FOWAS History

In the ’80s, Watsonville had a “City Pound” run by Mark Bean. Mark did the best he could with limited resources. East Lake Animal Clinic contracted with the city and would provide medical care and euthanasia. The FOWAS President, Shannon Henderson, was working at the clinic.

Around this time, people began expecting more from cities and counties to do better for the animals.

Lucky for Watsonville, in 1990 a resident named Mrs. Bettencourt passed away and left $350,000 in her will to the city to build an animal shelter. That led many residents including Shannon and her mom, Wilma Baker George, to pressure the city to use the money to build an animal shelter. After many city council meetings, the city agreed. However, there was not enough money for land and a shelter so a deal was made with the airport. That’s why the Watsonville Animal Shelter is on the airport land.

In the mid ‘90s, the Watsonville Animal Shelter opened. Unfortunately, the city contracted with someone who didn’t have any experience running a shelter, so within a few years the police took over. The police department sent a patrol service specialist, Carrie Carlin, as well as the FOWAS president, Shannon Henderson to help.

Together Carrie and Shannon formed a committee to find someone to run the shelter.

In 1995 or 1996 the Watsonville Animal Shelter opened. The city contracted with someone who did not have any experience running a shelter and within a couple of years they ended his contract and then the police took over. They sent Carrie Carlin (a Patrol Service Specialist) to get it back in shape and I was called in to help.

The shelter passed hands a few times, until Melinda Martin was hired to run the shelter. She had worked for the Monterey SPCA and knew how to manage an animal shelter.

At this time, donations were being given to the animal shelter, but the actual funding ended up in the city’s general fund. This prompted Melinda to start a non-profit to make sure that all donations given to the animal shelter would actually be used to help animals. This non-profit was Friends Of Watsonville Animal Shelter (FOWAS).

In 2003, FOWAS become an official non-profit.

The FOWAS original board members were Melinda Martin, Edmundo Rodriquez, Carrie Carlin, Wilma Baker George, and Shannon Henderson.

Back in 2001, the Spay and Neuter ordinance for the county was put in place which meant an increase in necessity. In 2004, the Watsonville Animal Shelter and FOWAS joined the Joint Power of Authority (JPA) that was a collective for spay and neuter clinics around Monterey bay. At this time Watsonville also adopted the Spay and Neuter ordinance.

To ensure that Spay and Neuter was accessible, FOWAS partnered with three local veterinary clinics in Watsonville, offering vouchers to the public to use at the clinics.

After awhile, two of the Veterinary Clinics stopped accepting the FOWAS vouchers and the third increased their prices. Spay and Neuter demand continued to increase. So in 2013, FOWAS opened a clinic in Watsonville. This is where our low cost spay and neuter continue to take place.

The FOWAS clinic averages 40-80 Spays and Neuters a week. The low cost fees collected allows us to pay the staff, and we rely on donations for the rest including supplies, utilities, rent, licensing, and more. FOWAS receives no county or city subsidies for these $6000/month costs of operating.

If you’d like to help support the future of FOWAS and low cost Spay and Neuter, please visit our donation page to learn how you can help.