THE WINTER MONTHS typically are when many animal shelters nationwide see an overflow of dogs and cats because of frequent pet surrenders after Christmas, according to PetDesk. Additionally, the company that uses technology to better connect vet clinics with clients reports that many animals accumulate in shelters over the year, leading to shelters seeing a “full house” by winter.
Closer to home, the East Bay SPCA shelter in Dublin reports it is not currently experiencing space concerns. By managing its foster programs and shifting resources between its two locations — the second being in Oakland — Dublin shelter manager Amber Jocelyn said they are able to prevent end-of-year buildups.
“We’re very proactive in managing our population, so we don’t experience emergency overflow situations,” Jocelyn said. “If space ever becomes a concern, we can adjust other programs to ensure all animals continue to receive proper care.” East Bay SPCA’s second shelter is located in East Oakland, near the Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport.
Jocelyn also said the shelter works to reduce its intake when it comes to animal surrenders from owners.
“We also transfer animals from other shelters and accept owner surrenders by appointment,” Jocelyn said. “We can adjust our intake by asking owners to wait until a kennel becomes available or by temporarily transferring in fewer animals.”
The East Bay SPCA, which houses dogs and cats, has fewer kitten and cat intakes during the winter season, making it easier to prevent overflow when it comes to felines.
“Cats typically mate during the warmer months, which leads to a surge of kittens, a time we lovingly refer to as ‘kitten season,’” Jocelyn said. “By December, most of those kittens have been adopted, and we usually see only a small number of kittens coming in as strays.”
The shelter ensures that all of its animals are well-cared for all year, thanks to its volunteers and staff members. During the holidays, they have a program in which foster volunteers are able to take animals into their homes. These volunteers provide the shelter with notes on the animal’s behavior in a home environment and how the animal handles socialization with other animals and/or people.
“All of our services work together to strengthen the human-animal bond and ensure pets and their families can thrive long after adoption,” Jocelyn said.
To learn more about adoptions, fostering, volunteering and/or donating, visit the East Bay SPCA website.
Keerthi Eraniyan is an 11th grader at California High School in San Ramon.
This story is part of a series reporting on the challenges nonprofit organizations in Contra Costa County face as changes in federal laws and policies go into effect. The series was made possible by support from the Lesher Foundation, its Newsmakers speaker series, and the Bay City News Foundation. Stories are produced independently by the CCYJ news team. This story originally appeared in CCSpin.