Nobody’s Perfekt Pet Shelter Fears Closure
Director Rick Hollander at Nobody's Dogs Perfekt pet adoption center in Castro Valley.
Nobody’s Dogs Perfekt, a Castro Valley pet adoption center for dogs and cats with special needs, may be in danger of closing, Director Rick Hollander says.
The small facility at 3810 Castro Valley Blvd., corner of Forest Avenue, came to Castro Valley two years ago after its lease wasn’t renewed at the Bayfair Mall in San Leandro, along with most other tenants.
Now Hollander fears his lease will not be renewed in March at his present location, but not for non-payment. His small parcel sits next to the former Rite Aid location, which is now being redeveloped into an Asian food center.
“That seems to be the direction things are moving, and I think the landlord would seek the higher rents he can probably get from a different kind of tenant,” Hollander said.
“As it is, we don’t make enough from pet adoptions to pay the rent, and we use all the donations we get to care for and get veterinary care for our cats and dogs,” he added.
Sometimes those costs can be substantial, as when a dog is hit by a car. The animals, though, might also have behavioral problems that make them unlikely to be adopted from a conventional shelter. Often, people foster the cats and dogs from Nobody’s Perfekt rather than adopt them permanently.
Nobody’s Perfekt also sells a wide range of pet supplies.
Hollander says he raids his own retirement fund to pay the rent, which has escalated every time the center has moved. Fortunately, he said, there’s some money in it and his house is paid off.
“Besides, what better to spend it on?” he said.
Originally spun off from a San Leandro adoption center for pets with more ordinary needs, the center started paying Bayfair Mall’s then-owners only $300 a month, but for a small space.
“They were trying to bring in businesses that might attract a different kind of clientele to other businesses in the mall, and our customers definitely were different,” he said. The rent went up when they moved into a larger space, which they’d expected.
The rent really zoomed, though, when they were forced to move out of the mall as new owners decided to gut the interior before rebuilding and didn’t renew most leases there. The new owners haven’t finalized their planned new focus for the mall.
For at least the next few months, though, Hollander and a cast of volunteers will try to find new permanent homes or foster homes for the animals and are looking for people who can take them in. Pet adoptions are down, however, not only at this shelter but at shelters in general, Hollander said.
He said that in many cases, people are discovering they can’t properly care for the animals they adopted during the pandemic.
Hollander has been unsuccessful at finding a new home for the center itself.
“People keep telling us they’ve seen a vacancy sign around town, but it’s likely we’ve already talked to the owner, and we can’t afford it. We know pretty much what’s out there.”
Hollander said the landlord hasn’t asked them to move so far. New possibilities are usually discussed by phone, while a short, to-the-point letter announces a lease non-renewal for commercial tenants.
“I’m a little bit nervous when I open the mail every day,” Hollander said. “But please, our animals need homes, and our pet supplies are still for sale, or for some items, free.”
On its website, www.nobodysperfektdogs.org, you can find more information about Nobody’s Dogs Perfekt and profiles of available pets.