WHEN PEOPLE THINK OF GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, they don’t usually think, “How can I help?”
Luckily, the opposite is true with Mendocino County’s Animal Care Services. Shelter director Amy Campbell said that the county’s shelter on Plant Road in Ukiah depends on the community for donations, volunteers, fostering and much else throughout the year.
Every November and December, the shelter runs a canned food drive.
“We have such a big response that the donated canned food gets us through almost the entire year,” Campbell said. “We use the canned food for puppies and older dogs and cats. People don’t realize what a huge help this is.”
As the county’s animal care agency, the Ukiah shelter shoulders responsibilities other shelters are not required to meet. Animals brought in by law enforcement agencies must be accepted. The shelter contracts with every law enforcement agency (except the Fort Bragg Police Department) in the county, including the California Highway Patrol. If a sheriff’s deputy arrests someone and that person has a dog, the dog is brought to the shelter. If the CHP snags a drunk driver with a dog in the car, that dog comes to the shelter, day or night.
Lost dogs come to the shelter. Injured or aggressive dogs come to the shelter. And stray dogs come to the shelter. However, given the crowded conditions, healthy stray dogs have a different trajectory.
“We try to limit our intake with healthy strays,” Campbell said. “We scan a photo of healthy strays and try to find the owner. If someone finds an animal, we ask that the person keep them safe while we try to find the owner.”
The primary issue is too many animals.
“Animals are coming in faster than they’re leaving,” Campbell said. “People are surrendering animals because they can’t afford it. Everything related to animals can be expensive, vet care, food. Owners are having a hard time financially.”
The shelter has programs to help owners keep their pets at home rather than surrender—a food pantry where people can pick up food for free, for instance.
“We try to do anything we can to keep the animal in the home. But there’s an imbalance,” she said.
Not enough vets
Campbell noted that the lack of veterinarians in the county adds to the problem. The county lists two 24-hour emergency vets, one in Santa Rosa and the other in Rohnert Park. Many can cite stories of frantic nighttime car rides down U.S. Highway 101 only to arrive in Santa Rosa with an animal beyond hope.
“The vet situation is a challenge,” Campbell said. “I know that we’re not the only county struggling with this. It’s across the board and definitely a big challenge for owners.”
The shelter is able to offer end-of-life euthanasia: “If the animal is suffering or injured and, in some cases, unsafe behavioral issues,” she said.
Campbell said that while assisting owners in end-of-life decisions adds to the shelter’s euthanasia statistics, she is not worried about numbers.
“I’m concerned with doing what’s right, not the numbers. We have a very high live release rate. If we’re doing it for health and suffering, I just do what’s the right thing to do,” she said.
The shelter runs a variety of programs to help both people and pets. Seniors for Seniors is one such program, where older cats can be adopted to seniors for just $25. A web page on the shelter’s site lists the health benefits for the human adopters: lowered blood pressure and resting heart rate, reduced stress and depression and more.
“We have other specials for human seniors,” Campbell said, “not just older cats. It’s hard to see a senior animal in the shelter. We can discount those fees.”
Before Campbell went into animal services, she worked as a health care professional.
“We would see that one of the biggest challenges for seniors going into assisted living was losing their contact with pets. Many people have had pets their entire lives,” she said.
The shelter conducts educational programs that keep animals from ending up in a kennel.
“We don’t have the capacity to bring in all the animals,” she said. “We are turning towards the community and promoting responsible pet ownership.”
That starts, of course, with spaying and neutering. Microchipping also pays big dividends.
“If we find an animal, the very first thing we do is scan for a chip,” Campbell said. “We call and tell the owner to come pick it up right away. They don’t have to pay an impound fee if they show up quickly. Anyone can come in without an appointment and get their cat or dog microchipped for $17. It takes less than five minutes. That alone can save hundreds in impound fees.”
And she added the old standby: “Get a collar with a name tag and your phone number. Someone who finds your lost dog would much rather call you than bring that animal to a shelter.”
Fostering and donations help a lot
And of course, the shelter depends upon adoptions and fostering to try to remedy the imbalance of animals in, animals out.
“One thing about fostering,” Campbell said. “Fostering doesn’t have to be a long-term thing. You can take a dog for a week. That really helps both us and the dog. Volunteering is another way to help. Come walk dogs, socialize the cats. It benefits the quality of life for animals at the shelter.”
How do you socialize a cat? Volunteers pet cats in their cages. Cats that shrink back, afraid of contact, are unlikely to be adopted. Petting and playing with cats teaches them to get up close and personal with potential adopters.
“If you see a Facebook post, sharing it is huge. People are at different levels of how they can help. It’s huge even if you’re just spreading the word.” Amy Campbell, Mendocino County Animal Care Services
Campbell suggested something that anyone can do: “If you see a Facebook post, sharing it is huge. People are at different levels of how they can help. It’s huge even if you’re just spreading the word.”
The canned food drive is going on now, and fosters are needed all the time. As Campbell puts it, “We are really relying on community.”
That goes both ways. “Ask us,” she said. “We can figure it out.”
Those looking to adopt a pet or make a donation to the Ukiah Animal Shelter can call (707) 463-4427 or visit their website.
This story originally appeared in The Mendocino Voice.