LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County often has a high number of animals in its animal shelter, but the holidays often bring an influx.
That's the case again this holiday season, with Animal Care and Control's kennels filling up with dogs and cats.
Director Bill Davidson said people typically surrender a high number of pets during the holiday season.
“People dump animals at the holiday for all kinds of reasons,” he said.
While issues with pets may have been going on for some time – an older animal may have been having health issues or a younger animal has behavior problems – Davidson said that in a lot of cases the decision to finally part with the pet occurs during the year's busy later months, as people are getting ready for celebrations and family visits.
He said he believes a lot of such owner surrenders of pets are a matter of convenience or an unwillingness to make a commitment to caring for the animal any longer.
In October there were 18 owner surrenders and 15 in November, numbers which Davidson said doesn't count all of the stray dogs taken in during that time.
One of Lake County's challenges, he said, is that it doesn't have much of an adoption base. “We just don’t have enough people that want to adopt animals.”
In October and November, there were 19 and 10 adoptions, respectively, Davidson said.
He said the way most animals are saved is by transferring them to other agencies and rescue groups. Davidson credited his staff for their work with those other organizations to get the animals placed.
That work resulted in 36 animals being transferred in October, with 25 more transferred in November.
“If it weren’t for the transfers we would be really hurting,” he said.
Coinciding with the high holiday incidence of more animals ending up in the shelter are national observances that remind people of how they can get involved with addressing these challenges.
Those include Adopt A Senior Pet month in November.
Organizations like the ASPCA encourage people to consider senior pets, and remind potential adopters that while kittens and puppies are cute, older pets are just as loving and loyal as their younger counterparts.
Senior pets also have the advantages of not needing constant monitoring, with many of them already being house-trained. Adopters also can easily ascertain their personalities and grooming needs.
Because senior pets often are the last to be adopted from shelters, they're also at greater risk of euthanasia, so giving one a home saves a life.
Davidson said Animal Care and Control current dog population includes three older dogs needing homes.
They include an 8-year-old hound/lab/shepherd mix in kennel No. 9, ID No. 6517; a blue female pit bull named Kali who is 7 years old in kennel No. 27, ID No. 6424; and a 4 and a half year old male black lab mix in kennel No. 15, ID No. 6463.
On the cat side, the shelter currently has a lot of young cats and kittens, with a few adults also available, but no seniors reported to be in the group.
In parts of the country including California, “Operation Santa Paws” is observed in December. The event encourages people to donate food, blankets and other needs to local shelters to help animals.
Lake County Animal Care and Control features a Christmas tree in its lobby during December, and takes donations of pet supplies to benefit the animals in its care.
To see all the available animals at Lake County Animal Care and Control visit the shelter online at http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control.htm .
To fill out an adoption application online visit http://www.co.lake.ca.us/Government/Directory/Animal_Care_And_Control/Adopt/Dog___Cat_Adoption_Application.htm .
Lake County Animal Care and Control is located at 4949 Helbush in Lakeport, next to the Hill Road Correctional Facility.
Office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday. The shelter is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.