After having to turn away dogs due to an outbreak of kennel cough at their shelter, Orange County Animal Services (Website) finally resumed normal intake of dogs last week, only to find themselves quickly overwhelmed. In the first week of accepting stray dogs, from October 30 through November 5, OCAS received 158 dogs. On Monday, November 6 alone the shelter received another 40 dogs.
The shelter is now caring for more than 200 surrendered dogs and asking for the community to step forward to adopt, foster, or attempt to reunite found dogs with their owners before resorting to bringing them to the shelter. Adoption fees have been waived for dogs already spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped, and they have been designated as “ready to go.”
“Last week we announced our new intake diversion program, an attempt to match struggling pet owners with available community resources to keep them out of the shelter. For some pet owners the option to keep the pet wasn’t possible, so there’s a line forming of owned dogs needing to come into the shelter that we won’t be able to help until our dog population is more manageable.”
– DIANE SUMMERS, MANAGER, ORANGE COUNTY ANIMAL SERVICES
The shelter unleashed the intake diversion program last week, offering phone consultations to those considering surrendering their pet to the shelter. Dozens of appointments have been booked. The most common theme for surrendering their pet was the desire for them to have a better life with a different owner. With some responses saying, “Apartment complex is threatening eviction because of the dog’s size,” “Have nowhere else to go,” “Got Evicted,” “I now have cancer,” “Can’t take care of it,” “Apartment complex doesn’t accept breed,” and “Cannot afford vet services.”
Click HERE to see the available doggos.
