Annual Giveaway : Pet Adoptions Put the Bark Under Tree

Jill Yorey got a matching set for Christmas this year.

The brown and black gifts didn’t come gift-wrapped, though, because unlike luggage or linen, they wouldn’t sit still long enough.

Yorey, a 23-year-old production assistant, took home two nearly identical terriers Saturday from the West Valley Animal Shelter. The pets, which would normally cost about $50 each to adopt, were being given away under a privately sponsored, 3-day holiday program that ended Saturday.

“I never would have been able to take two dogs if I had to pay for them,” said Yorey, a North Hollywood resident. “Besides, these match my outfit.”

For 39 years, two Van Nuys-based organizations--the Tailwagger Foundation and Mercy Crusade--have sponsored the free pet adoptions at six Los Angeles animal shelters. This year, about 400 dogs and cats found new homes through the program, said Betty Cardoni, the groups’ spokeswoman.

Fees Paid

The organizations will spend about $15,000 this year on the giveaway, Cardoni said. The foundations, which are funded by donations, pay for spaying or neutering the animals as well as license and inoculation fees, she said.

“The idea is to get the animals out of the shelters so they aren’t destroyed,” Cardoni said. “Christmas is a good time because so many people are on vacation and they have the time to look for a pet and get settled down with it before going back to work.”

Cardoni said volunteers will contact the new pet owners to make sure that the animals are being well cared for. In rare cases, volunteers have visited homes when they suspect that animals may not be happy.

Bonnie, a sleek Australian sheep dog, was among the lucky pets on her way to a new home Saturday. Richard Bartlett, 43, said he adopted her as a Christmas present for his dog, Tenzing, a Lhasa apso named for the Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay who accompanied Sir Edmund Hillary on the historic 1953 conquest of Mt. Everest.

“I think this program is great,” said Bartlett, who lives in North Hollywood. “But to tell you the truth, I’ve spent $800 on Tenzing when she was sick,” so cost wasn’t a factor. “I probably would have gotten Bonnie anyway.”