North Hollywood : City Offers Certificates for Bowser Browsers

An abandoned cat or dog can make the perfect holiday gift--but only if the animal is carefully chosen, two city officials stressed Thursday.

But all too often, Christmas cats and Hanukkah hounds return to animal shelters because they are chosen in haste, said Gary Olsen, general manager of the city Department of Animal Regulation.

For the second year, Olsen is pairing up with Councilman Joel Wachs to promote so-called pet gift certificates to ensure that holiday pets don’t return to shelters by summer.

“Giving a pet just doesn’t work if it isn’t the pet someone wants,” Wachs said at the East Valley Animal Shelter.

Available at all six city animal shelters, the certificates can be purchased in any denomination, Olsen said.

A $40 certificate is recommended for a cat. And a $58 certificate will cover the cost of adopting, inoculating and spaying or neutering a dog like Wellington, a 4-year-old Great Pyrenees mix found abandoned in a truck yard, Olsen said.

As the affable Wellington rested his buff-colored, football-sized head on Wachs’ leg, the councilman asked, “Can you imagine that someone would give this up?”

Yet 80,000 cats and dogs go through Los Angeles shelters yearly, Wachs said.

“As you know, this is the season when we try to think of those less fortunate than ourselves . . . including pets,” Wachs said.

To encourage informed pet decisions, Olsen explained, the certificates are valid for one year. Money from unused certificates rolls over into the city’s Animal Welfare Trust Fund, which supports the upkeep of the shelters.

Another holiday option for animal lovers is the Toys for Pets program, available at Petco stores citywide. All Petcos have donation bins for new toys to be distributed to shelter animals.