NEWPORT BEACH : Service Saves Pets Lives, Finds Homes

Pals for Pets, an animal adoption service offered by the city pound, has found new homes for scores of abandoned or lost pets, making it unnecessary to euthanize the animals.

Shannon Kinaman, director of the Dover Shores Pet Care Center on Newport Boulevard, said that in the year since the program began only about 8% of impounded animals were killed. Dover Shores contracts with the city of Newport Beach to provide pound services.

“The only ones we put to sleep are wild cats or very sick animals,” Kinaman said. “Most go out the front door with the real owner or a new owner. We are not a move-them-in, move-them-out operation.”

About 450 of the animals were returned to owners before the expiration of the five-day housing limit, which is required by the city contract. The rest were adopted within the five days or diverted from euthanasia through the Pals for Pets program. The adoption service is supported entirely by donations and Dover Shores owner Bruce Bauersfeld.

“(Pals for Pets) isn’t required to by the contract,” said Police Sgt. Andy Gonis, “but we think it’s great that higher numbers of animals can be relocated and placed into good homes with the same cost to the taxpayer.”

In addition to placing strays, Pals for Pets has, for a $100 donation, taken animals from owners who no longer wish to keep them.

“In the long run,” Kinaman said, “(the program) will probably pay for itself by bringing in new patients, but it’s been a hard first year to get it rolling.”

While puppies and kittens are quickly adopted, Kinaman said, adult dogs and cats typically take two or three months to place. But Pals for Pets with few exceptions has placed them all, she said, including a rooster, gerbils, a litter of rats, rabbits, guinea pigs and a chicken.

“Other cities certainly have adoption programs too,” said Kinaman, “but not many hold them as long as we do. We really try to make the animals look better and healthier to give them a better lease on life.”

Pals for Pets now has about 23 dogs and cats, including nine kittens, waiting for adoption. For information, call (714) 722-PETS.