Pet Lovers Can Help a Stray Get Back on Its Paws

More than 200 cats, dogs, kittens and puppies will be available for adoption Saturday during Adopt-a-Pet Day at the Orange County Animal Shelter.

The annual event, sponsored by the nonprofit Pet Protection Society of Orange County, will be held between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. at the shelter, 561 The City Drive South, in Orange, one block north of the Garden Grove Freeway.

Adopt-a-Pet Day is held to “encourage the placement of shelter animals and promote the spaying and neutering of pets as a viable solution to the very real problems caused by excess numbers of pet animals,” according to Joanne Kilgore, president of the Pet Protection Society.”

“We have a horrendous pet overpopulation,” said Kilgore. “Eighteen million animals are destroyed in this country every year, and it’s not the fault of the shelters. They do their best to get homes for these animals. It’s the public’s fault: It’s irresponsible pet ownership and indiscriminate breeding.”

Kilgore said the county Board of Supervisors has agreed to drop the shelter’s usual placement fees for Adopt-a-Pet Day.

The Veterinary Pet Insurance Co. will provide free identification tags for all pets adopted that day and will hold a drawing in the afternoon for three complimentary veterinary major-medical insurance policies. In addition, Le Hydrant, a Cypress grooming shop, will offer free grooming of the adopted pets.

Kilgore said 140 animals were adopted during last year’s Adopt-a-Pet Day, and it was the busiest day in the history of the county animal shelter.

“We expect a large crowd this year,” she said. “Our hope is we’ll place every animal in the shelter that day.”

For further information, call Kilgore at (213) 598-2685 or Steven Ready, Pet Protection Society vice president, at (213) 438-2326.

Kilgore said the Pet Protection Society, which has about 60 active volunteers who put in about 18,000 volunteer-hours last year, placed more than 2,500 animals in 1984. The organization bought more than 1,000 of those animals from shelters and kenneled the pets until new homes were found for them. “We’re very proud of that,” said Kilgore.