San Fernando Valley : Animal Shelters Offer Gift Certificates
An abandoned cat or dog can make the perfect holiday gift. But all too often, Christmas cats and Hanukkah hounds return to animal shelters because they are chosen in haste.
At a North Hollywood animal shelter Thursday, Gary Olsen, general manager of the city Department of Animal Regulation, paired up with City Councilman Joel Wachs to promote 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 shelter dog.
To encourage informed pet adoption decisions, Olsen said, the certificates are valid for one year. Money from unused certificates rolls over into the city’s Animal Welfare Trust Fund that supports the shelters’ upkeep.
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