The new El Cajon Animal Shelter is a no-kill facility located at 1373 N. Marshall Ave. in El Cajon, and it is the only animal shelter located in San Diego’s East County. The El Cajon Animal Shelter serves the City of El Cajon community, plus it provides contract animal shelter services for the City of La Mesa. After years of careful planning, the new shelter officially opened its doors on June 2, 2018. This state-of-the-art facility is a 14,703-square-foot building with a 2600-square-foot exterior that has been fitted with solar panels. The building not only provides housing for animals, it also includes a veterinary ward, a grooming room, play/ exercise yards, “get acquainted” rooms for potential adopters, administrative offices, a community room, and more. The new shelter is twice as large as the previous 50-year-old shelter, and it can house a combined total of 135 dogs and cats. Proposition O, a temporary, half-cent sales tax that was approved by voters in November 2004, funded the new shelter.