Pick of the Litter : Animals: Hundreds of dogs and cats found wandering after the quake are at risk. But people are responding to the West Valley shelter’s call for adoption.

At the West Valley Animal Shelter Wednesday, Spot, Rover and Lucky were facing what was certainly the most important day of their dog and cat lives.

Gone were the carefree days of fetching sticks, afternoon naps on sunny window sills and monthly baths in the kitchen sink. Instead, about 300 animals found wandering in the days after the Jan. 17 earthquake faced the prospect of being killed by the shelter if they were not reunited with their owners or picked up by surrogate masters.

The lives of the earthquake animals already have been extended longer than the shelter’s customary eight-to-10-day holding period because the city’s Department of Animal Regulation wants to give shaken quake victims time to put their lives in order before they worry about lost pets. Wednesday was the second day that animals found after the quake were available for public adoption. Previously, they could only be picked up by their owners.

Though officials said they had not decided when unclaimed animals would be destroyed, one shelter employee, who requested anonymity, said many of the dogs and cats had been locked in cages for almost three weeks and something had to happen soon.

“You are getting a lot of sick dogs and a lot of dogfights because they’ve been here so long,” the employee said. “People . . . just don’t understand that you can’t keep them here forever.”

At the West Valley shelter Wednesday morning, emotions ranged from giddy celebration to deep despair as about 70 people braved the cold to line up before the 8 a.m. opening. Some were missing school. Others had skipped work. All came for a new pet.

“It was bumper-to-bumper on the Ventura Freeway, but it was worth it,” said Kimi Peck of Toluca Lake, who showed up for the second consecutive day and adopted her second dog--a Chihuahua this time. She had taken home another smallish dog, whose breed she wasn’t sure of, on Tuesday.

Charlie Park drove in from Mid-Wilshire to find a pet for his children, ages 8 and 5, whose two cats ran away during the quake. After slowly scanning the caged animals, Park settled on a cocker spaniel.

“It’s for the family,” he explained. “I have to be careful so I pick something everyone will like.”

But 8-year-old Krista Dunlop fell hard and she fell fast. “I want that one!” she said, pointing to a frisky black Labrador puppy that was trying to stick its face through a small hole in the cage.

And why?

“She started biting on my finger,” she gushed happily.

Moments later, Krista’s glee turned to tears when she learned that at least one other person wanted the pup, and she and her mother would be forced to bid on it in an auction set up by the shelter.