The Hayden Act states, “it is the policy of the state that no adoptable animal should be euthanized if it can be adopted into a suitable home” and “it is the policy of the state that no treatable animal should be euthanized.” Yet, OC Animal Care refuses to abide by the Hayden Act, euthanizing animals who are perfectly treatable. Their only affliction is “fear”.

A 2013, audit of OC Animal Care revealed that nearly one third of the 35, 000 pets that came to it were euthanized. According to the audit, OC Animal Care euthanized more pets than it adopted out. The audit also revealed what can only be described as cruel, incompetent, and heartless euthanasia procedures by OC Animal Care personnel. It further revealed, that many cats are captured and euthanized before their family members even have time to discover that the pets are/were in the shelters!

OC Animal Care routinely assesses terrified animals who have just been through horrible, sometimes unimaginable, events as unadoptable, without giving the animals time to adjust to their new surroundings. Young and old, many of these animals have often been abused, while others are beloved pets that have become lost and are simply scared. Of course many of them are going to be initially unfriendly or unapproachable. How would you behave if you were suddenly separated from a loving family and placed in a cell surrounded by strangers and the smell of death, with no idea of what was to become of you? The animals’ behavior is also dependent upon the behavior and skills of the staff, and how they approach the animals. With so many animals being tagged as unapproachable or unadoptable one must question the abilities of the OC Animal Care staff and the type of training that they receive. There is no reason for a scared, 6-month old puppy to be euthanized!

We, the undersigned, call for a halt to the holocaust that is occurring in the Orange County Animal Care shelters. We respectfully demand that our voices be heard. We demand that OC Animal Care respect and abide by the tenets of the Hayden Act and stop euthanizing treatable animals. We demand that OC Animal Shelters set a policy of providing new arrivals with time to adjust to their environments and calm down, with an initial assessment by fully qualified, loving, and experienced staff, followed by a period of appropriate treatment to help animals listed as fearful, unapproachable, or unadoptable to overcome their fears and inhibitions. We demand that OC Animal Care shelters perform additional reassessments of their behavior after an appropriate period of treatment by fully competent, experienced and loving staff members prior to placing any animal on any euthanasia list. In addition, we demand that the time period between assessment and placement on any euthanasia lists be sufficient to allow pet families to discover the loss of the pet and to locate the pet at the shelter in order to bring the pet home. We further demand that all animals be fully and completely scanned for microchips at least three times prior to being euthanized and that no animal be euthanized prior to at least the minimum hold period enacted by the STATE of CALIFORNIA via the Hayden Act.