Friends was formed in August 2011 by several dedicated volunteers who were already actively volunteering at the City’s newly constructed and opened municipal shelter known as “Upland Animal Shelter” and the former Upland Animal Services Supervisor. From the beginning, Friends was dedicated to assisting the City to provide a high quality of care for homeless pets and find homes for as many adoptable pets as possible. Specifically, Friends supplemented staffing and addressed resource constraints at the shelter by organizing volunteer labor and raising funds to offset public funding of the shelter. In August 2011, Friends was accepted by Upland Community Foundation as a member organization. In February 2013, Friends incorporated as a tax-exempt, non-profit charitable benefit 501(c)(3) organization. Without the support of Friends during these early years, the City would not have been able to provide as high a level of care or save as many animals due to on-going and significant staffing and resource constraints.

In 2015, as part of a Citywide fiscal responsibility effort to address budget shortfalls and save money, the City reduced the shelter budget and requested and reviewed proposals from animal welfare groups and selected Friends to operate Upland Animal Shelter in conjunction with the City’s Animal Control Officers. Friends assumed direct responsibility for all animal care and adoptions at the shelter at no cost to the City on May 2, 2016. To our knowledge, this is the first-of-its-kind arrangement where a service provider is not compensated for their services.