County Animal Shelter Requests Public’s Help

Richard Molinari, Shelter Director for the Mendocino County Animal Shelter said a recent Facebook post brought attention to a serious concern - an overabundance of animals housed at the shelter.

On June 14, Molinari posted this plea: “Unfortunately, the Animal Shelter is at 100 percent occupancy at this time. We are looking at possibly having to euthanize dogs for kennel space at the end of the week.”

Fortunately, according to Molinari, community response began to curtail the immediate crisis. The Inland Humane Society accepted 6 dogs, which gave the Shelter some breathing room, along with the adoption of 11 other dogs. A June 17th post stated, “We are doing much better on having additional open kennels and no animals have had to be euthanized due to lack of space. Thank you to the community & Inland Humane Society for the assistance this week.”

But, as summer waxes and kitten season looms, Molinari cautions the shelter is by no means out of the woods. He is appealing to the public to help reduce the population by managing their own pets and considering adopting one of the many qualified animals at the shelter. He notes this crisis is being felt nationwide.

“Going in to Covid, our community was awesome. People fostered dogs, which freed up kennel space, so we had a low population for a good period of time. Coming out of the pandemic, the bottom dropped out. Hundreds of shelters and rescue organizations across the country are all inundated.”

“For six years, we’ve never had to talk about euthanization to address space issues,” says Molinari. But there are only so many kennels, and large numbers of dogs increase the chance of spreading diseases like kennel cough, and augment what is already a stressful environment.

“We were running at 100 percent capacity for six months, and recently found ourselves unable to accept surrendered animals. Our animal control officers were doing their best to return animals in the field- but that’s just putting a Band-Aid on the problem,” he continues.

Several factors led to this unintended fallout from the Covid era.

“People began surrendering animals post-Covid. They were returning to work and unable to spend time with their pets. Others found themselves working fewer hours and have hard decisions about buying gas, milk or pet food.”

The shelter responded to those issues by offering pet adoption fees at a 50 percent discount.

“Unfortunately, and unlike other times in our history, this did not make a significant impact on the kennel population.

In today’s fragile economy, animals are the low-hanging fruit when it comes to balancing the household budget. Even the cost of animal food has risen.”

Several other factors resulted in the kennel’s population increase.

“We’re seeing more animals getting loose- escaping and engaging in bad behavior. It’s hard to find time for your dog if you’re working two jobs and caring for kids and family members. If dogs don’t get the daily attention they need, they’ll get creative and do things they don’t usually do. Escaped dogs can become fearful and destructive, and the fines for that behavior can be steep.”

“In other cases, owned animals aren’t being reclaimed. By the time you pay for impound fees, medical care and food costs, you might be talking about thousands of dollars. For many families, the question becomes, ‘Do I pay these fines or put food on the table?’”

During Covid, the number of spay and neuter surgeries plunged, creating a larger population of dogs and cats people were not in the position to care for. Just this week, a female cat was brought into the shelter. She promptly birthed six healthy kittens.

“Prior to Covid, our clinic and mobile van was performing 3,000 mobile spay surgeries annually. For the past two Covid years, that number declined to 2,000 surgeries. We are dependent on the goodwill and schedules of a team of veterinarians to assist us, whose practices have also been affected by the pandemic. Hopefully, there will be a full-time vet at the shelter sometime in our future. We can only spay and neuter so much. We could fill our van five days a week, and I don’t know if it would really make a difference.”

With Kitten Season on the horizon, Molinari expects overcrowding to impact the cat kennels. Other issues increase the local cat population.

“We have a lot of cat hoarders. We recently assisted a person who had 80 cats in their possession. We’ve worked with several people with up to 40 cats. Our relatively mild weather allows cats to thrive. Cats acclimate well to heat, so we do have cat issues in our county.”

What can the public do to help reduce the kennel population?

“On our website, we have a section entitled, “Responsible Pet Ownership.” It’s there to make people ask the big questions about taking on an animal. It’s a big responsibility. Sick animals can cost thousands.”

“Pet owners sometimes don’t do the right things. These are the basics of responsible pet ownership, and we’re asking the community to review these tips and make sure you’re doing the best you can to keep your animals safe.”

Identifying pets, with microchipping, licenses and name tags is key to keeping shelter numbers low. “Prior to Covid, we were ID’ing 2,500 animals annually. We want animals to come in with identification. We want to reconnect animals with owners and make sure it doesn’t happen again. The faster owners reclaim animals, the less expensive it is.”

Along with identification and licensing, Molinari asks that animals are vaxxed.

“We offer at-cost rabies and microchip events, which costs $12 for both services. We have at least two of these events every year. Identification is priceless. If your dog comes in, we call you and ask you to come get your animal asap.”

Molinari asks pet owners to focus on making it difficult for pets to escape.

“Check your fencing. Go over with your kids how important it is to keep your dog fenced, and not to leave doors open. We don’t want bad things to happen to animals when they escape their homes. Cars and loud noises scare them. We don’t want to have to make the hard call to your family if we find your animal injured or killed. Make sure they have access to water and shade. Imagine if you were outside in this level of heat and what you’d need to stay comfortable. This kind of community cooperation and assistance helps prevent animals from coming in and helps them being returned at a faster rate.”

“We will get a surge of animals related to July 4th fireworks. Please keep your pets inside, put your animal in an isolated room and play some music. Dogs will jump fences, run into traffic and hopefully, someone will bring them here. Cats are also spooked by fireworks. We recommend keeping your animals indoors several days before and after July 4th.”

For those who must surrender their animal due to changes in life conditions such as moving, Molinari directs people to the “Rehoming” link on the Shelter’s website.

“When people sign up to rehome their pet, the information is seen by lots of prospective owners. Because of our shelter capacity, we sometimes have a waiting list for those needing to rehome their pet, so we’ll ask people to go through the rehoming process, which is the industry standard.”

And of course, a number of dogs and cats are ready for their forever home today. The shelter has a few new protocols.

“When Covid hit, our front door was locked. Today, we’re still keeping our doors locked, for a couple of reasons. With dogs, we are scheduling visit times. Dogs need about 16 hours of sleep. By booking visits, they’re getting better sleep, we’re reducing their anxiety level and caring for healthier dogs. We have a book at the front desk where you can view adoptable pets. If it’s a busy day, we’ll schedule an appointment. You can go online, view all the adoptable animals, fill out an application in advance and we’ll call you to schedule a visit. For those wanting to adopt cats, you can come in and view them during business hours.”

There are other ways to help the shelter. Volunteer orientations take place the second Saturday of the month at 9 a.m. Call the shelter number and leave a message for Amy Campbell to sign up. Pack Walks take place every third Saturday at 9 a.m. “Certified volunteers can take one of the dogs for walk. It gets dogs out of the shelter and makes them happier, healthier and more adoptable.”

Because the shelter uses specific brands of food for the animals, donations of pet food is discouraged. “If we received non-expired foods, we donate them to Plowshares or families in need. We always need bath towels and linens, blankets, collars, leashes in good condition and paper plates,” says Molinari.

“We really do have a lot of really good dogs right now- puppies, senior dogs and a lot of kittens in foster care who will be in the pipeline very soon. We’re still running the half-off adoption special. The process can be done online, but we still have old-school paper forms that can be picked up at the shelter or printed out.”

“We’re weathering the storm, and we have a plan. Hopefully, we’ll have a calm fire season, because if we’re full, we won’t be in the position to accept many animals if there’s a fire. With the community’s support, we’re hoping to see a return to normalcy in about four months,” Molinari concludes.

The shelter is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The shelter is closed from 1 to 1:30 p.m. for lunch.

For more information visit the Mendocino County Animal Shelter Facebook page, the website at Animal Care Services | Mendocino County, CA or phone (707) 463-4427

(courtesy, the Ukiah Daily Journal)