From dog beaches in Ocean Beach, Del Mar and Coronado to Fiesta Island to the county's dozens of dog parks, it's obvious San Diego loves its canines.
That said, for a variety of reasons, hundreds and hundreds of them were surrendered last year by owners who could no longer care for them.
On Thursday, the San Diego County Department of Animal Services said it is at a critical stage of overcrowding at dog shelters and residents were being asked to adopt or foster to help with the nationwide crisis.
"More dogs are coming into the shelter this year than there were last year, and fewer dogs in the shelters are being adopted or reclaimed by their owners," Kelly Campbell, the director of county animal services, said in a news release.
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The San Diego County Department of Animal Services shelters took in more than 5,700 animals last year, and more than 5,100 were adopted or placed in new homes. That's a chasm of 600 pets with nobody to go home to.
A animal-services spokeswoman said 223 of those are dogs currently being cared for by the county, with 180 of them ready for adoption. Seventy dogs looking for forever homes are at the Northern Region Shelter, and another 70 or so of them in the southern shelter, including this sweet boy, Arlo:
”Every day, we’re running at about 97-98% capacity," said Carl Smith, who is the assistant director of the county's department of animal services. "Sometimes at the end of the day, we have zero kennel space available, and what we’re actually seeing is less animals going out on a daily basis and more animals continuing to go in.”
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Smith told NBC 7 on Thursday that the shelter would like to get that number down to 50%.
The call from the county for people to help is a far cry from the early days of the pandemic, when stay-at-home and work-from-home San Diegans swept the shelters for companionship.
”I think we have kind of the perfect storm," Smith said. "Coming out of the pandemic, I think a lot of folks had become owners, pet owners, that maybe weren’t ready to become pet owners, and then once they had to go back to work and teleworking wasn’t an option for some people, they started bringing their pets back to us.”
On Thursday, the county said many of dogs are being given up is because of housing or financial issues, because their human died or can't take care of them anymore or (see headline above), simply, there were too many dogs in one home.
”I think we’re also seeing a little bit of economic condition where everything from homeowner insurance for certain breeds, certain apartments and houses are not willing to accept pets, or if they are, it’s going to come at an additional cost, and for some people, that additional cost for some people is a choice between keeping that pet or not,” Smith said.
The county is urging people to try to find an alternative before surrendering their pet at a shelter, including reaching out on social media or NextDoor, or attempting to re-home them with a friend or family member.
120458” we work with a lot of our partners, a lot of our rescue partners, they’re at capacity as well.”
The county is making it as cheap as possible for San Diegans to go home with their new fur buddy. How much? Free: "All dogs that have been in the shelter for more than 30 days will have adoption fees waived," the news release stated. And if you can't bring one home for good, the county would like you to consider another free option: Fostering. Call call (619) 767-2675 for more info on that one.
And starting Friday and through Jan. 28, all fees on Huskies are being waived, the spokeswoman said.
The situation at the county shelter echoes the message from the San Diego Humane Society, which told NBC 7 on Wednesday that it, too, was overcrowded with dogs. Nina Thompson, who is the local society's director of public relations, said there are close to 500 dogs in the society's care in some capacity, including a very sad number: 95 puppies.
All adult dogs will be 50% off Jan. 26-28 at the San Diego Humane Society, so, $55 on those dates, and that includes "EVERYTHING," Thompson said, including shots. microchipping, pet supplies and some "starter" food. And they've all been spayed or neutered.
Linus, who's been at the shelter since July 29 and can be seen below, would love to say hi next weekend, Thompson said:
