The Wallis Annenberg PetSpace in Playa Vista last week named Allison Cardona as its new director. She will start on Aug. 11.
Cardona was most recently the state director of the Koret Shelter Medicine Program at University of California, Davis. There she helped administer $37.5 million in state funding for animal shelters throughout California, support programs to keep pets with their owners and increased access to veterinary care and other pet support outlets.
“I’m deeply honored to join PetSpace at this pivotal moment,” Cardona said in a statement. “I have dedicated my career to enhancing the human-animal bond and strengthening community support for pets and the people who care for them. I look forward to building on Wallis Annenberg’s visionary legacy – bringing innovative programs, expanding community outreach and ensuring every pet and person we serve thrives together.”
Cardona also was previously a deputy director for the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control for five years.
Having launched in 2017, PetSpace – so-named for its philanthropic founding donor – describes itself as a community space that facilitates adoptions, events and learning opportunities – all in support of the “mutually beneficial and dynamic bond” between people and their pets.
Upon taking the reins, Cardona’s first initiatives will be to scale up spay/neuter and other shelter medical services, expand programming and enhance its PetSpace Extraordinary Care Fund.
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An anonymous family foundation last week chipped in $72,000 to the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce Foundation to be used as mini-grants to Altadena businesses relocating after the Eaton Fire.
A foundation committee will review applications and award grants based on needed and the effectiveness of proposed use, the foundation said. Grants can be used for new costs or already paid ones toward their business reopening and will range between $500 and $2,500.
Prospective applicants can visit pasadenachamberfoundation.org.
