CHICO — More and more animals are entering Chico for adoption these days, thanks to a local organization looking to make adoption more efficient. After a tragedy like the Camp Fire, however, this system may become more of a burden on the community than ever before.
Local non-profit animal rescue Wags and Whiskers is known for its policy of taking animals from “kill shelters” in other areas and bringing them to the location in the North Valley Plaza in Chico for adoption. It is also known for adoption events where dogs are brought outside to cages and runs in the plaza Mondays through Thursdays from 1 to 5 p.m. and on Saturday mornings, “rain or shine,” as one employee said.
Driving down Pillsbury Road past cages of animals up for adoption barking in the plaza, it’s a hard tactic to argue with. If it leads to more animals finding homes, animals which might otherwise have been killed or left on the streets, what’s the harm?
That’s a question the Chico Animal Shelter has been wrestling with for years.
Complaints and concerns
Animal Services Manager Tracy Mohr at the city of Chico Animal Shelter said that Wags and Whiskers has moved a large number of animals through its facility and into new homes, reaching over 6,000 adoptions since it began in 2013, which seems like a big positive for anyone working in animal welfare.
However, it has also gotten a lot of complaints.
A variety of verbal complaints about the establishment have been made in the past year to both the Chico Animal Shelter and the Chico Police Department, though both said that it’s rare for complaints to come in written form. Many complaints are about cleanliness or concerns about dogs being vaccinated or examined before being adopted, Mohr said, and she believes there are several reasons for recent complaints.
First, Wags and Whiskers is able to operate in the North Valley Plaza in a retail space thanks to a pet shop permit. However, because new state laws require that all organizations operating under pet shop rules house animals that are from shelters, that removes significant accountability, Mohr said, for how shelters can house animals.
Where previously a pet shop would be liable for selling a sick animal to a customer, no guarantee can be made about the health of a shelter animal, and the organization cannot be held liable for sick animals.
“It’s frustrating because some of the teeth that were there (in legislation) are gone,” Mohr said.
Many rescues with little control
Another significant concern for Chico Animal Shelter is the speed at which animals are adopted out at Wags and Whiskers.
Wags and Whiskers is open about the fact that it takes animals from various shelters in many locations in order to get animals adopted as quickly as possible. While this idea itself is not a bad one, Mohr said, it may mean that high numbers of animals coming from many different areas enter the community with unknown amounts of screening.
She is concerned about the screening the Wags and Whiskers performs, saying it may not be enough time to give the animal a physical or check for diseases before adoption.
When reached for comment, Wags and Whiskers did not provide information on how animals are screened before adoption.
Mohr said that the Chico Animal Shelter’s policy is to hold every animal received for at least five days in order to give it examinations and vaccinations. In addition, if an animal is considered not yet ready for adoption, the shelter may continue to hold it for weeks or months if necessary, she said, in order to give it the best chance of adoption into an ideal family.
Mohr also mentioned that Wags and Whiskers often has higher populations of “highly adoptable” animals like puppies than the shelter, leading to competition and often older animals at the Chico Animal Shelter left waiting longer for homes. She says this is especially problematic after tragedies like the Camp Fire have left higher numbers of animals homeless.
“How does it affect the community as a whole when more and more animals are coming in?” she said. “There is a finite number of people in town who are looking to adopt.”
Protecting from health risks
Wags and Whiskers recently came under scrutiny for an outbreak of canine distemper in the shelter last year. Canine distemper is a highly contagious and serious infection caused by a virus attacking the respiratory, nervous and gastrointestinal systems of canines. It can be spread through airborne pathogens, physical contact, from mother dogs to puppies, on clothing or shoes or by unclean floors or food or water dishes.
California laws are not currently specific about how animals should be housed or protected from disease, compared to other states such as New Jersey, where care and cleaning of animals is very clear in state code.
Policies are relatively lenient in unincorporated Butte County areas. Butte County Animal Control said that to protect animals from diseases, the correct product must be used for cleaning. Individuals are also asked to be mindful of contact with animals at different homes or of walking on yards as some diseases such as canine distemper can be tracked between locations and transported to another home with an uninfected animal.
The city’s Chico Animal Shelter, which claims to have never had a widespread outbreak of canine distemper or other diseases, like provovirus in puppies or upper respiratory infections in cats, attributes its control of contagions to careful hygienic practices. Butte Humane Society, which adopts pets for the Chico Animal Shelter, also regularly disinfects its shelter with Rescue, a peroxide designed to protect against infections like distemper.
So while Wags and Whiskers is not breaking laws by keeping animals in stacked wire cages, with only some runs available, Mohr said the illness can spread much more quickly without runs or metal cages.
A Wags and Whiskers employee, Lucy Parks, said that currently the building is reorganizing and keeping pets inside, but doesn’t have a new solution for how the animals are housed.
In addition, while Wags and Whiskers still holds adoption events outside, the Butte Humane Society said that it always keep dogs housed inside, and uses swamp coolers and ice blocks in high temperatures. The official county policy is that animals must be kept in shade with available water at all times. Dogs also must have a way to escape from the heat and seek shelter. In periods of high heat, Animal Control requires that animals should not be walked on asphalt or sidewalks.
Wags and Whiskers meets the county’s requirements, but Mohr said these outdoor events offer more opportunities for animals to spread and catch contagious diseases.
The policy at the city’s animal shelter is that anyone planning to visit who has also visited another shelter in town needs to wait until the next day. The Chico Animal Shelter claims this is to help prevent the spread of contagious disease as much as possible, and Mohr said taking responsibility is key.
While looking to give rescued animals homes, she said, you have to also look out for their health and give them the best chance at finding a good, permanent home.
