Open up Orange County Animal Shelter (without restrictions) to the Public!

Recent signers:
Alexis Parker and 19 others have signed recently.

The Issue

OC Animal Shelter is not still not open fully ( as it was in 2018) for public viewing of smaller dog adoptions other than by appointments (since the beginning of COVID) yet all other shelters are open! This shelter needs to fully open so that the procedure for adopting animals is made as simple and easily as possible (as it used to be) instead of having to go through the laborious appointment system. (You even have to make an appointment to find your lost dog).

I was full of hope as the Grand Jury recently published a report on the shelter citing many problems.
https://cdn.fbsbx.com/v/t59.2708-21/352282986_1193303894689458_1879937409903580041_n.pdf/Gimme_Shelter_and_a_Pound_of_Advice.pdf?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=0cab14&_nc_ohc=MKw1Gj0ybf8AX9ef0xP&_nc_ht=cdn.fbsbx.com&oh=03_AdT_NRb-Si46vYpS8OcLH1wYr9dgOPPt4Vsic7y3_BJS0w&oe=6482C85D&dl=1

To my disbelief, the OC Board of Supervisors, (and now it looks like the 13 cities that pay vast sums of money are taking no notice of the report) They rejected the findings, without even investigating 

We have statistics that prove that the euthanization rates have increased since they closed the shelter.  The shelter is understaffed and dirty.  They are not hiring enough staff 

https://voiceofoc.org/2024/07/boyer-kennel-staff-at-oc-animal-care-are-stretched-to-the-breaking-point/

OCAC is now full and they are killing dogs, cats, kittens for space, some animals do not have any chance of being adopted as they are never seen by the public.  Bios and decent photos of the animals are not put up online. What chance do these animals have of being adopted in their current concierge system. They are never get a chance to be seen.. 

What you can do to help. 
Contact your city urgently as you, (the tax payer) and tell them you reject  their response  to the Grand Jury! 
Contact the Board of Supervisors and tell them to open up the shelter and to take notice of the tax payer!

These desperate animals are not getting a chance to get a home as the public cannot get in to see them.  3 years ago I adopted a senior chi ( photo on left) from this shelter. The dog had two massive hernias, and if I had gone to the shelter, under the current system (only allowed to see one dog based on a photo)  I never would have seen or adopted her because I would not have wanted to deal with the surgery and did not want an old dog. However, I just happened to walk by her cage, she trotted up, wagged her tail and tried to lick me, so that was that!

Rescues are given just 2 days (or sometimes no notice) to find resources to pull the dogs out, Restricted volunteers find dogs have been killed that are not even on the euthanized list.  Kittens are killed daily. Squalid conditions, lack of kennel staff ( only just started to advertise for help) 
There is no reason why they should not open fully to the public. They fire their volunteers for retaliation!
If their reasoning is because there is not enough money for staff, then they should look at their costs that include over $600k per year for just two members of staff. For just 5 members of staff, there are annual costs of over $1,718,818. Isn’t that crazy! 

More information regarding problems at the OCAC
They are now "not an open-admission shelter", this means they refuse to accept healthy stray cats and tell rescuers to return the cats where they find them.


They do not offer a feral fix program AKA TNR or SNR or RTF anymore although other shelters are doing this and now there is a huge kitten explosion in Orange County.
They do not have an intervention team anymore. They were there to prevent owners from surrendering their pets, by offering them resources like medical funds, rental assistance, temporary shelter, etc. 
They do not have overnight staff to care for kittens so not to euthanize them at 5 pm.(This means kittens are regularly killed as no-one to care for them. Frantic emails are sent out last minute and it is so sad these poor kittens are killed.

They do not offer low-cost spay and neutering services and refuse to do so even though nonprofits have offered to financially sponsor clinics. They have several surgery rooms at the center that are unused that were designed for this purpose. These services are very expensive for people who adopted pets and have to go to regular vets in Orange County.

They do not intake cat families, they will take the kittens but not the mothers and instruct residents to put the unfixed mother where it was found. 
Their euthanasia rates have increased, their transfer rates to other rescues and shelters have increased, the adoption by rescues has increased, and their public adoptions have decreased. 

Please sign this petition and let’s get this shelter open to the public, and saves animal lives.. change the management so to reallocate tax payers money and put it where it needs to go! 

 

avatar of the starter
Margot BoyerPetition StarterJust a passionate animal lover who wants these animals to have a chance to live! The picture on the left is my rescue from the shelter and if I had gone through the appointment system I never would have seen and adopted her.

25,956

Recent signers:
Alexis Parker and 19 others have signed recently.

The Issue

OC Animal Shelter is not still not open fully ( as it was in 2018) for public viewing of smaller dog adoptions other than by appointments (since the beginning of COVID) yet all other shelters are open! This shelter needs to fully open so that the procedure for adopting animals is made as simple and easily as possible (as it used to be) instead of having to go through the laborious appointment system. (You even have to make an appointment to find your lost dog).

I was full of hope as the Grand Jury recently published a report on the shelter citing many problems.
https://cdn.fbsbx.com/v/t59.2708-21/352282986_1193303894689458_1879937409903580041_n.pdf/Gimme_Shelter_and_a_Pound_of_Advice.pdf?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=0cab14&_nc_ohc=MKw1Gj0ybf8AX9ef0xP&_nc_ht=cdn.fbsbx.com&oh=03_AdT_NRb-Si46vYpS8OcLH1wYr9dgOPPt4Vsic7y3_BJS0w&oe=6482C85D&dl=1

To my disbelief, the OC Board of Supervisors, (and now it looks like the 13 cities that pay vast sums of money are taking no notice of the report) They rejected the findings, without even investigating 

We have statistics that prove that the euthanization rates have increased since they closed the shelter.  The shelter is understaffed and dirty.  They are not hiring enough staff 

https://voiceofoc.org/2024/07/boyer-kennel-staff-at-oc-animal-care-are-stretched-to-the-breaking-point/

OCAC is now full and they are killing dogs, cats, kittens for space, some animals do not have any chance of being adopted as they are never seen by the public.  Bios and decent photos of the animals are not put up online. What chance do these animals have of being adopted in their current concierge system. They are never get a chance to be seen.. 

What you can do to help. 
Contact your city urgently as you, (the tax payer) and tell them you reject  their response  to the Grand Jury! 
Contact the Board of Supervisors and tell them to open up the shelter and to take notice of the tax payer!

These desperate animals are not getting a chance to get a home as the public cannot get in to see them.  3 years ago I adopted a senior chi ( photo on left) from this shelter. The dog had two massive hernias, and if I had gone to the shelter, under the current system (only allowed to see one dog based on a photo)  I never would have seen or adopted her because I would not have wanted to deal with the surgery and did not want an old dog. However, I just happened to walk by her cage, she trotted up, wagged her tail and tried to lick me, so that was that!

Rescues are given just 2 days (or sometimes no notice) to find resources to pull the dogs out, Restricted volunteers find dogs have been killed that are not even on the euthanized list.  Kittens are killed daily. Squalid conditions, lack of kennel staff ( only just started to advertise for help) 
There is no reason why they should not open fully to the public. They fire their volunteers for retaliation!
If their reasoning is because there is not enough money for staff, then they should look at their costs that include over $600k per year for just two members of staff. For just 5 members of staff, there are annual costs of over $1,718,818. Isn’t that crazy! 

More information regarding problems at the OCAC
They are now "not an open-admission shelter", this means they refuse to accept healthy stray cats and tell rescuers to return the cats where they find them.


They do not offer a feral fix program AKA TNR or SNR or RTF anymore although other shelters are doing this and now there is a huge kitten explosion in Orange County.
They do not have an intervention team anymore. They were there to prevent owners from surrendering their pets, by offering them resources like medical funds, rental assistance, temporary shelter, etc. 
They do not have overnight staff to care for kittens so not to euthanize them at 5 pm.(This means kittens are regularly killed as no-one to care for them. Frantic emails are sent out last minute and it is so sad these poor kittens are killed.

They do not offer low-cost spay and neutering services and refuse to do so even though nonprofits have offered to financially sponsor clinics. They have several surgery rooms at the center that are unused that were designed for this purpose. These services are very expensive for people who adopted pets and have to go to regular vets in Orange County.

They do not intake cat families, they will take the kittens but not the mothers and instruct residents to put the unfixed mother where it was found. 
Their euthanasia rates have increased, their transfer rates to other rescues and shelters have increased, the adoption by rescues has increased, and their public adoptions have decreased. 

Please sign this petition and let’s get this shelter open to the public, and saves animal lives.. change the management so to reallocate tax payers money and put it where it needs to go! 

 

avatar of the starter
Margot BoyerPetition StarterJust a passionate animal lover who wants these animals to have a chance to live! The picture on the left is my rescue from the shelter and if I had gone through the appointment system I never would have seen and adopted her.
Support now

25,956


The Decision Makers

Dylan Wright
Dylan Wright
OC Community Resources Director
Cymantha Atkinson
Cymantha Atkinson
Asst. Director Orange County Shelter
Katrina Foley
Katrina Foley
OC Board of Supervisors 2nd District
Donald Wagner
Donald Wagner
OC Board of Supervisors 3rd District
Doug Chaffee
Doug Chaffee
OC Board of Supervisors 4th District

Supporter Voices

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