Why Shelter Transparency Matters

California currently lacks a uniform, public system for reporting animal shelter intake and outcome data. As a result:

• Policymakers cannot accurately assess shelter performance or capacity
• Communities and taxpayers lack visibility into publicly funded systems
• Animals lose adoption opportunities due to limited exposure and accountability

This data gap has real consequences: rising euthanasia, unmanaged overcrowding, and decisions made without reliable statewide information.

What Shelter Transparency Bill Would Do

The Shelter Transparency Bill would:

• Require all publicly funded shelters to publish standardized quarterly( preferably monthly) intake and outcome data
• Ensure public access to this data for at least 5 years (preferably 10)
• Focus accountability on government-funded shelters
• Establish a clear, workable framework for rescue data sharing

This matters because California has over 3,000 registered rescue organizations. These groups divert thousands of animals from the public shelter system each year and rescue up to 20% of shelter animals and divert thousands of community animals from shelters statewide — yet their lifesaving work is largely invisible in official data.

ARFC supports transparency for public shelters while proposing a streamlined, non-burdensome approach for rescues: a simple quarterly report submitted to their local animal control agency, allowing statewide data aggregation without overloading volunteer-run organizations.

What We’re Hearing on the Ground

Our coalition includes rescues serving urban, suburban, and rural communities across California. Everyone is reporting the same urgent conditions:

• Severe overcrowding
• Rising euthanasia of adoptable animals
• Increasing systemwide strain

This is not a local issue — it is a statewide failure of transparency and coordination.

WE NEED YOU TO ACT — NOW

This bill already proved it can pass.
What it needs now is leadership.

Please call or email your Assemblymember and Senator TODAY and ask them to:

• Author or co-author the reintroduction of AB 631
• Champion shelter transparency and accountability in 2026

Time is critical. The deadline to secure an author is February 20.

Bill reference (prior version):
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB631

Legislators listen when constituents speak up — especially when a bill has already passed unanimously.

Please Don’t Wait

• Send the email
• Make the call
• Share this page with others in your district

Your voice can make the difference between another stalled bill — and real, systemic change.

Transparency saves lives.
Help us move Shelter Transparency forward.

Animal Rescuers for Change (ARFC)
A statewide coalition advocating for transparency, prevention, and humane animal policy in California