Giving Strays a Leash on Life : 5 South County Cities Opt for Animal Shelters That Prohibit Euthanasia

Once, there were few places for stray pets other than the Orange County Animal Control facility, where unclaimed animals are eventually put to death.

Animal lovers who did not want strays to face likely euthanasia at the pound simply picked them up off the streets and tried to find a home for the animals in defiance of county laws requiring that strays be reported to authorities.

But as five South County cities have incorporated since 1987 to win local control, residents also discovered that they could choose a different fate for stray animals than death at the pound.

In Mission Viejo, plans for a city-operated, $2-million shelter are moving forward and more than 300 people have volunteered to help run the facility, where euthanasia won’t be allowed.

Meanwhile, in Dana Point about 250 families have joined the Animal Rescue Foundation, known as ARF, a local group that provides foster homes for lost pets and helps locate owners for them.

And in Laguna Niguel, more than 50 residents responding to a recent city questionnaire expressed interest in helping start a volunteer animal service program in their city.

“Some people think you’re a little bit nuts to spend all the time and effort on animals,” said Mission Viejo Councilwoman Sharon Cody, who says she has rescued dozens of animals over the years. “But the question is pretty simple: Why should these strays die if we can find them homes?”

Several cities in South County feel the same way: San Clemente, Mission Viejo, Irvine, Dana Point and Laguna Beach have established anti-euthanasia policies at their own community shelters. Two other cities in Orange County, Seal Beach and Huntington Beach, have shelters with similar policies.

For animal lovers, the long drive between South County and county facilities in Orange as well as their dislike of euthanasia are major arguments for local control.

“The best example I can think of is a call we got on a husky pup that was hit by a car on a busy intersection recently,” said Glenda Rosen, a board member of the Animal Rescue Foundation of Dana Point. “It was bleeding profusely, stopping traffic. It took county animal control personnel 45 minutes to reach it, and by then it had bled to death.

“I don’t really want to criticize the county pound--they probably responded immediately,” she said. “But if we had local services, someone would have picked up that animal in 10 minutes or less and he would’ve been at” the veterinarian’s office.

But county officials say they have a team of animal control officers who patrol South County streets between 7 a.m. and 10:30 p.m.

“If we get a report of an injured animal, we’re there within minutes,” said Marie Hulett-Curtner, spokeswoman for the county shelter.

Not every South County community has a problem with service from the county, and some say building a animal shelter closer would be a large expense, even with volunteer help to run the program.

“Even with use of volunteers, those cities are going to find animal control will cost a lot more when they do it on their own,” said Don White, director of administrative services in Laguna Hills. “We like the (service) we have with the county of Orange.”

The increasing number of community animal control shelters and anti-euthanasia policies in South County are a major departure from about a year ago, when animal lovers felt the only way to save strays from the pound--and euthanasia--was to pick them up off the streets.

Rescuing strays is more than a habit, it is almost a compulsion for “us doggie weirdos,” said Cody, laughing. “I know a lot of people who would try to deal with sheltering the animals themselves rather than see it die in the pound.”

Cody remembers a huge, white German shepherd that was abandoned by a construction crew and for months lived by raiding trash cans in her Mission Viejo neighborhood.

The wary animal would not let humans approach. The only way Cody could get close was to slip a tranquilizer into a plate of food. She moved the sedated shepherd into her garage, where he stayed for three weeks.

“He wound up eating out of my hand,” Cody said. “I got him a real nice home on a 40-acre ranch in Escondido.”

Hulett-Curtner, however, warns that keeping strays for more than 24 hours without reporting them to animal control officials is a violation of county laws.

“A lot of people think they’re helping when they pick up animals because of the stigma of euthanasia,” she said. “Because of those who do this, a lot of pets are never reunited with their owners.”

Dana Point and the Animal Rescue Foundation recently reached agreement with the county not to euthanize any stray found in that city. After a mandatory waiting period of about a week, animals picked up by the county are returned to the foundation, which keeps them in a foster home until permanent owners are found.

“We have a waiting list for people who want dogs, kittens and cats,” Rosen said. “The phone rings off the hook with people who want pets.”

The large volunteer response from South County animal lovers shows that people are eager to deal with the problems of strays, Rosen said.

ARF members have raised money to pay for treating individual animals with medical problems that otherwise would have been euthanized.

Volunteers from Mission Viejo spend hours at a temporary shelter run by the city.

“We can’t do it without volunteers,” Cody said. “Governments don’t generally have the resources to keep animals for long periods of time.”

The permanent Mission Viejo shelter will be cost-efficient with help from volunteers, Cody said. The city, which has already purchased the land, earlier this week asked for construction bids for the facility.

Mission Viejo took over animal control from the county last July and runs a temporary shelter from a rented portion of the Irvine Animal Center.

Exact policies of local shelters that avoid euthanasia vary somewhat, but all will feed and shelter a stray animal indefinitely until a home can be found. The only animals put to sleep are those determined to be vicious or terminally ill.

Cody said she hopes that the Mission Viejo shelter will become a regional facility, with other cities leasing kennel space.

Laguna Niguel and Dana Point have expressed some interest in housing their strays in Mission Viejo.

How, Where to Help

Those interested in the plight of strays can contact these organizations to volunteer time, send donations or receive general information:

Orange County Humane Society, (714) 536-8480

Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,

(310) 676-1149

Animal Rescue Foundation, (714) 496-4909

Friends of Mission Viejo Animals, (714) 348-2045