For more than a year, San Diego County Animal Services has not accepted any new volunteers, which some volunteers say has left animals without enough care or attention.
There are currently 450 volunteers spread between the county's three shelters. At this time last year, there were 850 volunteers.
KPBS asked to speak with someone from animal services, but a county spokesman declined. Instead, questions were directed to Michael Workman, a spokesman for San Diego County.
He wrote in an email that the freeze in new volunteers has nothing to do with the county considering outsourcing animal services. The county is currently reviewing proposals from the San Diego Humane Society and the city of Chula Vista to take over animal services and could make a decision in the coming months.
Instead, he said 450 volunteers is "enough to handle the tasks at the shelter," and that when the shelter had 850 volunteers, "a majority of those volunteers were not meeting the minimum requirement of six hours per month, which is why we are at 450 volunteers now."
"No new volunteers are needed at this time," he added. "That could change. If so, we’d select new volunteers as needed."
But Merri Kelley, a volunteer who left the animal shelter in September, said she saw lots of tasks going unfilled, including feeding animals, filling their water, cleaning their cages and taking them out on walks or to play.
"Volunteers do basic stuff that staff doesn't always have time to do, so I would see animals being neglected," she said.
Kelley said she volunteered for four years, three days a week amounting to 10 hours a week. But she left because she did not feel appreciated by shelter staff. She said when she left, many other volunteers were also leaving and those remaining asked the shelter to take on new recruits to help.
Other current volunteers told similar stories to KPBS, but asked that their names not be used because they were worried about losing their volunteer status.
The volunteer freeze started last March after a consultant report recommended several changes to the volunteer program, Workman said.
"The hiring of the consultant was based upon concerns regarding the volunteer program, how it was organized, and how effective it was," he said. "While the consultant was gathering information and formulating an action plan, no new volunteers were signed up. Once the consultants finished, the volunteer action team reviewed that list of volunteers and verified the current list, dropping those who had not volunteered for a long period and those who were no longer able to volunteer."
He said the San Diego shelter has a total of 211 active volunteers. An average of 141 volunteers donate time each week, and an average of 21 volunteers donate time every day.
The Carlsbad shelter has a total of 173 active volunteers, he said. An average of 141 volunteers donate time every week, and an average of 22 volunteers donate time every day.
The Bonita shelter has a total of 77 active volunteers, he said. An average of 41 volunteers donate time every week, and an average of seven volunteers donate time every day.
