Airways Boulevard and Gap Drive — land the city sold to the corporation back in 1997.
Along with land for a future no-kill animal shelter, Gap donated another 6 acres to the and Boys & Girls Club, according to officials. The City Council must vote to approve the deal before it’s final.
“We looked at a number of locations but the Gap was the best by far, because it’s centrally located, near the airport and far enough from residential neighborhoods to avoid traffic and noise issues,” Brand said on Tuesday.
The announcement comes as Fresno’s contract with the Central California Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals nears its end in June. The group, which collects strays, performs pet adoptions and maintains the local animal shelter, decided to end its relationship with the city.
Brand said negotiations have gone well and he expects SPCA will stick around until the new shelter is constructed, which could be as soon as summer 2021. The idea is to eventually hire Fresno Humane Animal Services to operate the shelter.
The land from Gap is a returned favor of sorts. Gap has been in Fresno since 1999 with a huge distribution facility near Clovis and Shields avenues. Gap bought 216 acres from the city in 1997 for $2. The site now includes a 2 million-square-foot distribution center.
The news conference to make the announcement Tuesday featured two pets. Councilmember Esmeralda Soria introduced her 5-year-old Schnauzer named Buddy.
“Buddy is my family. If he were somehow to become lost, I would want to know that we as a city could provide a state-of-the-art facility in which he’d be taken care (of) in a compassionate manner until he would be reunited with me,” she said. “I would say that all of our residents in the city of Fresno expect that.”
More than 11,000 animals have passed through the SPCA shelter in the past five months, according to Soria.
During the meeting Councilmember Garry Bredefeld held Coco, a 4-year-old Shih Tzu he rescued about two years ago.
“Coco represents thousands of dogs in our community who need rescue,” he said. “We all know that dogs like this, and Buddy, are God’s creation. They (offer) unconditional love and deserve shelter.”
Bredefeld noted the shelter’s proximity to the airport, which could help facilitate rescue efforts that transport animals out of the area by air.
The city is weighing a bond to pay for the roughly $20 million new shelter.
The SPCA confirmed its leaders have been in negotiations with the city. “We are having positive discussions with the city to work towards a solution,” the group said in a statement last week. “More information will be shared as it becomes available.”
The Fresno City Council approved a $4 million one-year contract for the SPCA in June, but the group declined to seek an extension.
City leaders and the nonprofit have a strained history, which dates back most recently to 2011 and 2012.
Facing harsh criticism from animal advocates and politicians over euthanasia rates, the SPCA threatened to end contracts with both Fresno County and the city of Fresno.
County leaders eventually opted for another service provider.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced this month he wants California to become a “no-kill state,” ending the euthanasia of adoptable and treatable animals. Newsom is dedicating $50 million in his 2020-21 state budget proposal to figure out how to do it.
The money is to be administered by the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program, and is intended to pay for a grant program that over five years would help local communities achieve the state’s policy goal, according to the budget summary.
Fresno County euthanized more than 14,500 dogs and cats in 2016, a downward trend for the county, which in 2012 euthanized more than 26,400 dogs and cats.
Boys and Girls Club
The Boys and Girls Club’s leaders haven’t figured out what to do with the land from the Gap, according to Diane Carbray, CEO of the club.
“We don’t know what we’re going to do with the site yet,” she said. “We’re just excited to accept it right now. Our board will decide.”
The Fresno County chapter runs 15 clubs in the county and one in Madera that serves more than 5,500 children, she said. A Clovis club is about two miles from the newly donated land.
The donated land has the potential to benefit the region, according to Shawn Curran, executive vice president of Global Supply Chain and Product Operations for Gap.
“Gap Inc. has partnered closely with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Fresno County for many years,” he said in a news release, “and we feel this donation will address multiple needs of this community that we call home.”
This story was originally published January 28, 2020 at 12:38 PM.
