Priceless Pets becomes animal services intake center for lost and found pets in Costa Mesa

After receiving notice from a local animal hospital relaying plans to terminate a longstanding arrangement with Costa Mesa to treat domestic animals found on the city’s streets, officials have found a temporary provider in the nonprofit Priceless Pets.

City leaders have agreed to pay the organization up to $30,000 per month to become Costa Mesa’s animal control intake center on an emergency basis, while still continuing to provide adoption services for pets housed longer than seven days.

The temporary agreement became effective Dec. 12 and allows Priceless Pets to subcontract with Newport Mesa Animal Hospital adjacent to the adoption center, at 1536 Newport Blvd., to provide veterinary services to shelter animals in the nonprofit’s care.

Newport Center Animal Hospital in Newport Beach offered vet services for Costa Mesa since 2018 but recently ended its contract.

(Courtesy of the city of Costa Mesa)

Further, members of Costa Mesa Police Department, which assumed animal control duties from the city’s Parks and Community Services Department last year, will have 24-hour access to the facility should an animal need to be sheltered after hours.

Priceless Pets, which has overseen animal adoption in Costa Mesa since 2018, currently runs an adoption center in Claremont and operates a vet clinic and adoption center in the City of Industry and Chino Hills.

Its arrangement with Costa Mesa comes more than a month after the city received notice from Newport Center Animal Hospital — which was providing veterinary care for the city under a $20,000 monthly agreement, according to city records — it was voluntarily ending its contract.

“They were notifying us that they were unable to continue the veterinary services,” said Costa Mesa Director of Finance Carol Molina, whose department handles purchasing and has been arranging the emergency agreement.

Skippy, a three- to four-month-old puppy at the Priceless Pets “Orphanage” in Costa Mesa in 2019.

(File Photo)

A veterinarian with that facility, Dr. Anthony Rizk, had been acting as the main service provider for Costa Mesa but is no longer working at the clinic. Managers for Newport Center Animal Hospital did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.

Both the veterinary services contract and the previous contract the city had maintained with Priceless Pets for animal adoptions expired in June 2023, meaning both providers were continuing on a month-to-month basis.

The city issued a request for proposals from potentially permanent providers and is reviewing an unspecified number of bids. Molina said city officials would prefer all domestic animal care to be consolidated into one contract, rather than dealing separately for adoption and veterinary services.

“At this point, that’s the preference,” she said.

Costa Mesa resident Becca Walls, who chairs the city’s Animal Services Committee, said she tried to get city leaders to start thinking about the RFP process before the contracts expired, to no avail.

“Here we are, the contracts have been up for six months now and they’re in crisis mode,” she said. “I think Priceless Pets will make it work. They have things in place for the longer term. But the real issue is the building. At some point, they’re going to need a bigger building.”

Priceless Pet Rescue co-founder and Executive Director Lisa Price did not respond to requests for comment, but the nonprofit on Dec. 26 shared news of the Costa Mesa arrangement on social media.

“We could not have done this without YOU!” the posts read. “Our supporters are the reason why we are able to do things like this. Thank you for all the support throughout the years.”

Molina said Thursday she hopes to bring forth a recommendation for a new permanent animal care services contract to the Costa Mesa City Council soon.

“We want to ensure a smooth transition,” she added. “That’s our goal and what’s best for the city.”