San Jose’s Animal Crisis Is Exploding–Stop Illegal Breeding Now!
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The Crisis We Can’t Ignore
San José is in the middle of a growing animal welfare crisis — one that is entirely preventable.
Every day, unregulated and illegal backyard breeders add to severe overpopulation, overcrowded shelters, and rising euthanasia rates. This is not an accident. It is the direct result of the City’s failure to regulate breeding.
The Truth
San José’s shelter is now so overwhelmed that it routinely declines accepting found animals from the public.
When a municipal shelter can no longer take in lost or abandoned animals, it is a clear sign of a system in collapse.
Yet City leadership has not addressed the root cause.
Because San José has no enforceable breeder regulations, unlicensed and irresponsible breeding operations continue unchecked across our neighborhoods. These backyard breeders operate in the shadows — prioritizing profit over animal welfare, producing litter after litter with no oversight, no accountability, and no standards of care.
Meanwhile, our shelters are drowning.
They are overwhelmed, understaffed, and forced into heartbreaking decisions every single day. Healthy, adoptable animals are losing their lives simply because there is no space left.
And despite repeated calls for reform, meaningful regulatory efforts have been blocked or abandoned — leaving San José residents, rescuers, and animals to bear the consequences alone.
This crisis will not fix itself.
It will keep getting worse unless the City acts.
What We Need
It’s time for San Jose to lead with compassion and accountability. We are calling on our elected officials to take a stand by introducing strong, enforceable breeder regulations at the local level. We must:
Require all breeders to be licensed and inspected
Prohibit unregulated backyard breeding,
Impose penalties on illegal operations
Public education on responsible pet ownership and adoption
Take Action
Tell San Jose leaders: Enough is enough. We need laws that protect animals—not enable neglect.
Contact your city councilmember. Together, we can create a safer, more humane future for San Jose’s animals.
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