Help us build a better tomorrow for the Imperial Valley’s homeless pets!

The Humane Society of Imperial County is the largest functioning non-profit animal shelter in the Imperial Valley. We do not receive supplemental funding from local government or at a state level, nor are we affiliated with or funded by the Humane Society of the United States or the ASPCA. Our funding comes from private contributions, fundraisers, some grant funding, and a lot of hard work put forth by our dedicated staff. Despite the lack of resources in Imperial County, we are proud to report that our organization has been able to maintain a "no-kill" status since 2015 and was recently recognized by Best Friends Animal Society for this achievement. A “no-kill” status means that 90% or more of the animals that leave our shelter have live outcomes! 

Through municipal contracts, our shelter provides animal housing services for most of Imperial County. We literally take in animals from every corner of the community, with over 1,300 animals entering our care annually. Our shelter provides a low-cost spay and neuter program for all pet owners within our community, and we service over 2,000 animals annually through that program. Through a partnership with Imperial County Behavioral Health Services, we provide a pet therapy program called the P.E.T. (Positive Engagement Team) Program. Dogs from our shelter are put through training which allows them to work with behavioral health consumers. After six months of being in the program, the dogs retire and are adopted out through the program.

Post COVID-19, the state of California is currently one of the highest kill states in the United States. Many local pet owners are experiencing hardships and are struggling to care for themselves; therefore, many pet owners are being forced to surrender their pets. Our shelter is made to comfortably house about 80 animals, and we currently have over 200 in our care. The animals currently live in uncomfortable, stressful, and severely overcrowded conditions. Our shelter is so inundated with unwanted pets that we are unable to take in owner surrenders. In turn, pet owners are turning their pets loose, and this creates a major health and safety concern. With more animals roaming the streets, community members are more susceptible to dog bites (which is how the rabies virus is spread), and roaming animals are known for causing traffic accidents. In addition, the local unwanted pet crisis is wasting taxpayers’ dollars on euthanizing healthy and adoptable pets within certain cities. To make matters worse, our current facility, which was built in the early 1970’s, has begun to fail us. Due to the deteriorating infrastructure of our building, we have major capacity needs which are detrimental to the safety and wellbeing of our staff, the animals in our care, and our adopters and volunteers. We have come to realize it is time for a shift in our operation – we must find a more suitable solution in addressing the growing unwanted pet crisis before our existing facility becomes completely inoperable…

We are currently working with a local contractor and a committee of local animal advocates to address these capacity needs. The contractor has given us a budget and the project will need to be done in three phases, the first phase costing just over 6 million dollars. Through three sizable private contributions and some online fundraising, we currently have just over 1.7 million allocated for this project. A one-acre parcel of land was donated to us for this project, and we have secured an additional 1.5 acre lot next to the donated lot. In total, the new shelter will sit on 2.5 acres on Hope Street in El Centro.

Our goal for this online fundraiser is to reach $1,500,000 to put towards the new shelter! With the love and support of our community, together we can build a modern facility that is climate controlled, comfortable, functional, and plenty of space. The new shelter would allow the animals to have enclosed outdoor access for fresh air and sunshine! The new shelter will include an on-site veterinary clinic for preventative care services of community owned pets! This fundraiser is the perfect opportunity for the entire community to come together and do their part in making this dream a reality for the thousands of homeless pets in the Imperial Valley!

Donors have the option to make a one-time donation or set up monthly reoccurring donations. The online fundraising platform we are using is Zeffy, and 100% of your donation for this campaign is deposited directly into our New Shelter Project Account, an account specifically earmarked for the project. To donate, please fill out the form below.

If you prefer to send your donation via check, great! Please make checks payable to HUMANE SOCIETY OF IMPERIAL COUNTY. Please make sure to make note in the memo that your donation is for the New Shelter Project. We can manually add your check donation to this fundraiser so the amount will appear in the Donation Thermometer. Our address is 1575 W. Pico Ave. El Centro, CA 92243

For questions, additional information, to become involved in this project in other ways, or for donors who would like to make larger contributions, please contact our Executive Director, Devon Apodaca by phone or email:
Phone: 760-352-1911
Email: hello@imperialcountyhumane.org

The Humane Society of Imperial County is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a non-profit organization under Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(3). All donations made to this project are tax-deductible. For your records, a donation receipt will be automatically generated and emailed to you shortly after your donation is made. Our Tax Identification Number is 23-7108184

THANK YOU!

Below is a rendering of what the new shelter will look like:

Donation Thermometer

This thermometer helps us track the progress of the project!

Donation Form

To make your donation towards our New Shelter Project, please click the “DONATE TODAY!” button below to be taken to the donation form: