Berkeley Animal Shelter to stay closed for at least 3 weeks
"The fire rendered the building temporarily unsafe for people (smoke damage in staff areas) or animals (sprinkler system down)," the city said.
Citing smoke damage and sprinkler system repairs, the Berkeley Animal Shelter will be closed for at least three weeks after a suspicious fire Saturday.
The city issued a new statement Tuesday about the work that needs to happen.
Initially, the city hoped to re-open the shelter this week after a brief closure.
All of the shelter animals — including several dozen cats and dogs — have now been relocated, the city said.
Many services, including adoptions and volunteer work, are now on hold.
The full statement, released by the city of Berkeley just after 12:30 p.m., appears below in full.
After evaluating the damage from the June 6 fire at the Berkeley Animal Shelter, staff have determined that we have no choice but to temporarily close the facility. All animals have been relocated to supportive shelters and staff at our shelter did a tremendous job in quickly finding places for them. The closure is expected to last a minimum of three weeks to remediate smoke damage and repair the sprinkler system but could last months. We will try and reopen as quickly as possible.
Out of safety precautions for both City staff and shelter animals, the Berkeley Animal Shelter has paused the following services until the building is fully remediated:
- Adoption services
- Lost & found pet services
- Volunteer work
- Animal field services
- All walk-in services
Following a building inspection on June 8, staff determined that there was no structural damage to the building. However, the after-effects of the fire rendered the building temporarily unsafe for people (smoke damage in staff areas) or animals (sprinkler system down).
No staff, people, or animals were injured in the June 6 fire. The Berkeley Fire and Police Departments are investigating the cause of the fire.
If pet owners or members of the public have animal services questions, they can email animalservices@berkeleyca.gov . For those who would like to drop off or adopt an animal, we recommend contacting other local shelters. Please call the local shelters in advance to verify that they have space before bringing animals.
Friends of Berkeley Animal Care Services, a community support group for the shelter, is seeking monetary donations online.
In an email to volunteers over the weekend, which was shared with The Scanner, the group said the fire damaged "essential donated supplies, including toys, special food, blankets, dog beds, crates, and leashes etc. etc."
Stay tuned for updates.
