Pets get homes for the holidays and beyond
Thousands of visitors gathered at the Irvine Animal Care Center on Sunday for the eighth annual Home for the Holidays pet adoption fair.
At least 275 animals were placed with new families, according to preliminary records.
The event is the second-largest annual adoption fair in Orange County, after the Super Pet event in June, also organized by the care center.
The holiday fair takes months of work with more than 100 volunteers helping with the preparation, said Michelle Quigley, the center’s business administrator. An additional 60 to 70 volunteers were on hand during the fair.
The event came less than two weeks after a half-dozen Animal Care Center volunteers and at least one former employee expressed concerns to the Irvine City Council that the city-run organization has increasingly strayed from its stated mission of animal rescue, treatment and adoption in favor of euthanasia for convenience.
“We have over 418 volunteers in our corps,” said Quigley, choosing not to address the controversy. “Clearly, those are the folks that are here today, the majority of such that are here for the right reason.”
Statistics provided by the city indicate an overall decrease in animal euthanasia rates at the center over the past five years from a high of 10.8% in the 2009-10 fiscal year to 7.6% in 2013-14. The five-year average was 8.7%.
According to Quigley, an estimated 3,000 people attended the Home for the Holiday fair in support of 32 organizations throughout Southern California that stress pet rescue and adoption.
“It’s really one big family-like atmosphere to get as many animals adopted as we can,” she said.
David Romero and Miguel Roman of Upland showed up to browse and left with a miniature pinscher-mix puppy. They selected the 4-month old female as a companion for the “min pin” they adopted at the Irvine Super Pet event this summer.
Dean and Alison Westrup of Huntington Beach, along with their three young children, were among the families strolling the grounds with a pet in tow. They had adopted their red fox terrier Chloe at the event last year and returned to share in the holiday spirit.
“We didn’t really get to experience it last year,” recalled Alison. “We got her, we have a new dog, we carried her through the event. It was just like crazy; we didn’t get to enjoy it. We want to watch other people get dogs.”
Vendors represented several specific dog breeds, as well as cats, rabbits and other pets. The goal is to match rescue animals with a proper permanent home.
“Everyone’s looking for the young puppies. Most people haven’t done their research to understand what a puppy requires,” noted Bruce Timbers of the Golden Retrievers Rescuers of Greater Los Angeles.
“We work closely with the adopter to see if they have children, other dogs, other pets,” Timbers said. “The thing we stay away from is pure appearance. So many people say, ‘Oh, that dog’s cute,’ and they want to adopt that dog. What we emphasize is what is the makeup of the dog, the social attributes of the dog.”
Forever Home Cat Rescue operates out of two locations in Orange County. Founder Dianne Tuelle said she now makes it a point to attend the adoption fairs.
“Each time, we have adopted [out] an average of 16 to 20 cats or kittens — and that’s in one day,” Tuelle said, noting her organization might place 10 animals in a good week from her regular locations. “It’s good exposure for our organization and we just have a good time.”
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