San Bernardino County officials are introducing a bill that would help fund animal shelters across the country

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (KABC) — San Bernardino County officials stood alongside Rep. Pete Aguilar on Friday as he introduced a new bill that would provide grants to public animal shelters, the first of its kind.

It’s a response to animal shelters across the country feeling outdated, understaffed and overcrowded despite efforts to make adoption easier.

“The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors recently voted to reduce the cost of pet adoptions to $10 for cats and kittens and $20 for dogs and puppies,” said Josh Dugas, public health director at the San Bernardino County.

ABC7 has been reporting on the challenges facing county and city shelters for five years. Many of these challenges still exist today.

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“We all saw the increase in adoptions during COVID and that was great, but we’ve also now seen a little bit of a decline in that decrease,” Aguilar said.

San Bernardino County is in the process of building a new, third animal shelter.

They recently upgraded the Devore location and added a grassy area where staff and volunteers can play with dogs, just steps away from where they stay in their kennels. It has toys, a skills course and is used for leash training.

Officials believe grant funding would help cover medical costs and training, bringing them another step closer to life outside.

Normally a bill like this would be on its way to committee by now. However, this cannot happen until the US House of Representatives elects a new speaker.