Southwest Riverside County's Animal Shelter Is Expanding

WILDOMAR, CA — The local animal shelter that serves the cities of Canyon Lake, Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Murrieta, Temecula and Wildomar is set to receive a $175,000 grant from the national nonprofit Petco Love.

Wildomar-based nonprofit Animal Friends of the Valleys will receive the investment during a special celebration at the Temecula Petco store, at 40474 Winchester Road, at 11 a.m. on July 14.

The event will honor AFV's work for animals in Southwest Riverside County — with an eye toward expansion.

"AFV is incredibly thankful for our partnership with Petco Love for their generous grant which will not only help the animals, but the residents as well. The need for spay/neuter services in our valley is overwhelming, and this investment will allow AFV to continue our work towards ending pet overpopulation and finding a loving and forever home for all adoptable pets at AFV," said Mo Middleton, AFV executive director.

According to AFV, the shelter received 8,600 animals last year and is at an adoption-rate high over its 31-year history. AFV is in the process of building a new low-cost spay/neuter and vaccination clinic adjacent to the shelter at 33751 Mission Trail. The new clinic will be able to perform up to 120 surgeries per day, according to shelter officials.

"Our investment in Animal Friends of the Valleys is part of more than $15M in investments recently announced by Petco Love to power local organizations across the country as part of our commitment to create a future in which no pet is unnecessarily euthanized," said Susanne Kogut, president of Petco Love. "Our local investments are only part of our strategy to empower animal lovers to drive lifesaving change right alongside us. We recently celebrated the one-year launch anniversary of Petco Love Lost, a national lost and found database that uses pet facial recognition technology to simplify the search for lost pets."

Since its founding in 1999, Petco Love has invested $330 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts across more than 4,000 organizations — like AFV — across North America, according to the foundation.

For more information on the clinic or how to donate to AFV's new clinic, contact Beth Soltysiak, AFV director of development at [email protected]

For more information about AFV and to see all pets currently available for adoption, visit afv.org

Learn more about Petco Love here.