🎉 HUGE NEWS: A New Era Begins for the Animal Well-Being Commission! 🎉

𝗣𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗲 𝗩𝗶𝗿𝗴𝗮, 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗮𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼’𝘀 𝗔𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹-𝗕𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗹𝘂𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗯𝗮𝘂𝗺.

This is a big win for our community. Julie has been one of the driving forces behind Fix Front Street and Fix Our Shelters, pushing for transparency, more spay & neuter, open intake, better care, and real accountability. Her voice on this commission is long overdue.

We’re also excited to welcome the other newly appointed commissioners:

• Ignacio Barragan

• Kellee Benedict of Pilots and Pups

• Jamie McDole

This is a powerful group, and their collective experience brings fresh momentum at exactly the right time. With the additions of these new appointments, the commission finally has the chance to steer our city toward real solutions for animals.

In the middle of this progress, the commission’s current chair, Paul Hefner, has resigned completely from the commission. A new Chair and Vice Chair will be selected at the next meeting on January 21st.

Most importantly: these changes open the door for the things Sacramento has desperately needed, meaningfull investment in spay/neuter resources and the creation of policies and procedures to benefit the animals and community. For the first time in years, it feels like there is a clear path to reducing suffering instead of simply reacting to it.

This is a giant step forward. Between a few of the existing commissioners and these new additions, Sacramento’s animals finally have strong advocates at the table with a voting majority. Let’s celebrate this moment and keep pushing for the changes Sacramento animals & community deserve.