Thousands of pets in San Diego County shelters are waiting for the day they find their "furever" home, and a South Bay shelter just received a $50,700 grant to help them get there.
The grant was awarded to Chula Vista Animal Services by California for All Animals via UC Davis. It will be used by the Chula Vista Animal Care Facility to provide vital financial support to families struggling to keep their pets.
Clear the Shelters:
The shelter itself is struggling to keep up with an influx of animals. Deputy Director of Animal Services Ashley Milo said it has been over capacity since 2021.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
Ideally, they’d have no more than 80 dogs in their care at any one time. Milo said they currently have 141 at the shelter with another 37 staying with fosters.
There are also dozens of cats and kittens.
Many of the animals are picked up as strays and have injuries from being hit by cars that require amputation or other emergency medical care.
“With an increase in animals, you’re going to see a lot more medical cases in general,” Milo said.
There are several reasons for the increase.
Milo said the fees to reclaim lost pets can range from $235-$575, forcing many to surrender them.
“Right now, people are saying, well 'I have to pay the bills. I have to feed my family. I have to pay rent,' and it’s really one of these, 'What should I do?” she said.
A large chunk of the grant money, $30,000, will go toward financial assistance for those pet owners, so they can reclaim their animals.
The money will also be used to purchase a tag engraving machine, so they can send 1,500 reclaimed and adopted dogs home with tags and collars. That way, if they get lost, they will hopefully be returned directly to their owner and not end up back at the shelter.
“All we can do at the moment is help one at a time,” Milo said. “But if we can help the community, we turn that into millions of people that can help and that’s greater than anything that I could ask for.”
The Chula Vista Animal Care Facility hopes to start offering the new services in the next few months.
