Volunteers are truly creative and problem-solving people. We all know the saying, “A pessimist sees a glass of water as half empty. An optimist sees the same glass of water as half full.” Well, as someone else quipped: “A volunteer sees a glass of water and looks around for someone who is thirsty.” What this means in the humane services realm is that volunteers will do anything to help animals find homes. So it is no surprise that a new program at Contra Costa County Animal Services was the brainchild of a creative volunteer looking to solve a problem.
What was the problem? Plain and simple: too many animals in our two shelters and not enough adopters or rescue groups to take them. Of course, our shelter is not the only one facing this challenge. According to The Humane Society of the U.S. and The National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy, approximately 6 to 8 million cats and dogs enter U.S. animal shelters each year and only 30% of the dogs and 2-5% of the cats are reclaimed by owners.
That leaves shelters scrambling to assess the adoptability of the remaining millions and trying hard to find homes for as many as possible. And scramble we do – at CCCAS we have three behaviorists on staff, two adoption centers, discounted adoption rates, weekly mobile adoption events, and video/photo postings on social media sites such as Pet Harbor, Pet Finder, Facebook, and Craigslist. And still our shelters are always full.
What’s the solution? Amongst the many strategies for reducing shelter populations is collaborating with other shelters. Contra Costa County Animal Services volunteer, Debbie Rodriguez, discovered a new shelter connection for us while attending a “No More Homeless Pets” conference hosted by Best Friends Animal Society. Debbie attended a discussion about how crowded shelters can help lower their euthanasia rates by transporting dogs to well-run, credible shelters in other areas with lower populations.
According to the conference attendees, Oregon is a state with a lower population of small dogs in its shelters than California. Debbie remembered this one day as she and a pilot friend of hers, Greg Jacobs, were deciding where to fly for lunch.
“How about Oregon?” said Debbie.
“Sure!” replied Greg.
“Can we take a few small dogs?” asked Debbie.
When Greg agreed, Operation Paws Rescue was born.
On May 11, 2012 four small dogs took the flight from California to Oregon. They were adopted within days of their arrival. Since that first transport, 259 homeless shelter dogs have been flown in five planes and driven in 16 cars to Oregon to find new homes – and nearly all of them have been adopted! And for the very few not yet adopted, we expect the wait will be short-lived.
Greeted by crowds of cheering people and news reporters, the transports have become a popular event in Gold Beach, Oregon. We are all benefiting from this wonderful, long-lasting collaboration with Curry County Animal Shelter. The non-profit rescue group that runs the county shelter, Pennies for Pooches, has been willing to take dogs that no other local rescue group would take – the overly shy, the not-so-pretty, the medically challenged, the ever-abundant brown Chihuahua. To help cover spaying, neutering, and other medical expenses for the Oregon dogs prior to transport, CCCAS has collaborated with Pet Food Express to host several Pet Wash Fundraisers in their stores. With the help of NBC’s Diane Dwyer we have raised nearly $15,000 for these wonderful little dogs.
Since the launch of Operation Paws Rescue, we have also linked up with another out-of-state shelter: Nevada Humane Society, where an additional 288 animals from our shelter have been given a better chance at finding forever homes.
We are grateful to volunteer Debbie Rodriguez for using her networking skills and creativity to address the problem of shelter overpopulation. Our thanks also go to Greg Jacobs for flying our dogs multiple times to Oregon, and to Dave Arata for making the long drive so many times!
If you would like to donate to our Operation Paws Rescue program, please send your donation to: Contra Costa County Animal Services, c/o Operation Paws Rescue Fund, 4800 Imhoff Place, Martinez, CA 94553. You can also visit the program’s Facebook page at facebook.com/shelterpaws and meet our animals available for adoption at ccasd.org.
Cindy Smith manages the volunteer program, advertising, and media placement for CCC Animal Services. She fosters shelter dogs and cats and has four shelter pets of her own. She’s a biologist, actor, and ex-Peace Corps volunteer.
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Main article photo by: Courtesy CCCAS
