New Leash on Life : Several Cities in Orange County Opt for Animal Shelters That Ban Euthanasia

Once there were few places for stray pets in Orange County other than the county’s animal control facility, where unclaimed animals are eventually put to death.

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

But residents in five south Orange County cities that have incorporated since 1987 to win local control have discovered they can choose a different fate for stray animals than the pound.

In Mission Viejo, plans for a city-operated, $2-million shelter where euthanasia won’t be allowed are moving forward, with more than 300 volunteers to help run it.

In Dana Point, about 250 families have joined the Animal Rescue Foundation, known as ARF, to provide foster homes for lost pets and help locate owners.

And in Laguna Niguel, more than 50 residents responding to a recent city questionnaire expressed interest in helping to 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 City 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?”

In addition to Mission Viejo, San Clemente, Irvine, Dana Point and Laguna Beach have established anti- euthanasia policies at their community shelters. Two other Orange County cities--Seal Beach and Huntington Beach--have shelters with similar policies.

For south Orange County animal lovers, the long drive to county facilities in Orange--and the 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 in 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 animal control 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 have been at the (veterinarian).”

But county officials say they have a full complement 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.

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

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

The wary animal wouldn’t 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.”

However, Hulett-Curtner 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 foster homes until permanent owners are found.

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 destroyed are those found to be vicious or terminally ill.

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. Laguna Niguel and Dana Point have expressed some interest in housing their strays in Mission Viejo. Cody hopes the shelter will become a regional facility, with other cities leasing kennel space.