It’s tough to be a shelter this time of year. With kitten season almost in full swing, older cats and sometimes dogs, get overlooked. As shelters try to deal with the influx of animals, Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority chooses to showcase their older animals with an annual event. This year, SVACA held Celebrate Companion Animals, a “name your own adoption fee” adoptathon on May 3.
In addition to the shelter’s animals (five cats, five kittens, 12 dogs and three rabbits) up for adoption, rescue partners Our Pack, Mickaboo and MickaCoo were at the event with their own group of adoptable dogs (Our Pack) and birds (Mickaboo and MickaCoo).
One of SVACA’s adoptable dogs, Cupcake, a five-year-old pit bull mix, has been at the shelter since March. “Cupcake came in and she was hit by a car,” said Jennifer Mathers, SVACA care specialist lead. “She was really grungy. She was stinky. You could tell she had a litter – many litters probably, but she’s tightening up now and looking better. She was just obese and the mud was caked on her. She was pretty yucky. She had a urinary tract infection and was pretty much peeing blood. It was really sad, but she is awesome. We love her and she’s up for adoption today.”
As potential adopters looked at and overlooked cupcake, one of the volunteers showed just how sweet she was by walking into her “apartment,” squatting down and cuddling up to the tan beauty, disproving the stereotype that all pit bulls are vicious creatures.
Potential adopters are in luck though. Cupcake was not one of the three kittens and three dogs that were adopted at the event. She’s still available and waiting for her forever home.
There are plenty of other animals waiting for adoption as well, including 47 kittens in foster care that will be ready in time for the Maddie’s Fund adoption event on May 31-June 1.
SVACA is also currently looking for kitten foster homes. “We are always in need of more foster parents,” said Mathers. “We have more fosters than we had last year but we also have more kittens. Usually this time of year it’s slow getting them kittens as they trickle in, but I think I have almost every home full so we definitely need fosters … Bottle babies are the highest need … It’s such a short-term commitment and once you get past that almost anybody that’s willing to foster can take them. It’s just the two to three weeks of that high need.”
Visit http://svaca.com/index.aspx?page=2737 to learn about fostering, and www.svaca.com to see a list of adoptable animals.