Proposed Orange County Great Park Animal Eco Center

REPORT ON THE PROPOSED ORANGE COUNTY GREAT PARK ANIMAL ECO CENTER PRESENTATION in Irvine on March 28, 2015.

Our thanks to those of you who have already responded about your interest in this proposed Animal Eco Center.  We attended the meeting on 3/28/15 where residents of Irvine gave a presentation regarding establishing an Orange County Great Park Animal Eco Center.

They envisioned 10 acres in the "Great Park" for a brand new State of the Art ANIMAL ECO CENTER including a full Animal Health Clinic and much more. They noted that they envision a shelter that would be large enough to contract with other local cities who value their citizens with pets.  This new shelter would focus on animal welfare and give local cities an opportunity to share this, in place of the 70 + year old animal shelter in the City of Orange.  The Orange County Supervisors have failed to deliver a new animal shelter in place of the one that was originally built to serve about 200,000 residents 70 plus years ago, so that old shelter is now attempting to serve about 3 million residents. Although the County Supervisors have been promising a new shelter for many years, they have not reached that goal and never made any promises regarding changing the mentality of the current shelter services, even if a new shelter were to be built. 

 Visit www.AnimalEcoCenter.org for the latest news.
The Great Park Animal Eco Center Information Meeting is asked the questions - What Do you Want to See??
A state of the Art Animal Care Facility
Expansive Yards and Walkways
Top Notch Veterinary Care
Dog Friendly Cafe
Animal Care Education
Farm Sanctuary
Huge Dog Park

If, after all these years, finally having something like this coming to South Orange County sounds good to you here is what you can do to help:

1. TAKE THE SURVEY at http://bit.ly/irvineparkmap  In the comments section write "Build the Great Park Animal Eco Center"
2. SIGN the PETITION
3. Email the Irvine City Council and tell them you support building the GREAT PARK ANIMAL ECO CENTER:
Mayor Steven Choi - stevenchoi@ci.irvine.ca.us
Jeffrey Lalloway - jeffreylalloway@ci.irvine.ca.us
Beth Krom - bethkrom@ci.irvine.ca.us
Christina Shea - christinashea@ci.irvine.ca.us
Lynn Schott - lynnschott@cityofirvine.org
4. SUPPORT THE RESIDENTS SEEKING THIS SHELTER AT THE
April 14th Irvine City Council Meeting by being there in person.
5. KEEP up with this issue at www.AnimalEcoCenter.org 
6. LEARN MORE and SHARE the www.AnimalEcoCenter.org on Twitter, Facebook and e-mail. tell all your friends and relatives.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, Contact  Pitbulllady@earthlink.net

If you're finding it difficult to envision this type of Animal Eco Center go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Woodward_Animal_Center  for a brief review of a similar self sustaining animal center.  There are many additional sites listed for more info. on this center.  The Helen Woodward Animal Center that is located on 12 acres in Rancho Santa Fe, CA. in San Diego County.   Mike Arms is the CEO and President of the Helen Woodward Center.  This is a private center but is a working model that is very similar to the plans outlined to date for the Animal Eco Center.  The Helen Woodward Center has a full State of the Art Equine Veterinary Hospital with a stable on their grounds that they leased to Equine Vets, plus they have Therapeutic Horseback riding for the disabled and a State of the Art Animal Veterinary Facility.  They have a Dog and Cat Boarding Facility that they lease that was in such demand that reservations had to be made far in advance.  They had a great pet supply store as part of their shelter.  Their education services include Children's Workshops - Critter Camps, re. animal care and education complete with live animals and birds. They also have workshops for adults plus numerous successful fund raising programs.

Because the Helen Woodward Center is so well respected there are many animal related businesses that lease nearby buildings in the area from the Helen Woodward Center to draw customers in.  All of the above noted services and programs bring money into the center and because many private and commercial donors are eager to be a part of this successful center contributions come in from them as well.

This Animal Eco Center being proposed for the Great Park now is something that's been long overdue for Orange County Cities with residents who value their pets. We at South County Animal Shelter Coalition are supporting it and pulling for it to happen.