Maureen Moe Mendoza
Chino, CA 91710
February 17, 2026
Members of the City Council
13220 Central Avenue
Chino, CA 91710
RE: Formal Notice of Operational and Compliance Deficiencies - Animal Resource Center of the Inland Empire, ARC
I am a resident of the City of Chino and an advocate for the animals housed at the Animal Resource Center, known as ARC, formed through the Joint Powers Authority, JPA, in which the City of Chino participates.
This letter serves as a formal demand for written clarification regarding serious concerns I have repeatedly raised in public comment and written submissions. To date, I have received only one written response despite multiple letters and statements before this Board. That lack of written accountability is alarming when lives are at stake.
These animals do not have a voice. We are supposed to be that voice.
Healthy animals are being euthanized due to space limitations, staffing shortages, and operational failures. They are labeled "behavioral," "kennel stress," or "illness," yet anyone can walk through ARC and see that many are healthy and adoptable. The path from intake to euthanasia is visible and the statistics confirm it.
Through multiple Public Records Act requests, publicly available through the City of Ontario, ine numbers are clear and documented. This is not speculation. The community was promised a stronger, larger, state of the art facility. Instead, we have a system where ar animal's survival depends almost entirely on immediate adoption, a private citizen stepping in, or a rescue. Otherwise, their outcome is death.
You are aware of Maverick's case. At the January 28, 2026 ARC meeting, I publicly and by written letter requested a foster extension. The written request asked for a response within five working days. No written response was provided.
On February 11, 2026, I was informed by phone by Clint, Executive Director, that if a rescue did not formally pull Maverick, he would be euthanized. Later that same day, I received written notice terminating his foster placement effective the end of February, effectively setting a deadline for his life.
During Maverick's foster placement, ARC incurred no financial liability. I paid for his food, training, equipment, and care. There was no fiscal burden to any city under the JPA. Yet euthanasia remained the proposed outcome.
Silence and inaction do not shield the City of Chino from accountability. As a governing JPA member, you share responsibility for every preventable death that occurs under ARC's authority.
I have also submitted written requests that ARC Board meetings be recorded for transparency and that quarterly statistics - including intake, euthanasia, foster placements, and outcomes — be agenized for public review on the ARC agenda and the City of Chino's Agenda. I have received no written responses back.
This crisis stems from underfunding and from opening a facility without sufficient veterinary staffing, behavioral resources, enrichment programs, and operational capcity to operate humanely. The animals are paying for those operational failures.
Under the Hayden Act, shelters are required to provide meaningful opportunities for adoption and rescue placement. An animal cannot simply be labeled and euthanized without proper evaluation, documentation, and genuine efforts toward placement.
I am requesting a written response explaining:
1. Why euthanasia due to space and operational limitations continues.
2. Why prior transparency requests have not been addressed.
3. What corrective measures the City of Chino, as a JPA member, is taking to ensure humane compliance, oversight, and adequate funding.
This letter is to be entered into the official minutes.
Accountability is not optional. Transparency is not optional. Humane treatment is not optional.
The animals cannot speak. I will continue to speak for them and I will not stop insisting on full compliance with the Hayden Act and ARC receiving the necessary funding they need for operating humanely.
Respectfully submitted,
M.
Maureen Moe Mendoza
Foster Advocate for Maverick