Shelby Nelson, Sareen Habeshian | Contributed

Taking home a furry friend is getting easier in Riverside County.

The county’s Department of Animal Services is waiving all adoption fees starting Monday to offset the packed conditions at its shelters in Jurupa Valley and Thousand Palms.

“We’re at maximum capacity and we need the public’s help to immediately improve the outcomes of dogs and cats currently in our care,” Animal Services Director Erin Gettis said.

As of Monday, the county is caring for almost 900 animals, including 644 dogs. Staffers at the Coachella Valley Animal Campus in Thousand Palms are caring for 211 dogs and 52 cats. The staff at the Western Riverside County/City Animal Shelter in Jurupa Valley are currently caring for 420 dogs and 153 cats.

The county’s Animal Services is a high-volume sheltering organization, impounding more than 30,000 animals annually.

The current trend is not sustainable, the agency said Monday, explaining that more animals are impounded by officers or brought into the shelter by the public than the number of animals getting adopted or transferred to rescue partner organizations.

More than 20,000 animals arrived at the shelter as strays last year, Animal Services said.

The county’s two shelters are seeing an abundance of large-breed dogs, in particular German shepherds and huskies.

“With large breed dogs it becomes challenging with kenneling as some of these dogs need more space, or need to be kenneled separately which compounds our problem,” Gettis said.

Waiving adoption fees is typically only done on special occasions, such as for events and holidays, but waiving adoption fees for the foreseeable future is a new approach for Animal Services.

“It is important we send this message of our urgent need,” Gettis said. “As summer approaches there are additional challenges with kitten season and the Fourth-of-July holiday when Animal Services sees a large increase of impounds.”

The public can help with long term efforts to address pet overpopulation in Riverside County by spaying and neutering their pets, microchipping them to help reunite lost pets with their families, putting a collar and tag on your pet to help when they are lost, and spreading the word on the importance of these important steps to help combat pet overpopulation, Animal Services said.

Residents who can’t adopt are being asked to assist in other ways, such as signing up to be a volunteer to help socialize and walk with the larger breed dogs, or fostering animals in their homes, especially kittens.

“At the moment, this is a call for immediate action,” Gettis said. “Please help reduce the number of animals in our care by adopting or rescuing large breed dogs. The shelter is full and we cannot do this without your help.”

For more information on adopting a pet from the Riverside County Department of Animal Services, check the website https://www.rcdas.org.

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(California Is Trying To Do More)

Veterans in California will no longer pay adoption fees at local animal shelters; the bill passed by Governor Gavin Newsom (Senate Bill 245) on Friday, Aug, 30th, 2019. The idea behind this bill is that California is home to over 2 million veterans and many of them struggle with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), studies have shown that veterans with animal companions ease back into society easier. This bill was passed in the State Assembly 76-0 and the State Senate 37-0. That means all of the Republicans & Democrats in the office came together and unanimously decided that this was a bill that needed to be passed. 

According to the Bill: This bill would prohibit a public animal shelter from charging an adoption fee for a dog or cat if the person adopting the dog or cat presents to the public animal shelter a current and valid driver’s license or identification card with the word “VETERAN” printed on its face pursuant to the above-described provision. The bill also would authorize a public animal shelter to limit the number of dogs and cats adopted from that particular public animal shelter by an eligible veteran to one dog and cat every six months.

This bill will help ease the financial burden many veterans face when trying to train a service dog or emotional support animal. Training can be expensive, and many Veterans live on fixed incomes, one of the most expensive parts can be the adoption fees. Adoption fees vary from shelter to shelter, but usually cost more than one hundred dollars. Service Dogs help Veterans in many ways, in particular, helping them cope with loss, depression, and anxiety. 

“I think a lot of veterans are struggling and they are looking for treatment options anywhere they can find them,” Maggie O’Haire says. “There is a lot of hope around this practice, and veterans deserve to know if it works.”

Maggie O’Haire is the assistant professor of human-animal interaction in the College of Veterinary Medicine; she firmly believes that animals can be one of the major treatments for Veterans who are struggling with PTSD. Maggie believes that service animals are at the forefront of treatment/medication options for PTSD and have found it more effective than prescribed medications. 

If service animals are leading the way in curing PTSD then maybe they can lead the way in healing other Mental Illnesses. All in all, the passing of this bill was a great example of how both political parties can put agenda aside and agree to help the men and women who sacrificed so much for our freedom. If you served in the military and are dealing with PTSD, seek help. It doesn’t mean you are weak; it makes you wise to talk to someone who understands what you are going through. 

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Search: California Is Trying To Do More

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