San Diego, CA
San Diego Humane Society planning $11M animal hospital to provide low-cost care to pet owners
Seeking to provide more affordable care for pet owners in the region, the San Diego Humane Society plans to expand a 500-square-foot clinic at its Morena campus into an $11 million full-service animal hospital, envisioning a summer or fall 2027 opening.
Officials say the project, to be funded entirely by donors, will include space for a high-volume spay/neuter clinic and an area to house dogs that have been surrendered or picked up by humane officers. It will be inside a Gaines Street building that the nonprofit acquired in 2020 along with five other buildings it had previously leased.
The Humane Society plans to triple its vet staffing for the hospital, which will provide dental care, surgeries and emergency services, as well as routine care. The goal is to expand affordable care options in the region, recognizing that some people surrender their pets, or even euthanize them, because they can’t afford veterinary care.
The University of California Davis is also building a new animal hospital in San Diego, expected to open later this year.
The additions come amid a persistent shortage of veterinarians in California and beyond.
Dr. Gary Weitzman, president and CEO of the San Diego Humane Society, said officials have discussed building the Community Veterinary Hospital for years. About $3 million has been raised for the project so far.
Several factors are making veterinary care unattainable for some, including a shortage of veterinarians and the high cost of services. Vet offices that do exist may not be able to schedule appointments quickly, while some pet owners live in “veterinary deserts” with no clinics or hospitals nearby, Weizman said.
“Access to care is becoming more and more challenging for most people with their animals,” Weitzman said. “That’s the opposite of what we want to see.”
Emergency hospitals can help fill the gap, he said, but often are too expensive for pet owners.
On its website, the Humane Society describes its community veterinary program as low-cost care that is accessible to pet families who need it most. “By providing affordable, compassionate and exceptional veterinary care to San Diego community members, we help keep pets out of shelters and with the people who love and need them,” the site says. In recent years, the nonprofit has grappled with record numbers of dogs in its shelters.
Weitzman said building the community veterinary hospital will require extensive fundraising, not only for the construction but to pay for staffing.
Officials expect it will cost about $5 million a year to run the hospital and will look at creating endowments to pay for positions. “This will definitely be a financially involved program,” he said. “But I think it’s really game-changing for the Humane Society and for the region.”
Those interested in contributing can email donate@sdhumane.org.
A decade ago, Weitzman said he would have expected private vet practices to oppose the project. Instead, he said, those providers are increasingly sending animals needing care to the Humane Society because their owners cannot pay clinic fees.
“Ten years ago, there definitely would have been concern among my private practice colleagues,” he said. “As of COVID times, there has been no concern whatsoever. As a matter of fact, the opposite — we get referrals from private practices because they don’t want to have to resort to ‘economic euthanasia.’”
The Humane Society is able to charge lower fees because its work is supported by philanthropic gifts, he said.
“What we want to do is provide urgent care that (allows) people to come in and not have to get a second mortgage to get care for their animal,” he said.
The Humane Society began its community veterinary program in 2022, with services initially provided from a mobile clinic. In the summer of 2023, the clinic moved into the Gaines Street space, although mobile clinics are still used on a scaled-back basis, spokesperson Nina Thompson said.
The Humane Society’s website says those eligible for services at the clinic include pet owners with an annual household income under $70,000 or people enrolled in federal or state assistance programs or receiving unemployment benefits. However, clinic staff do not ask for documentation when people show up for appointments.
“If you have a vet that you’re going to now, and you can afford those fees, please stay with your private practice. We’re here for people who can’t get in, and that’s really the purpose of the program,” said Weitzman, a veterinarian who works at the clinic one day a week. “We really just want to be there to solve a problem.”
Beyond the animal hospital project, the Humane Society has worked with a coalition of animal groups to seek legislative changes designed to expand veterinary care options. One new law now in effect allows registered veterinary technicians and veterinary assistants to perform any medical task not expressly prohibited by law. A second bill allows registered veterinary technicians to give vaccines and parasite control measures in shelters without requiring a supervising veterinarian to be on site.
There are other steps being taken to expand veterinary care in San Diego County.
UC Davis is building a state-of-the-art medical center in University City that will offer specialty care, create veterinary teaching and training opportunities, and facilitate clinical research studies.
According to its website, the Janice K. Hobbs UC Davis Veterinary Medical Center Southern California will feature “a pharmacy and dedicated suites for radiography, cardiology, surgery, medical oncology, 24/7 emergency and critical care (ER/ICU) and nephrology/urology.” It is expected to open later this year in a business park on Shoreham Place.
The new facility will take the place of a 3,000-square-foot medical center run by the university in Sorrento Valley in operation for more than 20 years. The new hospital will be eight times the size of the current facility.
UC Davis is also working to expand the number of veterinarians in its training pipeline. It has pledged to expand the number of doctor of veterinary medicine students enrolled from 600 to 800, adding 50 additional students per class beginning in 2029. The university also plans to build a new veterinary education pavilion on campus.
“We are the premier veterinary school in the country and California is facing a veterinary shortage, so with public and donor support we are committed to meeting the needs of the state’s pet parents, agricultural producers, animal shelters and other care providers,” Tom Hinds, a UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine spokesperson, said in a statement.
A federal grand jury in San Diego has indicted a U.S. Border Patrol agent on a civil rights violation for shooting an unarmed 19-year-old U.S. citizen in 2022 in Calexico, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.
Marcos Javier Andrade faces one count of deprivation of rights under color of law and one count of use and discharge of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges next week in U.S. District Court in San Diego.
The indictment alleges that on July 11, 2022, Andrade tried to stop a minivan that he suspected of smuggling undocumented immigrants on a highway in Calexico, in Imperial County. The van was being driven by a teen “who was unarmed and was not engaged in smuggling activity,” according to the indictment, which identifies the teen only by his initials, A.F.
After the teen failed to pull over and then became stuck in traffic, Andrade allegedly pulled up next to the van, exited his Border Patrol SUV and fired eight shots at the driver, striking him in his neck, hip, shoulder and hand, according to the indictment. The teen survived after undergoing surgery for his injuries.
The indictment alleges that after the shooting, Andrade “refused to answer basic safety questions that all Border Patrol agents are required to answer on scene when they discharge their firearms.” It also alleges that Andrade had been disciplined previously for firing his gun “at civilians” in 2012 and 2017.
Andrade could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday, and it was unclear if he had an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
Officials from the Border Patrol, as well as its parent agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment late Thursday afternoon.
The indictment against Andrade comes at a time when Border Patrol agents and other immigration officers have faced increased scrutiny for shooting U.S. citizens. In October, a Border Patrol agent shot and wounded Marimar Martinez in Chicago, and in January, a Border Patrol agent fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis just weeks after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Renée Good in the same city.
Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol’s former “commander at large” who spearheaded the Trump administration’s immigration operations in Chicago and Minneapolis, and who sent an email to the Chicago agent just hours after he shot Martinez praising his “excellent service,” was the chief of the El Centro sector in 2022 when Andrade allegedly shot the teen driver.
Border Patrol officials had previously released few details about the shooting in Calexico, which occurred in the middle of the day near a busy intersection. Andrade’s name was never publicly linked to the shooting before Thursday.
The indictment alleges that when Andrade tried to pull over the driver, the teen continued along state Route 98, driving at the speed limit until he came to a stop behind a line of cars at a stoplight. Andrade allegedly pulled his SUV partially in front of the minivan on the left side, exited his SUV and pointed his gun at the teen.
At that point, both the teen and the driver of a semi in the lane to his right began to pull forward “with the stop-and-go pace of traffic,” traveling between 1 and 5 mph, according to the indictment. The teen then steered his minivan slightly to the right, away from Andrade’s vehicle, in an effort to get around, the indictment alleges.
“At no time did A.F.’s vehicle pose a threat to defendant Marcos Javier Andrade or anyone else,” the indictment alleged. “Nevertheless … Andrade fired eight shots at A.F.”
The indictment alleges that one shot struck the hood, three pierced the windshield and four went through the driver’s side window. In addition to the gunshot wounds the teen suffered, he also sustained injuries from shattered glass that lodged in his right eye, according to the indictment. Six of the eight shots allegedly traveled through the van and also struck the tractor-trailer.
A photo published by the Calexico Chronicle the day of the shooting showed a Border Patrol agent taking cover behind an SUV and pointing his gun at the van, which at that time was riddled with bullet holes.
Andrade is facing the same two charges that federal prosecutors in San Diego brought against a sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot an unarmed, fleeing man in downtown San Diego in 2020. An initial jury in that case deadlocked after being unable to reach a unanimous verdict, but a second jury convicted the deputy last month on both counts.
Several lanes are closed on the northbound Interstate 805 due to a fatal crash on Thursday morning.
The crash was reported at around 5:30 a.m. at Murray Ridge Road and closed all lanes, but by 6 a.m., two lanes reopened while three lanes remained closed, according to Caltrans.
By 8 a.m., all lanes had reopened to traffic.
Update: NB I-805 at Murray Ridge, the two right lanes are open while the three left lanes remain closed due to a traffic collision.
— Caltrans District 11 (@SDCaltrans) April 2, 2026
Heavy traffic is reported in that area.
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — The San Diego Police Department announced Wednesday that a man and woman who were involved in an apparent murder-suicide last week have been named and identified as mother and son.
*The Nexstar Media Wire video above shows what happens when someone calls 911.
According to SDPD, on Monday, March 23, at around 7:40 p.m., officers and San Diego Fire-Rescue personnel responded to a 911 call on San Marcos Avenue in the Burlingame neighborhood. The report said neighbors heard gunshots and found a man with a gunshot wound to his head on the front porch of a residence.
When officers arrived, they found a 51-year-old man, who was later identified as Galen Sherwood, with a gunshot wound to the head, which police reportedly suspect was self-inflicted. Officers also found a handgun near Sherwood, SDPD says.
After life-saving measures were attempted on the man, he was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead less than an hour later, according to SDPD.
While officers were at the residence tending to Sherwood, they reportedly found an 83-year-old woman inside the home who had a gunshot wound to her upper torso. According to SDPD, the woman was pronounced dead at the scene and was later identified as Virginia Sherwood, the mother of the 51-year-old.
The two reportedly lived together at the residence.
SDPD’s Homicide Unit took over the investigation and will examine the gun collected at the scene and conduct comparison tests of the rounds and casings recovered.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is encouraged to call the Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.
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