RivCo Animal Services hosts second-annual Adopt-a-Pet Day
Kendall Flynn
THOUSAND PALMS, Calif (KESQ) – The Riverside County Department of Animal Services is making efforts to aid its overwhelmed shelters by holding California’s second-annual Adopt-a-Pet Day.
One of the 150 shelters participating is the Coachella Valley Animal Campus, who says they are overrun with dogs and cats. The Adopt-a-Pet Day waives any adoption fees, as officials hope it encourages residents to add a new furry friend to their home.
Across all campuses, there are over 800 dogs available for adoption, which are sharing just over 300 kennels. While cats are adopted more often, they say, across all shelters, they still have over 200 cats.
Officials with CVAC say they aren’t able to give proper care to animals if they are having to share toys, blankets and somewhere to sleep.
“We are over 200% capacity across all three of our shelters,” CVAC’S Animal Services Manager Marlo Clingman said. “And the more capacity we are the fewer things we can do to enrich these animals time with us. When there’s four dogs in a kennel you can’t really, toss a treat.”
RivCo’s goal is for 5,000 pets to be adopted on Saturday. But they know it can be difficult for people to commit to being a full-time pet owner.
If residents are not able to adopt, they recommend they participate in “Ticket to Ride” or their foster system.
“We just need a couple weeks or even a couple days for you to hold them, keep them safe while we’re preparing them to go out,” Clingman said.
Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing coverage of overcrowded animal shelters in Riverside County and their efforts to move pets into homes and out of shelters.