Lakeport >> Lake County Animal Care and Control will not euthanize animals rescued from the Valley Fire. In addition, the facility will waive adoption fees for the so-called “fire animals.”
The decision came on Tuesday during the Board of Supervisors meeting. But the concern arose at an earlier meeting, when several members of the public spoke of their concern for the continued safety and welfare of the animals, and more specifically for the welfare of cats both being held at ACC and those still loose in the Cobb area, which was hard-hit by the fire.
Beginning tomorrow morning, Oct. 29, 25 cats, 10 dogs, 8 goats, 3 horses and 2 chickens rescued from the fire area will be put up for adoption at the Lake County Animal Care and Control offices in Lakeport, located at 4949 Helbush. According to director Bill Davidson, any animal that has been identified as a “fire animal,” an animal displaced from its home due to the Valley Fire, will be housed until it can be successfully re-homed.
Oct. 29 marks the 30-day anniversary since the last of the mandatory evacuation orders was lifted. Most of the animals still being held by Animal Care and Control have been in their care since the Valley Fire began, meaning they have been held for as many as seven weeks. Davidson identified that vast the majority of the animals that have passed through his department have been “redeemed” by their owners.
Adoption fees have been waived or reduced, and for dogs and cats specifically only the cost of spaying or neutering the animal will be charged to the adopter. Male dogs will cost $80, female dogs under 60 pounds $90, female dogs over 60 pounds $105, male cats $55 and female cats $65. A supply of microchips has been donated to facility as well, so microchipping the animals will also be provided free of charge. Cats that can be identified as “unsocialized,” or cats that would have normally fallen under the Community Cat program in regular circumstances — a number comprising over half those currently being held by the county — will also be spayed or neutered for free before being released to a good home.
Bidding for the horses starts at $75 each and the chickens are $5. The goats will be $40 each, but only came to Animal Care and Control last week, so it will be a couple more weeks before they are put up for adoption.
District 5 Supervisor and Acting Chair Rob Brown expressed some concern for animals being housed out-of county instead of at the Lakeport facility and the subsequent difficulty of their owners with trying to locate them. Davidson stated there are also several animals still in the county being cared for by private individuals and other animal care organizations, but was unaware of any problem reconnecting owners with their displaced pets. Anyone housing an animal, he stated, is being encouraged to advertise it through “appropriate sources,” meaning websites, Facebook pages and the like, and that Animil Care and Control maintains a list of all the animals being cared for outside the county. Anyone still looking for a pet is encouraged to contact the facility as soon as possible so they can begin the reunification process.
The focus on the discussion with the BOS kept returning to the cats, as they compose the largest portion of domestic animals affected by the fire, both those that have been captured and those still running around on Cobb.
Any new fire animals brought in to the county will be afforded a 30-day window for redemption. Additionally, preference will be given to the people who dropped off the animals, should they want it and should the owners not present themselves to redeem the animal.
Haji Warf, who along with a group of volunteers has been actively trapping cats in the worst-hit areas of Cobb and either reuniting them with their owners or surrendering them to the county, reported that her group has suspended its trapping activities due to a large number of wildlife now being captured. Though she is certain, she stated, that there are many more cats still roaming around Cobb, they are either too traumatized or too “savvy” to be caught in the live traps.
Backed by Davidson, Warf requested that the Board of Supervisors temporarily suspend a county ordinance prohibiting the feeding of stray cats in the areas directly affected by Valley Fire to permit her to establish “feeding stations” for the cats, to be set up in the early morning to help prevent the feeding of the area wildlife.
The BOS approved the fee reductions, and a 6-months window for feeding, with a 3-0 vote in favor. Supervisors Anthony Farrington and Jeff Smith were absent.
