Riverside County’s animal shelters are operating beyond capacity, “with zero empty kennels,” prompting officials Thursday to issue a plea for prospective adopters, as well as those willing to foster pets for a while, to visit any of the four shelters to retrieve a dog or cat.
According to the Department of Animal Services, as of Thursday morning, nearly 1,300 canines and felines were impounded countywide, leaving virtually no space for animals in need of special care, dangerous quarantines or other conditions. There was a surge of impounds during the Memorial Day weekend period, officials said.
“Right now, we have zero empty kennels for incoming dogs, and there are three, four or more dogs in nearly every kennel that is designed to safely house just one to two dogs,” agency Director Mary Martin said. “Euthanasia is a last resort strategy that we are desperate to avoid, but it is the reality we are facing right now in order to ensure we are able to provide safe, humane care for every … pet across our shelter system.”
In an unprecedented move to incentivize adoptions and relieve overcrowding, the San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus will be open to visitors from 10 a.m. to midnight on Saturday. The facility, located at 581 S. Grand Ave., typically closes at 4 p.m.
“With more dogs coming in than are leaving, it is imperative that the public, partners and stakeholders take action to foster, adopt and help rescue dogs who are at-risk of euthanasia because there is not enough space to house them,” Martin said. “We are also working urgently on incorporating more lifesaving strategies, but we will need support from our community to get our population to a healthy and safe level.”
She emphasized that same-day adoptions and fosters are available at all of the shelters. Only the Blythe Shelter is closed weekends; otherwise, its operating hours are Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus, Coachella Valley Animal Campus in Thousand Palms and Western Riverside County Animal Shelter in Jurupa Valley operate Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. They’re closed on Mondays.
Last week, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution declaring the county’s goal of becoming a “no-kill” jurisdiction for pets, seeking to ensure that 90% of pets impounded at county-run facilities leave alive.
“It took us a while to get here with this resolution,” board Chairman Manuel Perez said. “The goal is to save as many animals as possible.”
The measure, among other things, contains a pledge that the county will “work collaboratively with public and private partners, animal welfare organizations, veterinary professionals, contract cities and residents … to reduce euthanasia.”
The 90% no-kill goal entails greater emphasis on free or low-cost spay and neuter clinics, enhanced “return-to-owner” programs that unite lost pets with their loved ones, adoption campaigns and expedited “trap-neuter-return-to-field” programs for “community cats.”
Animal services remains in the early stages of a reformation initiated last year by the board.
A lawsuit filed in August by Rancho Mirage-based Walter Clark Law Group is seeking a permanent injunction against the department’s euthanasia programs. Clark called it a “ground-breaking case” that’s predicated on the 1998 Hayden Act. That legislation, authored by then-state Sen. Tom Hayden, D-Santa Monica, states in part, “no adoptable animal should be euthanized if it can be adopted into a suitable home.”
One organization has alleged the county has the highest pet “kill rate” in the nation.
In September, the board hired Austin, Texas-based Outcomes for Pets LLC Principal Adviser Kristen Hassen to rectify problems within the agency.
In February, the supervisors approved the Executive Office’s selection of Martin to head the department following a nationwide executive recruitment drive. She most recently served as assistant director for Dallas Animal Services of Texas.
Information regarding shelters’ hours of operation and pets ready for adoption is available at www.rcdas.org.