Residents will soon learn whether San Bernardino County officials will purchase the Town of Apple Valley’s Animal Shelter that comes with a price tag of $15 million.
The Town Council will meet on Tuesday to discuss the proposal, which could result in one of three potential outcomes:
Why sell the shelter?
Town officials said animal intakes at the shelter have increased by more than 60% over the past three years, placing growing demands on space, staffing and resources.
To address the issue, the council will review an offer from the county to purchase the facility and take over sheltering services for Apple Valley animals.
The potential purchase would also include the lot south of the shelter building, which would allow for future expansion of the shelter to handle the additional influx of animals from Apple Valley and nearby unincorporated county areas.
Town officials said the purpose of exploring the potential sale of the shelter has never been to obtain funding for other projects, however, funds from the shelter’s sale could be used for a variety “unfunded wish-list types of projects,” such as the Hilltop House reconstruction, Horsemen’s Center Park improvements, or improvements at the Singh Center for the Arts.
Possible scenarios
An agreement to sell the animal shelter means the county would pay $15 million, which includes $10 million at the close of escrow and $5 million in service credit under a new 10-year contract.
All Apple Valley Shelter employees would transfer to county employment at their current rate of pay as permanent employees, with no probationary period.
The county would continue sheltering Apple Valley animals under the new contract.
If the Town Council rejects the offer, the county would begin sheltering its animals at other regional facilities. The Apple Valley Shelter would remain under town operation, and only shelter animals from within the city, with updated intake policies to reflect this change.
Public comments
The majority of voices speaking out online and during a June 2025 council meeting have been against the town selling the shelter.
Last month, resident Stephanie James asked the council to research the county-run shelter in Devore, along with its policy and procedures, which she claims are contrary to those at the Apple Valley shelter.
The majority of residents are “against the sale and losing control of our animal shelter,” James said. “The survey I’ve seen said the majority of residents are against the sale and want it on the ballot.”
James believes the Apple Valley shelter is run “more professionally” than the county shelters, which she claims have “lower standards and a high kill rate.”
James also asked the council to cancel the contract with the county.
Bruce Smith said Apple Valley residents “pay for and have a say in” how the animal shelter is operated.
“Once we turn control of the shelter over to the county, residents won’t have a say in how it’s run,” Smith said. “Apple Valley government is small, and San Bernardino County government is big, and my father always told me not to trust big government.”
Brooke Smith, a movie actress and director, and board member at A Dog Named Blackjack Rescue, said she plans to address the council on Tuesday.
In a letter to the Daily Press, she wrote she would like to see the town sell the shelter to the county, arguing that it’s “Hard to believe” the Apple Valley Animal Shelter truly cares about the animals.
Brooke said she once called the shelter to inquire about the status of a dog. The shelter’s response was that they were going to transport the dog and call her back.
“By the time we called back 80 minutes later, they had killed the dog,” Brooke said. “Staff at other shelters work with rescues to try to find homes for dogs and would have called our rescue back to ask if we still wanted the dog before euthanizing.”
Town officials said public comments on the item will be accepted in person at the July 22 meeting at Apple Valley Town Hall, or no later than noon on July 22 via email at emailpubliccomment@applevalley.org
How did we arrive here?
Town officials said during the COVID-19 pandemic, there were record numbers of animal adoptions as people stayed home and cared for animals who gave them companionship.
In a post-COVID-19 world, Apple Valley Animal Services began experiencing a higher-than-normal increase in animals entering the shelter through all means, including owner turn-ins, animal welfare cases and strays, officials said.
Pet populations never normalized, with people returning to work after the pandemic. Over time, staff began to realize the numbers were increasing in alignment with a global trend.
Apple Valley had a 10-year contract with the county for shelter services for animals in the High Desert, excluding incorporated cities.
As the contract was nearing its end, town staff and the county began discussing the need for shelter expansion.
County metrics showed an even further increase in the number of animals they expected to be brought to the shelter.
Town and county staff explored several options, focusing mostly on possible partnership opportunities to expand the shelter, adding kennels, quarantine/isolation space and medical space.
Staff considered options for the county to fund additional shelter staffing, including a mixed model where the county and Apple Valley Shelter staff shared spaces or managed different sections of an expanded facility.
Ultimately, all options explored ended with the same complication of the county code prohibiting contracts longer than 10 years.
As a result, any significant investment by the county would be stranded after a decade. Any meaningful shelter expansion would require millions of dollars.
Fearing there is no way for the county to get a return on its investment within the 10-year limitation, officials’ discussions shifted to preparing a proposal for the county to purchase the shelter from the town.
A shelter overview
Town officials said the number of animals entering the shelter rose from 4,896 in 2020 to 7,736 in 2023, a nearly 60% increase over three years. That number then decreased to 7,062 in 2024.
The largest increases were in the number of dogs, with Apple Valley intakes increasing by 50% and county dog intakes increasing by over 100%.
The slight reduction in intakes from 2023-2024 was due to the county taking animals to other facilities rather than Apple Valley, attributed to policy adjustments designed to keep population and cost from going over the annual allotment and incurring additional cost, town staff said.
During this time, no additional kennels have been added to the facility, other than 11 specialized kennels used for intake, quarantine/isolation and medical needs rather than adding to the total number of available kennels for regular daily use.
Once it was determined there was no opportunity for a shared facility and no way for the county to invest in the facility without potentially stranding that investment after 10 years, the county inquired about the town’s potential interest in selling the facility.
Under such a scenario, the county would purchase the facility and have the opportunity to build the unfinished portion of the facility, adding additional kennel space and/or medical facilities as they see fit.
The Town Council will meet at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 22, 2025, at the Town Hall, 14955 Dale Evans Parkway. Visit applevalley.org to discover online viewing options.
Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on X @DP_ReneDeLaCruz
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Apple Valley Council to discuss possible sale of animal shelter to San Bernardino County
Reporting by Rene Ray De La Cruz, Victorville Daily Press / Victorville Daily Press
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