Crisis by Choice

A Case Study in Systemic Failure: In Riverside County’s Pass Area, cities stall, the county retreats, and animals are left to die.

Editor’s Note:

After publication, Animal Politics received detailed concerns and supporting documentation from a member of the animal welfare community regarding a volunteer named in this piece. While the article’s central focus remains on systemic failures by local and county governments, we are reviewing this information and have removed direct calls for support or contact until further clarity emerges.

Introduction: A Crisis of Leadership, Not Compassion

In the San Gorgonio Pass—a dramatic mountain corridor in Riverside County, Southern California, where Interstate 10 links the Los Angeles basin to the desert cities of Palm Springs and beyond—a crisis festers in plain sight. Framed by the San Bernardino and San Jacinto Mountains, this region includes growing communities like Banning, Beaumont, Calimesa, Cabazon, and Cherry Valley.

But beneath the surface lies a man-made calamity of neglect, political infighting, and government failure that has left thousands of animals without shelter and a handful of exhausted volunteers scrambling to fill the void left by those elected to protect them.

No Way Home: At the Crossroads of Abandonment, City and County Officials Turn Their Backs on the Voiceless.

The Collapse of Public Responsibility

In late 2023, Banning’s City Council abruptly terminated its animal control contract with ARE Animal Rescue, shuttering the city’s only animal shelter. While the Beaumont Police Department maintains a handful of secure kennels for after-hours animal holding, they are completely inadequate to serve as a shelter. Today, with no functioning local shelter in either community, field officers are overwhelmed, leaving most animals to languish on the streets or in the care of volunteers

Both cities still struggle to respond to emergency calls, cruelty cases, and reports of strays, but without a functioning shelter officers are often forced to rely on overburdened volunteers and rescues. As one officer told local advocate Debbie Cram, “It’s non-stop. There’s nowhere to take these animals.”

The result is a patchwork response that leaves a combined population of nearly 80,000 residents without local animal control or shelter services. This new reality came with little public explanation and no plan for replacing this critical infrastructure—leaving a region known for its resilience grappling with a leadership vacuum.

As the shelter doors closed, the streets filled with stray dogs and cats, many injured, abandoned, or lost. As public agencies stepped back, a patchwork of volunteers—some of them the subject of community concern and criticism—have tried to fill the void. Among them is Debbie Cram, a self-appointed responder whose work has drawn both praise and protest.

Documented Patterns of Exclusion and Inertia

City leaders have failed—plainly, repeatedly, and publicly. The breakdown in governance is starkly illustrated in an April 29, 2025, email from Banning Mayor Sherry Flynn to a local volunteer advocate:

“You have lost my trust. Please don’t contact me anymore. Sharing my comments with the public will only alienate those on the Council trying to find a permanent solution.”

This exchange was not isolated. Other communications from city officials reveal a broader posture of defensiveness and exclusion—accusing residents of self-promotion, dismissing calls for transparency, and questioning the legitimacy of grassroots efforts simply because they lacked formal nonprofit status.

Despite these rebuffs, many community members have continued to act—not for recognition, but because the city’s failure to provide even the most basic animal services has forced them to. In the absence of a coordinated government response, volunteers have stepped into the breach: microchipping strays, responding to emergency calls, sheltering animals in their homes, and doing the essential work the city abandoned.

To be sure, city officials are operating under pressure, with limited resources and few easy solutions. But shutting out local voices and resisting public scrutiny has only deepened the crisis—leaving an 80,000-person region dependent on informal rescue networks and volunteer labor to protect its most vulnerable.

The Human and Animal Toll:

Consequences of Government Failure

The toll on animals is heartbreaking: dogs dodging traffic on highways, cats abandoned in alleys, and countless pets lost with no hope of reunion. The toll on residents—particularly volunteers and rescue workers—is equally severe, as they are forced to absorb the responsibilities abandoned by their local governments.

In the unincorporated communities of Cabazon and Cherry Valley, the crisis reveals a second layer of failure. Here, Riverside County Department of Animal Services (RCDAS) bears legal responsibility for animal control—yet residents describe the region as a “disaster zone,” where stray dogs live among homeless encampments and meaningful county intervention is rare to nonexistent. Community members report doing what they can—feeding strays, responding to emergencies—but without infrastructure, the situation continues to spiral.

In contrast to Banning and Beaumont, the incorporated City of Calimesa entered into a contract with RCDAS in July 2023 to provide field and shelter services through June 2025. But according to a whistleblower familiar with regional operations, that contract may no longer be active. A provisional arrangement might still exist, but there’s no structured, long-term plan—further deepening the crisis.

While the county has spent $2.5 million on a consultant and issued resolutions pledging "no-kill" policies, basic field services in these remote communities remain woefully inadequate. The same agency facing lawsuits for alleged mismanagement and financial waste is supposed to be the safety net for these unincorporated and contracted communities—but that safety net has gaping holes.

In an effort to understand the County’s plan for Cabazon, Cherry Valley, and Calimesa, Animal Politics reached out to Mary Martin, the newly appointed Director of RCDAS. As of this writing, she has not responded.

The Real Story: Government Dereliction

This crisis is not a tale of volunteer heroism alone but a damning indictment of systematic government dereliction at every level. The evidence is overwhelming and undeniable.

At the city level:

Banning and Beaumont abruptly terminated animal services with no transition plan, no public input, and no alternative solutions. When concerned residents and advocates sought transparency and inclusion, they were met with hostility, exclusion, and accusations.

At the county level:

RCDAS, legally obligated to serve unincorporated communities like Cabazon and Cherry Valley and contracted cities like Calimesa, has failed spectacularly. While critics and legal filings cite systemic neglect and a culture of disregard for both animals and taxpayers, it's the voices of residents—the agency's supposed customers—that most damningly underscore this collapse.

Yet these very communities—isolated, under-resourced, and historically overlooked—should serve as the acid test for the County’s promised reforms. After investing $2.5 million in a national consultant to deliver a strategic plan and hiring a director with a celebrated record of “best practices”, Riverside County’s leadership has promised a new era of accountability, transparency, and lifesaving outcomes. If these promises mean anything, the first and most urgent proof must be found not in press releases or questionable metrics, but in the lived reality of Cabazon, Cherry Valley, and Calimesa.

If lifesaving strategies and humane reforms cannot succeed in these most neglected communities, can they be trusted to succeed anywhere? For Mary Martin—whose early tenure inspired cautious optimism among local advocates and reporters alike—this is the opportunity to prove that optimism was not misplaced.

These under-resourced and long-overlooked areas present the ideal proving ground: a chance to demonstrate that humane, effective solutions can be scaled from the margins. Riverside owes it to its residents—and to the animals in its care—to make these communities a true proof of concept for its mission and its promises.

The systemic failure:

The crisis in the Pass area is not the result of apathy or lack of compassion among its residents. It is the direct consequence of government at every level abandoning its most basic responsibilities. When leaders choose silence over transparency, blame over action, and politics over public service, it is the animals—and the people who care for them—who suffer most.

For the incorporated cities of Banning and Beaumont, the mandate is clear:

City governments cannot outsource or abdicate their duty to safeguard public health and animal welfare. California law and their own municipal codes empower them to create and enforce humane animal control policies, contract with qualified providers, and ensure sheltering capacity for lost and stray animals. Instead of endless ad hoc committees and finger-pointing, city leaders must immediately:

• Partner with local veterinarians to provide affordable spay/neuter services.

• Establish or contract for accessible, properly staffed sheltering and field services.

• Engage transparently with residents, advocates, and experts to develop humane, effective solutions.

• Enforce licensing, vaccination, leash, and anti-cruelty laws to protect both animals and the community.

The San Gorgonio Pass region—where the collapse of local animal services has left thousands of residents and animals without a safety net.

For Riverside County, especially in unincorporated communities like Cabazon and Cherry Valley and contracted cities like Calimesa:

The County must prove its “best practices” and reform promises are more than words. These neglected areas should be the acid test for any new strategy. The County must:

• Invest upstream: Prioritize community-based spay/neuter, crisis pet retention, and early field intervention to reduce unnecessary shelter intake upstream.

• Stabilize field and shelter operations: Restore consistent field services and regional shelter access in partnership with local volunteers, rescues, and jurisdictions—especially in abandoned or contractless areas.

• Empower local accountability: Create localized oversight bodies that include residents, rescue leaders, and municipal officials—not just consultants or internal staff—to guide policy and evaluate outcomes.

The Pass area deserves better—from every level of government. Until leaders embrace accountability and action, the burden will remain on exhausted volunteers and ordinary citizens. The time for excuses has passed. The time for real leadership—and real solutions—is now.

A society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable. By that standard, the Pass Area is in crisis. But crisis is not destiny—unless we choose to ignore it.

A Call to Action

To demand action, contact your city council and county supervisor and ask for a regional, humane solution—before more lives are lost.

Take Action: Contact Local City Leadership

• Mayor Sheri Flynn – City of Banning
  Email: sflynn@banningca.gov
  Phone: (951) 922-3105
  Address: 99 E. Ramsey Street, Banning, CA 92220

• Mayor Mike Lara – City of Beaumont
  Email: mlara@beaumontca.gov
  Phone: (951) 692-1008
  Address: 550 E. 6th Street, Beaumont, CA 92223

Contact Riverside County Supervisors

• Supervisor Yxstian Gutierrez – District 5 (represents all five communities)
  Email: District5@rivco.org
  Phone: (951) 955-1050

  Address: 390 W. Oak Valley Parkway, Beaumont, CA 92223

Demand that they support the creation of a regional animal services coalition with real funding, real transparency, and real accountability.

Ed Boks is a former Executive Director of the New York City, City of Los Angeles, and Maricopa County Animal Care & Control Departments, and a former Board Director of the National Animal Control Association. His work has been published in the LA Times, New York Times, Newsweek, Real Clear Policy, Sentient Media, and now on Animal Politics with Ed Boks.

Stay Informed

For more analysis and updates on the evolving landscape of animal welfare policy, visit Animal Politics with Ed Boks.