SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After months of delay, the Sacramento City Council is finally reviewing the findings of a $213,000 performance audit of the Front Street Animal Shelter, which revealed significant operational failures under Director Philip Zimmerman, according to Fix Our Shelters.
The audit, released to Animal Care Services and the City Manager’s Office in January 2025, documented 10 findings and 31 recommendations addressing chronic failures in leadership, enforcement of spay and neuter mandates, and compliance with state law, the group reported. The International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions (ISSAI) handbook explains that performance audits evaluate whether government resources are being used effectively and policy goals are being achieved.
Commissioner Hilary Bagley Franzoia, a recent appointee to the Animal Well-Being Commission by Mayor Kevin McCarty, stated that the audit “reflects colossal failures across the board by management.”
For more than five years, animal advocacy groups such as Fix Front Street and Fix Our Shelters have raised concerns about the shelter’s operations. They allege that Zimmerman, with support from the City Manager’s Office and the City Attorney, concealed euthanasia practices, misused more than $4 million in federal funds designated for the Homeless Outreach & Advocacy Program (HOAP) — intended to help animals of unhoused residents — ignored spay and neuter resources, hired staff with concerning backgrounds, and violated state law by turning away thousands of animals in need of care, according to Fix Our Shelters.
Councilmember Roger Dickinson, chair of the Budget Committee, also commented on the audit. “The audit was a call to action, a call for a lot of work to be done,” Dickinson said during a Budget Committee hearing in April, according to Fix Our Shelters. “We need to take the fundamental steps to try to improve the quality and character of the services we are providing. The best thing we can do is be as aggressive as possible when spaying and neutering. When calls come in about dogs biting people, even 24 hours is too long to respond.”
Following the audit’s release, Zimmerman initially submitted his resignation but later withdrew it, Fix Our Shelters reported.
Animal advocates are now urging the City Council and the mayor to implement stronger oversight, accountability, and transparency measures for Animal Care Services. They argue that many animal welfare concerns remain unaddressed despite the audit’s findings, according to Fix Our Shelters.
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