San Jose’s animal shelter has a new leader, and the animal advocacy community is cautiously optimistic she can turn the facility around.
City officials recently announced Monica Wylie as deputy director of the Animal Care and Services division, which manages the San Jose Animal Care Center and the 12,000 animals it cares for annually. Wylie brings nearly 20 years of animal welfare experience, including six years as deputy director of the Humane Society for Tacoma, Washington and Pierce County. The city selected Wylie out of 27 candidates after a national search to fill the vacant position at the shelter, which advocates said has been dangerously mismanaged for too long.
“I’m inspired by the mission to provide a welcoming place for animals and those who care for them; to protect, educate, and serve the public; to develop programs that improve the lives of people and animals; and to create opportunities for our community and supporters to help us succeed,” Wylie said in a statement.
Wylie, who holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Washington and a certified credential in animal welfare administration, has transformed shelters where she’s worked. While at the Humane Society, she reduced pets’ length of stay by 50% and increased the save rate of cats to more than 90% by implementing a robust trap, neuter and release and foster program, according to a city news release.
Public Works Director Matt Loesch, whose department manages the animal shelter, said he’s eager for Wylie to start on Sunday. She will help oversee the shelter’s $17.5 million budget.
“She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to continue improving our services and meet the goals to serve the animals entrusted to us and the people that care for them,” Loesch said in a statement.
Wylie has a big job ahead of her to regain community trust, including implementing recommendations listed in a scathing audit. The 2024 report found the San Jose shelter consistently housed about 200 animals more than its maximum capacity of 510. It also found animals kept in kennels with feces and a lack of written policies. The audit listed numerous recommendations to solve the issues by December this year.
In July, San José Spotlight revealed a pattern of retaliation against shelter employees and volunteers who spoke out against inhumane practices.
Animal advocates have mixed opinions on the new hire.
Courtney Ferro is a former animal care attendant who quit following a traumatic experience finding a dog strangling herself in the kennel. She said Wylie seems like a good fit after researching her qualifications, which are backed by Wylie’s philosophy to prevent separating families and pets.
Ferro wants the shelter to succeed and said the hire is a good first step, but it doesn’t address the community’s desire to fully replace upper management, which advocates have wanted gone for years.
She said rebuilding trust with residents will be tough, but she’s optimistic Wylie can revamp critical programs that have been scaled back — including the trap, neuter and release program.
“(Wylie’s hiring) definitely gives us a peek into what a good outcome could be,” Ferro told San José Spotlight. “But it’s not really what we were asking for. It’s hard to know what she will be able to do as one person.”
Other animal rescue advocates are wary.
Kit O’Doherty, director of Partners in Animal Care & Compassion and an animal shelter volunteer for 22 years, said Wylie is underqualified because she’s worked primarily in the nonprofit sphere according to her LinkedIn profile. O’Doherty wants to see someone with experience in a public, city-run shelter, because she said it requires a different skill set to deal with government bureaucracy. She presented the city a list of qualifications she’d like the deputy director to have and said it seems to have gone unheard.
“We’ve done all the bureaucratic things. We’ve done public comments, we’ve written and very professionally, tried to get change,” O’Doherty told San José Spotlight. “It’s crystal clear now (the city is saying), ‘There’s no genuine desire to change when we’re hiring unqualified people.’ Now the question becomes, who is benefiting (from this)?”
A spokesperson for the city manager’s office said Loesch will be in daily contact with the shelter operations team through Wylie so policy and performance improvements continue to grow.
“Rebuilding trust requires both clear communication and consistent delivery. We strive to excel at both,” spokesperson Carolina Camarena told San José Spotlight. “We realize that words alone are not enough and that our community, advocates and staff need to see action and results.”
Ferro said Wylie’s nonprofit background experience could bring a fresh perspective to the shelter that’s needed change for years. She said it just depends if the city will let Wylie do it.
“If she can stay true to her values — compassion, inclusion, accountability — and connect directly with the staff and community members who felt silenced or shut out, then that’s a great start,” she said. “The shelter is going to depend on collaboration and transparency between staff and the public.”
Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X.
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