Dead critters, filthy cages: New Sunset supervisor left pet store in squalor, owner says

When Mayor Daniel Lurie appointed political newcomer Isabella “Beya” Alcaraz as District 4’s supervisor last week, he touted (opens in new tab) her record as the owner of a pet store and celebrated her as a “bridge builder” and “problem solver.” 

But to Julia Baran, who took over Alcaraz’s Irving Street pet supply store, The Animal Connection, this year, the mayor’s announcement came as a shock. She wondered why Lurie’s team had not contacted her and questioned whether they had vetted Alcaraz’s track record as a business owner.

The Animal Connection was in a state of squalor when Alcaraz handed over the store to Baran in May, according to more than a dozen videos and photos that Baran shared with The Standard. Baran said she discovered hundreds of dead mice beneath shelving on the sales floor, cages covered in rodent urine, mounds of trash, and a freezer filled with dozens of deceased pets.

“It smells like death,” Baran said in a May 19 video that showed masses of dead mice and feces behind one of the store’s shelves. Baran said it took months and thousands of dollars to clean out the filth and bring the shop to a state in which she feels comfortable welcoming customers.

“There was a layer of pee and dust and poop on everything,” Baran said. “On the walls. On every cabinet. On a lot of the inventory, so I couldn’t even sell it.”

The revelations about The Animal Connection add to the confusion reverberating through City Hall and the Sunset after Lurie tapped Alcaraz, an unknown in political circles. The 29-year-old most recently worked as an art and music teacher and has no experience in government, but the mayor is counting on her to cast critical votes in support of his agenda, including a controversial upzoning plan and management of an ongoing budget crisis. Additionally, she will help determine the future of Sunset Dunes, the park that sparked the recall of her predecessor, Supervisor Joel Engardio.

Baran was blunt in her assessment of Lurie’s appointee: “How are you going to think you’re responsible enough to represent the whole people of the Sunset when you can’t operate a business?”

Alcaraz declined an interview request and did not respond to a list of questions about her time at The Animal Connection. In a statement, she said, “Our small businesses are what makes the Sunset the best place to live. Any small business owner can tell you that running one isn’t easy — but since the day I took over, my goal has always been to ensure The Animal Connection could continue bringing joy to our community.”

She added, “I’m proud to have handed the keys to someone I believe will carry that work forward and given her the tools to succeed, and as supervisor, I will work relentlessly on behalf of [Baran] and every other small business owner in the Sunset so we can have the vibrant community we deserve.”

In a statement, mayor’s office spokesperson Charles Lutvak said, “In Beya Alcaraz, the Sunset has a supervisor who has dedicated her life to serving her community and will work every day to bring people together. She stepped up from employee to owner of The Animal Connection — working seven days a week for six years and keeping the doors open through the pandemic to serve her neighbors. That’s the determination and the work ethic she brings to the Board of Supervisors, and it’s why Mayor Lurie is absolutely confident she is the best person to be the Sunset’s voice in City Hall.”

The Standard reported in February that Alcaraz, who took ownership of The Animal Connection in 2019, was looking to give away her business for free after six years at the helm of the store, which has been around since the 1980s. At the time, Alcaraz explained that she needed to offload the business after her family moved back to the Philippines, stating that it was challenging to balance the travel requirements with business operations.  

“This might seem crazy, but the most important thing to me … is the quality care of our animals and having customers taken care of,” Alcaraz wrote on the store’s website. While the deal was advertised as a giveaway, Alcaraz said she wanted to recoup the price of her merchandise for “a couple hundred grand.” In addition to pet supplies, the shop sells birds, fish, and reptiles.

Despite the mayor’s claim in announcing her appointment that Alcaraz had sold The Animal Connection, no money has exchanged hands, according to Baran. The Standard confirmed that ownership of the store is under Baran’s name through an LLC.

Documents obtained by The Standard show that the store struggled for years during Alcaraz’s tenure. Profit and loss statements reveal that the business was in the red by tens of thousands of dollars between 2020 and 2023. Baran opened up the store’s books, which show large declines in net sales between 2023 to 2025. In the final four months of Alcaraz’s time at The Animal Connection — January to April — net sales shrank nearly 20%.

According to Baran, there was ample evidence that Alcaraz was neglectful in her care of the store. Reptiles that had been kept out of view in the back were in cages covered with mouse urine and feces, she said. Additionally, she said, mice had burrowed into the walls, leaving piles of debris so heavy that she broke a broom trying to clean them out. 

A video Baran took June 3 shows someone helping her shovel mounds of trash strewn throughout the store’s sales floor. Another video taken that day shows a rodent bait station covered in rat feces. Others show Baran discarding a mouse nest that nearly filled a 5-gallon bucket.

Baran claims that Alcaraz left around 40 dead animals, including lizards and guinea pigs, in the store’s back freezers. Baran and her brother buried them, she said. The Standard was not able to independently confirm the allegations of dead animals in the freezer.

Baran, a Mission resident who splits her time operating The Animal Connection and working as a cocktail server, said she was excited for the opportunity to take over a business she had visited as a kid, when her father used to sell finches to the store. 

However, red flags emerged in the days leading up to her takeover of The Animal Connection in the spring.

On May 2, Alcaraz sent an email to the property’s manager requesting that the lease be transferred to Baran, according to a copy of the correspondence. The manager, Jack Hirsch, denied this request, stating that he had talked with the family who owned the property, and after reviewing “the payment history and activity, the family has decided not to participate in your request to assign the lease.” Alcaraz’s name remains on the lease, according to Baran, and there has been disagreement between the two over whether the landlord promised to extend it beyond January 2026. Baran said she has been informed that she will have to leave the property next year.

Baran said she questions Alcaraz’s ability to represent a district of about 80,000 residents. She said she is in touch with Lurie’s office about the allegations that Alcaraz’s business was in disrepair when she took over and has sent the mayor’s team video evidence of the dead mice and detritus littering the store.

“If I am a person of San Francisco and this is my home, I would want to know that this person is portraying [herself as] someone they are not,” said Baran.

Some employees and customers of The Animal Connection defended Alcaraz, saying it is difficult to keep rodents out of businesses. “You really can’t eradicate them,” said Molly Thomas, founder of a Sunset surf shop and a pet store customer. “And these buildings are so old.”

Jen Grafelman, who owned The Animal Connection in the late 2010s and worked with Alcaraz, said pet stores naturally attract rodents due to easy access to seeds and other foods. However, after reviewing the videos taken by Baran, she stated that the conditions were problematic.

“That wouldn’t be something that would’ve happened on my watch,” said Grafelman. “When I worked with [Alcaraz], that’s not something I saw. I can’t really attest to this particular situation.” 

Speculation over Lurie’s appointment began weeks before District 4 voters ousted Engardio from office in a Sept. 16 recall election. The November 2024 ballot measure Proposition K, which Engardio supported, closed a portion of the Great Highway to cars to make space for Sunset Dunes and was deeply unpopular in the district despite passing with 55% of the vote citywide. 

Alcaraz’s thin résumé has many observers questioning how she will handle some of the more challenging — and immediate — policy problems facing the district. 

One of her first significant votes will be on Lurie’s state-mandated rezoning plan, which calls for tens of thousands of new housing units, including in northern and western neighborhoods like the Sunset, which are typically averse to development. Alcaraz has stated that she is working on amendments to the rezoning plan but has not provided details. The plan is due in January.

The district also remains deeply divided over Sunset Dunes. Some supervisors have floated the idea of returning the issue to the ballot to reopen the Great Highway to cars on weekdays, and Alcaraz’s position will be closely watched. Alcaraz has declined to share how she voted on Prop. K. 

Alcaraz has suggested she will seek a compromise on the Great Highway to partially reopen it to cars — and also intends to run for a four-year term in office in next year’s election. 

The supervisor said she became interested in the job after approaching Lurie at a Sunset After Dark event in September. “When I saw him, in my head, I said, ‘This is something that has to happen,’” Alcaraz told The Standard in an interview last week. “I was very determined in that moment. It felt like an obligation.”

Alcaraz joined Lurie on Friday for a tour of District 4 businesses along Irving Street. They visited a pizza shop, a corner store, and a pho restaurant — but not her former pet store about a mile west, where Baran was busy cleaning. 

Baran says she should have been more diligent about reviewing The Animal Connection’s background and Alcaraz’s record as its owner. She hasn’t been the perfect tenant. She admitted to paying her rent late.

Baran said she remains committed to the store. And though she’s made progress on cleaning it, there’s more work to be done: A Standard reporter who visited The Animal Connection on Friday saw mice scurrying in the back.

Baran said she sees “very little, if any” personal benefit from sharing her story of taking over The Animal Connection.

“When weighing all of the negative outcomes that could come of this for me, and thinking about why I’m even doing this, my friends and colleagues helped me see that what’s most important to me is that people know the truth,” she said. “Because I would want to know the truth, even if it’s unpleasant.”