TUSTIN, Calif. — Looking for a last-minute pal for Christmas Day? Orange County Animal Care will waive fees for cats and other small animals from Sunday to Christmas Eve.
The program is sponsored by $30,000 from the office of outgoing 5th District County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett, a follow-up to a successful adoption blitz in November that saw 544 pets find new homes.
Those adoptions were financed by $100,000 from her office, but some pets were not available for adoption or were hard to place.
“We had such a great response from the community during our November pet adoption event that we decided to keep it going through the month of December, but this time with a focus on cat adoptions and other small animals,” Bartlett said in a news release.
Some cats were too young or too sick to be available the first time around. Large dogs can also be hard to place, so the shelter has waived fees on canines 25 pounds or larger.
“It’s hard on the larger dogs because some people can’t manage them,” said Bartlett's spokesperson Pauline Colvin.
The November campaign saw the adoptions of 178 dogs, 331 cats, 18 rabbits, four birds, four guinea pigs, seven hamsters, one chicken and one snake.
New animals regularly arrive at the county shelter, but as of Thursday, there were 251 dogs, 162 cats and 20 small animals.
Pets available for adoption can be found on OCpetinfo.com. The shelter is open seven days a week, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and until 7 p.m. on Wednesdays. People looking to adopt may walk in between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. However, the shelter recommends booking an appointment by calling 714-935-6848.