On Monday, December 16, 2024, a fire occurred at HSSV. We are incredibly grateful that no staff, volunteers, or animals were injured. Watch this page in the coming months to follow our road to recovery.
HSSV Fire Update – April 8, 2025
We need your help with laundry
After the fire, most of our laundry machines were damaged—and we’re now caring for even more animals. That means mountains of laundry and only one working washer/dryer to keep up. We’re piloting a 1-month Laundry Assistance Program, and we’re asking for your help.
Here’s how it works:
- Sign-up for a pick-up time
- Take a load (or two!) home
- Wash, dry and return it clean
It’s a small act that makes a big difference for our animal care team—and for the animals who deserve clean, comfy bedding while they heal.
Pick-up appointments available:
Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 10 am – 1 pm
HSSV Fire Update – February 25, 2025
The fire changed our landscape, but it did not change our mission. Over the past two months, we’ve faced difficult decisions, but like the animals we serve, we have adapted, persevered, and found new ways to move forward.
One of the biggest challenges we faced after the fire was the loss of 80% of our dog housing and 70% of our cat housing. With so much of our facility unusable, we made the difficult decision to no longer house animals from the City of Sunnyvale. As of February 2nd, Santa Clara County Animal Services has taken over care of all strays from Sunnyvale. This change allows us to focus our limited resources on driving our mission forward as we rebuild.
Like the animals in our care, we are adapting, growing, and finding new ways to move forward. Signs of renewal are emerging—reminders that even in the face of loss, there is an opportunity to build something even stronger.
Our Progress So Far
- Continued to Scale our Pet Pantry Program – In January, we hit a major milestone—over one million meals served over the past three years to pets and families in need, including those in transitional, emergency, and supportive housing throughout Santa Clara County.
- Launched our Home to Home Program– in response to the loss of our facilities due to the fire, allowing us to continue saving lives beyond our shelter walls. This initiative connects fosters with families looking to adopt, ensuring pets find loving homes.
- Bringing Veterinary Care to More Communities – We’ve expanded our veterinary services, reaching five new neighborhoods in San Jose and Gilroy to assist pet owners facing barriers to care.
Looking Ahead
As we settle into this new phase of recovery, we are looking ahead at how we can build a stronger future for the animals and people who rely on us. This means:
- Optimizing resources – Streamlining medical, foster, and behavioral programs to ensure the best possible care and support for the animals we serve.
- Strengthening community impact – Redirecting resources to programs that prevent shelter surrender and support families in keeping their pets.
- Improving welfare – Prioritizing TNR (trap-neuter-return) efforts to reduce kitten overpopulation and provide a better quality of life for community cats.
- Creating a Resilience Fund – Ensuring HSSV’s ability to react quickly and safely to future emergencies both within our organization and throughout the communities we serve. If you would like to learn more about the Resilience Fund, please contact development@hssv.org.
This has been a challenging time, but like the animals we serve, we are resilient. Because of you, we are not just recovering—we are rebuilding with intention, creating a future where even more lives can be saved.
Stay tuned for more updates here and on our social media channels as we continue to rebuild and strengthen our lifesaving work.
HSSV Fire Update – January 22, 2025
It has been over a month since the fire on December 16th caused significant damage to our shelter. During the initial cleanup and demolition phase, we uncovered that the damage was far more extensive than initially anticipated. Fire, smoke, and water damage have left over half of our facility unusable until major repairs can be completed.
Key areas impacted include:
- Our entire medical center
- Equipment, offices, and storage spaces essential for daily operations
- 70% of cat housing
- 80% of dog housing
- 100% of West Wing medical isolation rooms and animal holding space
Adding to the challenges, specialized equipment and parts, including HVAC systems, will take several months to procure, severely limiting our ability to care for animals on-site in the interim.
Red indicates areas in need of repair.
Despite these challenges, we’ve made incredible progress, thanks to the unwavering support of our donors, volunteers, community, and staff:
- Thanks to generous support for adoption promotions from donors like The Sobrato Family, Mickey’s Mom, and the Family of Wilbur and Indy, HSSV found loving homes for over 130 animals during the holidays and the first two weeks of January.
- Weekly rescue transports from local and regional partners have resumed.
- Partnerships with other shelters, such as the East Bay SPCA and Pets In Need, have ensured animals get the care they need when we couldn’t accommodate them.
- Programs like Spay and Neuter services, wellness exams, and vaccine clinics remain active, albeit at reduced capacity.
Many people have asked what we are doing for the pet owners and animal shelters affected by the fires in Southern California, and we deeply appreciate your compassion. Under normal circumstances, we would be there offering hands-on support. However, we now find ourselves in an unfamiliar position—needing assistance as we focus on our own recovery. As much as we want to do more, we first need to ensure we can rebuild our lifesaving capacity. That said, we are actively exploring ways we can lend a hand as we regain our footing, and we will keep you updated on any opportunities to assist.
We are humbled by the generosity of donors who have stepped up during this challenging time. If you would like to support our ongoing operations and recovery, please consider making a donation to HSSV today. Together, we will rebuild stronger and continue to serve countless animals and people.
Stay tuned for more updates here and on our social media channels.
HSSV Fire Update – Dec 24, 2024
After a week of assessment, we confirmed that half of the shelter was damaged, including the medical center, shelter operations, and all the animal-holding areas in the west wing of our building. The adoption area also sustained damage, leaving only two-thirds of the floor operational. We are incredibly grateful that no staff, volunteers, or animals were injured.
Thanks to the support of the community, here’s what we’ve accomplished together during the first week of recovery:
- Adoptions Reopened: We reopened adoptions and were able to adopt out 100 animals in the first week. Many generous donors stepped up to sponsor adoption fees during this time.
- Community Services Relocated: We relocated and reopened Community Services to the public, allowing us to receive lost and found strays from Sunnyvale. (Euthanasia and cremation services are temporarily paused.)
- Community Support Flooded In: We received 15 pallets of donations from our Amazon Fire Relief Wish List and 300 bags of blankets and towels from the community—thank you, friends!
- Foster Heroes Answered the Call: Within 30 minutes of our emergency plea, 30 families arrived to help. We moved 92 animals into foster homes within the first 48 hours.
- Volunteers Rallied Together: Hundreds of online messages of support poured in as our network of 1,330 active volunteers quickly mobilized. Our Volunteer team coordinated efforts, pivoted resources, and launched two new roles to assist with fire recovery.
- Medical Team Never Missed a Beat: Less than 24 hours after the fire, the medical team began performing spay/neuter surgeries on the Mobile Wellness Waggin’, right in the parking lot.
Looking ahead.
Rebuilding and recovery will take time, with construction anticipated to take 9–13 months. Please consider a donation to HSSV to continue our operations throughout this time. HSSV is experiencing unprecedented costs, and gifts are a great way to minimize disruption to our operations as much as possible.
Thank you to every staff member, volunteer, and supporter who stepped up during this time. Your dedication and compassion have made all the difference during this challenging time.
HSSV Fire Update – Dec 16, 2024
On Monday, December 16, 2024 a fire occurred at Humane Society Silicon Valley that damaged all medical facilities, our shelter operations offices, and several animal holding areas in the west wing of our building. We are incredibly grateful that no staff, volunteers, or animals were injured. All animals have been safely moved and are being cared for in temporary accommodations.
Our team is actively responding to the situation, and everyone’s safety is our top priority. We appreciate our community’s understanding and patience during this time and will provide updates as soon as possible. Please continue to check our website and social media accounts for updates to stay informed about shelter operations.
Here’s how you can help HSSV recover:
Give Online
Please consider a donation to HSSV to continue our operations throughout this time. Some of the challenges we are currently solving for include finding and renting temporary medical space, handling increased storage needs, and managing expanded animal transport. HSSV is experiencing unprecedented costs, and gifts are a great way to minimize disruption to our operations as much as possible. We hope you will partner with us as we figure out how to move forward in the face of extensive damage and as we rebuild.
Donate Needed Items
Due to an outpouring of generosity from our community, we have reached our storage capacity for towels and blankets and will no longer accept onsite drop-offs at this time. If you are still looking to donate items, we just restocked our Amazon Fire Relief Wish List. To help us recover, click on the link below:
Adopt an Animal from HSSV
Fire damage has impacted animal housing, limiting space at the shelter. If you are ready to adopt a new family member, now is the perfect time to do it!
Share our Social Media Posts
If you can’t donate or adopt at this time, you can still help out by sharing our Facebook and Instagram posts about the incident to help build support and get our animals adopted. It will take a village to rebuild, and we’ll need the help of neighbors like you!