Fresno leaders consider $1 million to boost spay, neuter services

Fresno leaders moved to put $1 million behind spay and neuter services at the Animal Center, a step that would only take effect if the city secures a $500,000 matching grant from a nonprofit rescue organization. The proposal would push the city far beyond the $350,000 Mayor Jerry Dyer had included in his proposed $2.55 billion budget, and it puts a hard question in front of council members: how many surgeries can Fresno actually deliver?

Under the city’s current estimate, $350,000 would sterilize about 1,800 animals inside the Fresno Animal Center Department’s $9.6 million budget. If the larger funding package survives the budget process, the combined $1.5 million would translate to roughly 7,700 sterilizations at the same per-animal cost, though that still depends on whether clinics can absorb the work. Councilmember Annalisa Perea made the motion and Councilmember Mike Karbassi seconded it, signaling that the council is prepared to test whether a larger preventive push can cut down on strays, shelter crowding and unwanted litters.

But Alma Torres, the Animal Center director, warned council members that money alone will not solve the problem. She said the area does not have enough veterinarians to handle that volume of work, and noted that the center’s veterinarian already performs about 20 surgeries a day, or roughly 80 a week. City job documents describe that position as one built around high-volume, high-quality spay and neuter work, often on nights, weekends and holidays.

The debate lands in a city that built its animal center to provide state-mandated animal-control services and to increase live outcomes by reducing euthanasia. Fresno opened its new shelter near Fresno Yosemite International Airport in 2022, after a larger shift in animal-services policy, but staffing shortages have continued to limit what the system can do. In 2023, Fresno Humane Animal Services said it had been unable to hire enough veterinarians for the city shelter and the county’s new facility, while other local groups faced backlogs and fewer trap-neuter-return options for feral cats.

That history explains why the current fight is about more than one line item. Fresno County has been identified as a high-vulnerability area in a national shelter study, and local rescue groups have long argued that prevention is cheaper than chronic intake. If the council approves the motion and the grant materializes, city leaders will still need to prove they can convert dollars into surgeries before the next wave of litters reaches shelters, neighborhoods and the volunteers trying to keep up.

The council is set to vote on motions June 16, with the final city budget vote scheduled for June 23. Fresno’s fiscal year 2027 budget runs from July 1 to June 30, and the council generally meets at 9 a.m. at City Hall, 2600 Fresno Street.