Palm Valley Animal Society is once again in need of help, having reached capacity and hoping to offer ways the public can help them alleviate crowding.
The animal shelter has anywhere from 1,000 to 1,300 animals in its facility and in foster care, while ideally they would have no more than 600 to 800, according to Arlina Larson, director of development at PVAS.
“We do have an issue right now with being at capacity,” Larson said, adding that this was a nationwide issue caused by several factors. “I think opening up conversations with our community on what are the best practices to try to help the situation would be a great thing to be able to do as well.”
She said there are some significant steps that the public could take to not exacerbate the issue.
Among them is spaying and neutering pets as well as vaccinating them. Also, if people see a lost pet, she said the best thing they could do is to see if it belongs to a neighbor instead of immediately bringing the animal to the shelter.
PVAS also has multiple fostering programs such as “Tails Around Town,” through which people can take dogs just for an afternoon.
Then there’s also “Paw-jama Party” which is the option to take pets home for a weekend.
Pets can also be fostered for weeks, months, or until the pets are adopted.
For pet owners, the shelter is also trying to ease the financial burden of owning a pet.
“I know a lot of the time, expenses can be a reason why pet owners can no longer own their pet and so we’re trying to do our best to alleviate that situation as well by offering services through our intake diversion program,” Larson said.
Through that program, PVAS tries to help pet owners afford vaccinations and pet food.
“Also, if there’s really no way for that person to be able to keep that pet, we try to find a rescue,” she said. “We tell them to go to our Facebook page where they can post their pets and try to find an adoption route as well so that, again, they avoid coming to the shelter.”
On Saturday, the shelter is holding a free vaccine drive at the Bert Ogden Arena where it hopes to offer vaccinations and microchips for 2,000 to 3,000 pets.
The vaccines that will be offered include:
>> rabies
>> DHPPv (Canine Distemper, Parvo, Parainfluenza, Adenovirus)
>> FVRCP (Feline Rhinotracheitis, Calicivirus, Panleukopenia).
The services will be offered via drive-thru with a limit of 10 pets per car. Dogs will need to be leashed and cats will need to be in carriers. All pets should be at least eight weeks old.
The vaccine drive will be Saturday at the Bert Ogden Arena from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. or while supplies last.
To see more, view Monitor photojournalist Joel Martinez’s full photo gallery here:
Photo Gallery: Palm Valley Animal Shelter seeking community help to alleviate crowding
