The Riverside County Department of Animal Services found the ducks Tuesday after investigating overcrowding conditions at a property in unincorporated Riverside County, according to the agency. The birds were taken to the San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus, where officials urgently called on the public and rescue organizations to help place them beginning Wednesday.

According to a social media update from the San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus, all 480 ducks have been rescued or adopted, marking one of the largest single intake-and-placement efforts for the department in over a decade.

“This large-scale operation required extensive teamwork and coordination across our department,” Riverside County officials said in the social media update.

Animal service officials were not available to explain who had adopted the animals and whether they were adopted as pets or food. But Daniel Markichevich told KABC that he and his fiancée Savannah Burgardt visited the San Jacinto shelter on Wednesday and planned on adopting 20 ducks for their San Jacinto property.

“We have a 3.5-acre farm, so they will just go right into the area and enjoy, and we’ll get out there and look at them, eat their eggs and have a whole full life for them,” said Markichevich, who recently completed construction on a pond in their backyard.

An animal sanctuary in Vacaville, dubbed the Funky Chicken Rescue, took in eight of the ducks, according to a social media post.

Officials said the original owner of the ducks had intended to create a sanctuary for the animals but animal control officers ultimately determined that conditions required intervention, citing improper husbandry and concerns about the number of birds being housed.

Before taking in the ducks, the animal services agency coordinated with the California Department of Food and Agriculture to test a sample of the ducks for zoonotic diseases, according to the county. All results came back negative but early assessments indicated the birds had not received adequate care, according to authorities.

“Overcrowding can contribute to stress and decreased immune function,” Itzel Vizcarra, chief veterinarian for the county animal services agency, said in a statement. “Inadequate nutrition, particularly vitamin A deficiency, can impair the lining of the digestive tract, predisposing birds to inflammation and secondary illness.”

The swift placement effort was supported in part by community donations, including more than 70 bags of waterfowl feed provided by a local business, according to the San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus.

While the ducks now have new homes, officials said the investigation into overcrowding conditions at the original property is ongoing.

The post 480 ducks find homes after an emergency rescue operation in Riverside County appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

The San Jacinto animal campus is located at 581 S. Grand Avenue. Operating hours on Thursday have been extended until dark. The site typically shuts down at 4 p.m. From Friday to Sunday, the campus will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

As an incentive to boost interest, the department is waiving all general adoption fees at county-run shelters this Sunday, although mandatory basic license fees will still be required. Licenses range from $12 to $25 for altered pets.

The Riverside County Department of Animal Services spokeswoman Veronica Perez shared a statement that startled many, saying, “The animal campus is at crisis capacity with dogs, and we need immediate public support to foster and adopt large breeds.”Available to adopt at San Jacinto Animal Campus, I am a female, 35.00 lbs, brown brindle and white Terrier and Queensland Heeler. Age: The shelter staff thinks I am about 9 months old. More Info: I have been at the shelter since Apr 23, 2025.

The shelter, San Jacinto campus — one of four operated by Riverside County, has a total of 153 kennel spaces. However, there are currently 424 canines impounded at the facility.

“Dogs are sharing kennels with two or three kennel mates,” Perez said. “More dogs are coming in than leaving on a daily basis.”

Just this week, a batch of bulldog mix puppies were brought in, according to the San Jacinto Animal Services website. They are approximately 3 days old and still nursing from their mother. Foster help was still being sought as of Friday.

To quell this, all customary return-to-owner fees and all other adoption fees are suspended for anyone willing to take home a pet from the campus, Perez said.

“All resources will be provided for fosters who might be able to help between Thursday and Sunday,” she added.

Fostering involves taking the pets home and nurturing them in an environment where they can thrive, outside of cages, for set periods of time, and not permanently, officials said.

Along with the San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus, the Coachella Valley Animal Campus in Thousand Palms, and the Western Riverside County Animal Shelter in Jurupa Valley, will be open on Sundays from now on, as part of a countywide effort to place more dogs and cats into homes.

Information regarding shelters’ hours of operation and pets ready for adoption is available at www.rcdas.org.

The post ‘We’re At Crisis Capacity’ RivCo Animal Shelter Pleads For New Owners appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

SAN JACINTO, CA — With nearly 1,000 dogs needing adoption, the Riverside County Department of Animal Services is asking for help fostering and adopting their pets. To do that, new pet owners can bring home a dog or puppy for under $25, according to that agency.

For one week, the agency will offer all canines—including puppies—free to take home without adoption fees in Riverside County to free up space at the county’s four shelters, all operating over capacity. Prospective pets are available for meet and greets at the Blythe Animal Shelter, San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus, Coachella Valley Animal Campus in Thousand Palms and Western Riverside County Animal Shelter in Jurupa Valley.

“With 949 total dogs in our care, it is urgent that we find homes for adoptions and foster,” Department of Animal Services Interim Director Dr. Kimberly Youngberg said. “As we move into spring, we are seeing more pets entering the shelter than we have resources to save, and that’s why we are asking for our communities’ help.”

Though all adoption fees are waived, new owners must pay basic license fees during the promotion, they said. License costs generally range from $12 to $25 for altered pets.

Youngberg said the current goal is to locate homes for at least 150 dogs. She said many of the impounded pets are likely runaways who simply got lost.

“We are working hard to reunite pets with the families that love them,” Youngberg said. “We are making 2025 the year that lost pets return home!”

In addition to outright adoptions, some sheltered animals are available to foster. That involves taking the dogs home and nurturing them in an environment where they can thrive outside of cages, officials said.

“The pets most in need of foster care are larger dogs, those with medical needs, and those with behavioral challenges,” according to the Department of Animal Services.

The agency is in the early stages of a reformation initiated last year by the county Board of Supervisors.

A lawsuit filed in August, spearheaded by Rancho Mirage-based Walter Clark Law Group, is seeking a permanent injunction against the Department of Animal Services’ 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 nonprofit 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.

Earlier this month, the supervisors approved the Executive Office’s selection of Mary Martin to head the department following a nationwide executive recruitment drive. Martin, who is expected to take over in the next month, currently serves as assistant director for Dallas Animal Services of Texas.

She will fill the spot left vacant by the exit of Erin Gettis, who faced a barrage of criticism, almost going back to when she took the helm in 2021. Gettis is now an administrator at the Riverside University Medical Center in Moreno Valley.

More information about pets ready to be adopted is available at rcdas.org/adoptable-pets.

To report a lost or stray pet anywhere in the county, officials asked residents to use wwwpetcolovelost.org.

The post Nearly 1K Dogs, Puppies Need Homes Clear Animal Shelters In RivCo appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Riverside County Animal Services officer Michael Cox waded toward the bird that was struggling to free itself from some fishing line discarded at Lake Evans at Fairmount Park in Riverside. Once he reached the bird, the water was up to his chest and that’s when the officer realized the fishing line was snagged in a tree, essentially trapping the bird from mobility. Officer Cox needed to watch out for the sharp beak of the black crowned night heron. Frightened by his presence, the heron took a few swipes at Officer Cox.

“From my training, I know water fowl go for your eyes,” Cox said. “I was being very cautious.”

He was able to avoid injury, snipped the line and calmly walked the bird to shore to finish removing all of the line.

His colleague, Officer Mary Salazar, assisted him when get got to dry land and he later emptied his rubber boots filled with Lake Evans water.

Officer Salazar noticed the heron had a hook in one of its wings. They transported the heron to the Western Riverside County/City Animal Shelter in Jurupa Valley where veterinary staffers carefully removed the hook and examined it for any injuries. It was kept overnight for observation.

“Animal rescue comes in all shapes and sizes,” Animal Services Director Erin Gettis said. “I am so proud of officers Cox and Salazar and all the field officers for the work they do to assist any and all critters in need.”

Officer Cox returned to Fairmount Park Sept. 5 and released the heron.

Not too far from the release site, signs advise anglers to discard their lines. Cox said he and his fellow officers get calls frequently for lines tangled in legs and wings.

“If people aren’t cleaning up their fishing lines, it will happen again,” he said. “We hope people realize that they need to be mindful of the wild birds while fishing. Please know that the lines can be harmful – if not fatal – for our feathered friends.”

The post Riverside County Animal Services officer takes plunge to untangle bird wrapped in fishing line appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

A group of elementary school children from Los Amigos Elementary School in Rancho Cucamonga comes to the Friends of Upland Animal Shelter on Monday afternoons, part of the “Reading Buddies” program, to read to the dogs and cats at the shelter.

While some local shelter employees say they haven’t reached pre-pandemic numbers, adoption rates are lower and don’t match the high number of animals coming into shelters now, post-COVID. The dogs coming in are younger — between 1 and 3 years old — and the breeds, shelter employees said, are mainly German shepherds, huskies, and pit bulls — like Hazel.

In 2023, Friends of Upland Animal Shelter took in 1,835 animals, 934 of those were dogs, and one-third were under 5 months old. A report published in 2024 found the majority of those animals were brought in as strays.

That year 1,252 animals were adopted out, 47% of which were dogs.

In pre-pandemic 2019, the shelter reported 2,368 animals came into the shelter and 1,542 were adopted, more than half of those adoptions were dogs. In comparison, 2020  saw 1,540 animals come in, with 1,506 adoptions. Dogs were 33% of the adoptions.

In 2023, the number of stray dogs taken in by shelters nationwide increased 6% in the period from January to November, as compared to 2022, and that number is up about 22% from 2021, according to Shelter Animals Count, which surveys nearly 7,000 shelters nationally. 

“Most of our shelters are overrun with huskies, shepherds, and pit mixes or purebred pit bulls,” said Nikole Bresciani, CEO and president of Inland Valley Humane Society in Pomona. “The reality is, is that the large dogs are harder to place, especially those large dogs that have behavior issues.”

It’s a similar situation at the Rancho Cucamonga Animal Center, according to spokesperson Jennifer Camacho-Curtis. They too have seen an increase in larger dog breeds between the ages of 1 and 3, most brought in as strays, she said in an email.

The Rancho Cucamonga shelter has seen a similar trend in the numbers of animals coming into the shelter compared to what is being adopted out.

Friends of Upland Animal Shelter works with the Inland Valley Humane Society to try to move animals out of the shelters faster and to prevent overcrowding.

Inland Valley Humane Society is faced with a different challenge.

Animals will be adopted or moved to another shelter on Saturday and by the time the doors reopen Monday more animals will have been brought in, Bresciani said.

“No matter how many we push out we’re getting more than we can handle and they’re coming in at an alarmingly fast rate,” she said.

The low adoption rates and high intake rates have created a difficult situation where other shelters they work with have had less of an ability to take animals because their own facilities are at capacity, Bresciani said.

“It makes it frustrating … there were things that we used to be able to do to save more lives,” said Shelly Foglesong, vice president of Friends of Upland. At one time, she could pull animals from the Inland Valley shelter to ease overcrowding, but with Upland at or near capacity that ability has dropped.

It is really a perfect storm, Bresciani said, from unprepared and perhaps uneducated owners, to a drop in animals that have been spayed or neutered following a period of COVID restrictions on those procedures, and owners who are unable to keep their pets after their situations were affected by COVID.

The most common reason Foglesong said she’s heard for owners turning in their pets is lack of living situations where pets are welcome or affordable. The cost of procedures for pets has also been referenced as a hardship.

A poodle was surrendered with a broken leg, Foglesong said. They were offered options for CareCredit or payment plans and the owners chose to surrender the dog.

Despite steps shelters are taking to help with spaying and neutering to reduce overpopulation, Bresciani said, past restrictions during the pandemic caused a backlog.

People also got pets when they were feeling isolated during the pandemic.

The thinking was “I want this pet and I want it to be perfect and I want it now,” Bresciani said, when in reality “pets are like children” with a lot of energy and they also “don’t always do what you want them to do.”

Many shelters, including Inland Valley Humane Society and Friends of Upland Animal Shelter, provide options for training. Inland Valley also has an online rehoming service for owners unable to care for their pets.

Hazel was one of those brought to the Upland shelter as a stray in July 2023. The lack of space in the shelter has her living in one of the meet-and-greet spaces. The door has a paper sunflower with details about the brown and white pit bull terrier, who’s about 6 years old, along with a cheerful greeting.

“We usually put her in the rotations, the kids like seeing familiar faces,” said Sherrie Darrow, volunteer coordinator for Friends of Upland Animal Shelter.

For the children to see that not every animal gets adopted super fast, that’s a good lesson, Darrow said. Some animals, like Hazel, will be around through the school year. Other times they will see a puppy they’ll never see again because it’s gonna get adopted quickly.

The post Some Inland Empire shelters say they’re getting animals in faster than they can get them out appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

ARE Animal Rescue, Hemet, CA, announced that the all-volunteer nonprofit organization has teamed up with the PetSmart stores in Glendora and Corona, CA, to showcase in the stores’ catteries kittens and adult cats that ARE has available for adoption. These agreements bring to five the number of in-store catteries ARE occupies in Southern California. The others are in PetSmart on College Blvd. in Oceanside and PetSmart and Petco in Hemet.

ARE Animal Rescue’s headquarters and main adoption center are in a 5,300-square-foot storefront at 101 East Florida Ave. in Hemet.

As of September 14, ARE had 1127 cats and dogs in its care and so far in 2020 had rescued 1893 animals and found homes for 1460. Since its founding, ARE has rescued 3961 animals and found homes for 2834.

ARE has grown exponentially in the two years since its founding in June 2108. In addition to the five catteries and adoption center, ARE has 272 foster homes spread across four counties: Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange and San Diego. Foster volunteers care for the animals – from pregnant moms and bottle babies to the sick, injured and those needing socialization – until they’re old enough, healthy and ready for adoption.

In April 2020, ARE stepped up its intakes to help the local communities when Riverside County Dept. of Animal Services closed to the public its animal shelter in San Jacinto.

In announcing the latest store relationships, ARE’s founder/executive director Amber Schlieder noted that with the increased number of rescues resulting in part from the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s a greater burden on the organization for funding and volunteer support. ARE has operated solely on donations, adoption fees, and minimal sales of pet supplies at the adoption center. Schlieder said ARE is actively applying for grants with the hope of obtaining additional funds.

Animals available for adoption can be seen at the catteries during store hours, on ARE’s website (www.arerescue.org), and on the “ARE Animal Rescue” Facebook page. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the adoption center is open to the public by appointment only until further notice.

Interested adopters may apply at the store catteries or can save time by completing an application on ARE’s website. If approved, adopters will then receive further instructions and can set up appointments.

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit rescue organization serving Southern California, ARE Animal Rescue’s goal is to attain a no-kill community by reducing euthanasia in high-kill shelters. ARE Animal Rescue is dedicated to rescuing at-risk cats/kittens and dogs/puppies from high-kill shelters and from situations of immediate danger in order to give them a chance at life.

For more information on ARE Animal Rescue, visit www.arerescue.org, call 951-708-1280, email to info@arerescue.org, or follow ARE on Facebook and Instagram.

Put the below in a colored box and incorporate it after the article.

ARE Animal Rescue’s Adoption Locations

PetSmart, 1301 East Gladstone St., Glendora

PetSmart, 573 North McKinley St., Corona

PetSmart, 471-2 College Blvd., Oceanside

PetSmart, 2771 West Florida Ave., Hemet

Petco, 2545 West Florida Ave., Hemet

ARE Pet Adoption Center, 101 East Florida Ave., Hemet (currently by appointment only)

Amber Schlieder – ARE Animal Rescue

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post ARE Animal Rescue, Hemet, CA, Teams Up with 4th SoCal PetSmart, 1 Petco to Increase Adoptions Through In-Store Catteries appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

HEMET

Rescue’s Adoptions Increased 293 Percent for April 2020 Compared with April 2019

ARE Animal Rescue, an all-volunteer nonprofit organization in Hemet, CA, is one of 15 animal shelters and rescues nationwide recently recognized by American Pets Alive! (AmPA!) for its work in saving pets’ lives during the COVID-19 crisis. In making the announcement, AmPA! noted that ARE Animal Rescue for April 2020 increased its adoption rate 293 percent compared with April 2019, finding forever homes for 266 pets. In April 2019 the rescue had placed 91 pets.

While the pandemic has forced some shelters and rescues to scale back on their operations, or close down, ARE Animal Rescue has ramped up its work on behalf of the communities it serves. In April 2020, the rescue took in 309 pets including kittens, adult cats, puppies and adult dogs. By comparison, the rescue saved 138 pets in April 2019.

AmPA! is a national education and support program run by Austin Pets Alive! in Austin, TX, for animal shelters and rescues working to end unnecessary euthanasia in the United States. Due to the work of Austin Pets Alive!, the city of Austin since 2011 has been the largest no-kill city in the United States.

Adoptions by Appointment

Until further notice, ARE Animal Rescue is conducting adoptions by appointment only at its pet adoption center at 101 East Florida Ave., Hemet. Anyone interested in adopting can view animals on the rescue’s website: arerescue.org.

However, with the increased volume of animals being saved and adopted, it has been impossible for ARE Animal Rescue to feature all available animals on its website. Interested parties are asked to complete an online adoption. The application will be reviewed and, if approved, a representative from the rescue will contact the applicant to learn more about what type of animal is desired and to schedule an appointment to meet animals at the adoption center.

For people in San Diego County who want to adopt a cat or kitten, ARE Animal Rescue operates the cattery inside PetSmart in Mission Marketplace, 471 College Blvd., Oceanside. The cattery is staffed during store hours seven days a week.

Founded in July 2018, ARE Animal Rescue currently has a network of more than 240 foster homes in four counties: Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange and San Diego. Anyone interested in fostering cats or dogs is asked to fill out an application, which also is available on the website.

Influx of Homeless Animals

The reason for ARE Animal Rescue’s increased intake of homeless animals is four-fold. It’s “kitten season,” the time of year starting in February and lasting through summer when female cats that have not been spayed are producing litters of kittens.

In addition, at the start of April, as Riverside County Dept. of Animal Services prepared to cut back on hours of operation, ARE Animal Rescue stepped up to help clear the shelters by taking more than 100 cats and several dogs from the county shelter in San Jacinto. The rescue continues to take animals from the shelter.

Further, ARE Animal Rescue is assisting other rescues as they, too, are working to save animals’ lives during this pandemic. And in an effort to help local residents during this difficult time, ARE Animal Rescue has been taking pets which owners must relinquish for various reasons.

To read about ARE Animal Rescue and the other organizations recognized by AmPA! go to americanpetsalive.org. Click on “Latest from AmPA!” then on “Blog” and see the post dated April 30.

An all-volunteer 501(c)(3) nonprofit rescue organization serving Southern California, ARE Animal Rescue’s goal is to attain a no-kill community by reducing euthanasia in high-kill shelters. ARE Animal Rescue is dedicated to rescuing at-risk cats/kittens and dogs/puppies from high-kill shelters and from situations of immediate danger in order to give them a chance at life. All rescued animals receive appropriate veterinary care and vaccinations, are spayed or neutered and microchipped, and reside in nurturing foster homes while they await adoption into responsible, committed, forever homes.

For more information, visit www.arerescue.org, call 951-708-1280, email to in…@arerescue.org, or follow ARE Animal Rescue on Facebook and Instagram.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

Search: Animal Rescue

The post ARE Animal Rescue in Hemet, CA, Recognized Nationally for Saving Pets during COVID-19 Crisis appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

On Thursday, January 23rd, at noon, ARE Animal Rescue celebrated its grand opening at 101 E. Florida Ave. in Hemet. Owners, Grant Brubaker and Amber Schlieder, were joined by Hemet/San Jacinto Chamber of Commerce and approximately 30 community members in welcoming the business owners and the services they offer.

The animal adoption center is a non-profit, non-euthanizing organization that is dedicated to saving animals–dogs, puppies, cats and kittens–from overcrowded shelters where they’re at risk of being “put down.”

“Every one of these animals were scheduled to be euthanized,” says Brubaker, as he points to a cat named “Fang”, who is looking for a new family, a new home.

The new facility houses about 250 foster dogs and cats, and is cared for by a compassionate team of employees and volunteers who believe all animals deserve a chance to live.

In 2019, ARE Animal Rescue saved 1,910 animals and projects a goal of 3,000 lives saved in 2020. They plan on doing this through dedicated work and volunteers; through adoption events hosted by major pet stores: and through public education and outreach.

The main mission for the rescue is to save animals from being euthanized, and instead, adopt them out into the communities of Hemet, Menifee, Lake Elsinore and Oceanside, in hopes of preventing overcrowding and further still to make our area 100% “no-kill.”

The vision for opening such a rescue came from Schlieder’s experience of losing a beloved cat and the events that followed. The day she was waiting at the vet and saying her last goodbyes, she noticed many kittens that were going to be put down – because they were too young.  As a rule, says Brubaker, “If you’re under 2 pounds or under 8 weeks, you’re too small or too young to be spayed or neutered, therefore, unadoptable and scheduled to be euthanized.”

Through their efforts, the husband and wife team began receiving calls from shelters that were overcrowded and set to be euthanized, so they began bringing rescues into their own home – even into their real estate business. With so many animals and so little room, the couple made the decision, Brubaker says, “That’s when we decided: lets start our own rescue, that way we have control . . . and so, for our anniversary, I got all the necessary paperwork done, filed it, and gave it to her [Amber, his wife] as our anniversary gift.”

ARE Animal Rescue’s 3-year vision is to offer foster training and support; education on animal behavior, health, wellness and nutrition; specialized animal training, low-cost spay/neuter service, and community events.

If you are interested in donating, fostering, volunteering or adopting, please visit www.ARErescue.org

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

Search: ARE Animal Rescue

The post ARE Animal Rescue opens its doors, aspiring to end euthanizing practices appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.