An inside look into the new surgical suite at the Coachella Valley Animal Campus

Coachella Valley Animal Campus representatives say they are working to address the county's overcrowding crisis with their new surgical suite.

You can watch KESQ morning anchor Angela Chen's in-depth report about overcrowding across Riverside County animal shelters here.

Since opening in 2006, the Coachella Valley Animal Campus, or CVAC, has maintained a partnership with Animal Samaritans for the majority of the spay and neuter surgeries.

With their new 2-table surgical suite, CVAC staff members, like supervising veterinary technician, Roberto Torres, can increase the amount of spay and neuter surgeries they can provide for their shelter pets.

“Our shelters are at capacity all over our shelters so spay and neuter can definitely help towards that," said Torres.

According to CVAC spokesperson John Walsh, the new surgical suite will help their veterinary team conduct at least 20 surgeries per week. 75 shelter pets will still be sent over to Animal Samaritans per week.

Right now, CVAC is operating with limited in-house veterinary staff as they wait for a potential budget boost from the County Board of Supervisors. Torres says he and his team will be working to maintain a steady momentum to continue to address the overcrowding issue within the county.

“It makes me feel really great knowing that I'm part of...the solution," Torres said.