Costa Mesa changes animal shelter plans

The city of Costa Mesa on Saturday began taking impounded animals to the Irvine Animal Care Center rather than the Orange County Humane Society in Huntington Beach, after the city’s contract with the humane society shelter expired Dec. 30, Costa Mesa City Manager Allan Roeder said Monday.

City officials received a number of e-mails alleging that the humane society was closing and would euthanize its animals, Roeder said — a rumor that the shelter’s director said is false. The Huntington Beach facility was scheduled to start renovations Monday but was not expected to close.

“We knew that they were going to be downsized. We were concerned about their ability to maintain their contract with us,” Roeder said.

City officials planned to seek proposals for a new contract, so they decided an interim arrangement with Irvine, which could last up to 90 days, would take some pressure off the Orange County Humane Society during renovations, Roeder said.

Costa Mesa typically impounds roughly 150 animals a month, said Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Phil Myers, who oversees the city’s animal control services. Animals are impounded when they are stray, neglected or lost, or they need to be quarantined.

In 2005, Costa Mesa police investigated the Huntington Beach shelter after former volunteers said animals there weren’t cared for properly.

In that investigation, although there were some code violations, Roeder said, “we did not find evidence of inhumane treatment of the animals that were sheltered there.”

The Irvine shelter does not accept abandoned or unwanted animals dropped off by residents, but Costa Mesa Animal Control will continue to take them.