Professional, polite and well-spoken, Julie Virga is a powerhouse. She’s relentless, determined and uncompromising.
She doesn’t mince words or pull punches when advocating for Sacramento’s dogs and cats. She requests meetings with city officials, sets agendas and gets attention.
A Sacramento native, Virga has rescued, fostered and rehomed countless animals, and volunteered as a foster parent for the city’s Front Street Animal Shelter.
After presenting public comments at almost every animal care commission meeting for the past five years, Virga now sits on the dais instead of standing before it. City Councilmember Phil Pluckebaum appointed her to the Animal Wellbeing Commission late last year.
The appointment is a testament to Virga’s refusal to let Front Street fail the city’s homeless pets.
Her latest mission began in 2020, shortly after Phillip Zimmerman took the lead at Front Street, replacing former Shelter Manager Gina Knepp.
Problems started with the pandemic. Front Street closed and stayed shuttered, even as other shelters opened with COVID protocols.
But the community still needed help with stray animals.
“I witnessed people turned away while begging for help,” Virga says. “I watched Front Street refuse almost all animals, even if they were sick or injured.
“There was chaos, irresponsible rehoming. Heartbreak was a daily occurrence. The shelter was an essential service care provider. We needed them to open.”
Instead, Front Street encouraged “community fostering” to keep stray dogs and cats out of the shelter. Zimmerman called it the “future of animal sheltering.”
“That marked the moment I became not just an advocate but an activist,” Virga says.
Under Zimmerman’s leadership, healthy homeless animals were turned away. Euthanasia for space and behavior reasons skyrocketed. High-volume community spay/neuter was non-existent. Volunteers and rescue partners were ostracized.
A city audit found multiple problems, including unfinalized policies, hundreds of unanswered calls for animal control and unaltered pets released to the public in violation of state law.
“They kicked spay/neuter to the curb and we wonder why our shelters are overflowing with desperate, helpless animals at our mercy,” Virga says.
Virga, with fellow animal advocate Elyse Mize and others, launched Fix Front Street, now with nearly 2,000 Facebook followers.
They hired an attorney and requested meetings with Front Street management, the city manager, the mayor’s office and City Council members. “We brought solutions. We offered free spay/neuter,” she says. But the city “had no interest.”
Virga says, “I wasn’t looking for this battle. But when it became increasingly clear that this shelter was in big trouble with their current management team, I knew if I didn’t stand up to them no one else would.”
Virga comes from a large, close-knit family. Her father, Michael J. Virga, spent two decades as a Sacramento County Superior Court judge. One of her three brothers, Michael G. Virga, followed his father onto the Superior Court bench.
“My family has a legacy of integrity and has been active in our community for generations,” she says.
After earning a law degree, Julie Virga changed career paths. She opened Virga’s Restaurant Bar & Catering near the state Capitol. When the restaurant business proved harder than she imagined, she sold in 2006.
“But I learned resilience, problem solving and confidence in my abilities to figure out whatever was necessary to succeed,” she says.
Today the family owns Virga Law Firm, Jack’s Urban Eats, Paesanos and Uncle Vito’s. Julie Virga is a Realtor and broker for Virga Realty.
Momentum with Fix Front Street led Virga and other advocates to establish the nonprofit Fix Our Shelters, a watchdog organization that promotes high-volume, affordable spay/neuter, humane education and common-sense breeding laws. The group has held multiple spay/neuter clinics.
Virga says, “Front Street can be transformed into a model public shelter—one that demonstrates what is possible when leadership, policy, the law and compassion are aligned.”
Zimmerman retires in May. Sacramento has a new mayor, new city manager, new City Council members and new members of the Animal Wellbeing Commission.
Front Street’s future looks promising.
For previous reporting on Front Street Animal Shelter, visit insidesacramento.com/civic-dashboard.
Cathryn Rakich can be reached at cathrynrakich@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
