This is a jobs program as much as an animal program. Every role below is a real paid position, and every one is lined up against a funder that already pays for exactly that kind of job. No line depends on volunteers, and no line depends on a single grant.
| Role | Load | Annual cost est. | Funded by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Program lead (runs the whole thing, the dashboard, the city relationship) | 1 FTE | $75,000–95,000 | Sponsor subscriptions + city contract + program-management line in grants |
| Supervising DVM (HQHVSN, veterinarian of record) | 2 clinic days / wk | $70,000–125,000 | Animal-welfare grants (PetSmart Charities, ASPCA, Maddie's) + city day rate |
| RVT ×2 (prep + anesthesia) | 2 days / wk each | $60,000–95,000 | Animal-welfare grants; RVT-program placements reduce cost |
| Colony caretaker ×3 (daily rounds, 1–2 sites each) | 10–14 h / wk each | $45,000–65,000 | Workforce grants (CalWORKs subsidized employment, Workforce Development Board) + sponsor subscriptions |
| Collar & station builder ×2 | Part-time | $35,000–50,000 | Supported-employment programs (Dept. of Rehabilitation, Regional Center) + hardware sales to other cities |
| Field tech / drone pilot (Part 107) | 0.5 FTE | $30,000–40,000 | Rodent-monitoring subscriptions (this role is what warehouses are paying for) |
| Data checker (remote) | Part-time | $15,000–25,000 | Supported-employment programs |
| Vet students ×3 per clinic day | Rotating | $0–10,000 | Unpaid placements earning required hours; travel stipend from the vet-school partnership |
| People, year one | ≈ $335,000–490,000 | ≈ 35 % wage-subsidy eligible in year one | |
CalWORKs subsidized employment and county workforce programs can reimburse a large share of wages for eligible placements for an initial period, and supported-employment programs fund job coaching on top. Caretaker, builder and data-checker roles are built to qualify. That is why they're structured as part-time, low-barrier, trainable jobs.
No role is "volunteer until we get funding." No role is contingent on the van. If a grant lands short, we run fewer sites and fewer clinic days — we don't stop paying people.
| Line | Basis | Year one est. | Funded by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile clinic van (one-time) | New MSNC build-out; see the clinic page | $280,000–400,000 | Grant stack (PetSmart Charities, Maddie's, state shelter grants) + corporate naming sponsor |
| Surgical supplies, anesthetics, vaccines, microchips | ~2,500 cats | $75,000–105,000 | Animal-welfare grants + city per-cat rate |
| Food, litter, parasite prevention | ~60 placed cats × 12 mo | $25,000–40,000 | Sponsor subscriptions (it's their colony) |
| Collars, gateways, stations, spares | 100 collars, 12 gateways, 8 feed/litter stations, 3 smart traps | $12,000–18,000 | City pilot + sponsor install fees |
| Thermal drone + spare batteries | One enterprise thermal unit | $6,000–12,000 | Rodent-monitoring revenue |
| Insurance (GL, drone, professional), licenses, registrations | — | $10,000–18,000 | Operating revenue |
| Van running costs (fuel, generator, maintenance, waste) | ~100 clinic days | $15,000–26,000 | Animal-welfare grants + city day rate |
| Dashboard, data pipeline, hosting | — | in-kind (Artificial Mind Hive) | — |
PetSmart Charities, ASPCA, Maddie's Fund, Best Friends, BISSELL, Banfield, California for All Animals (via the shelter). Pays for: DVM, RVTs, surgical supplies, the van.
CalWORKs subsidized employment, the county Workforce Development Board, Dept. of Rehabilitation, Regional Center. Pays for: caretakers, builders, data checkers, job coaching.
Warehouses, logistics yards, breweries, wineries paying for managed working-cat sites and rodent monitoring. Pays for: program lead, field tech, food and litter, insurance.
Pilot funding, a per-cat sterilization rate, a mapping-and-monitoring contract, a letter of support that unlocks pocket 1.
By year three the sponsor sites and the rodent contracts cover people and consumables; the grants pay for surgeries and growth; the van is paid for. The city's cost drops to a per-cat rate and a data subscription. That's the trajectory the day-90 report is built to prove.
A full line-item budget in spreadsheet form, with the assumptions behind every range, is available on request.