Jasmine, a four year old Golden Retriever, is a graduate from the Pups and Wards (PAW) prison dog training program that teaches vocational and life skills to juvenile wards at correctional facilities. Jasmine’s story is a truly heartwarming and inspiring success story here at OC Animal Care about second chances. She was rescued from our shelter by Janette Tomas, one of our volunteers who recruits dogs to train for the PAW program. In April 2012, when Jasmine finished her 10 weeks of training with the boys at the correctional facility, she was adopted by Denier Vandergon and her 10-year-old son Desmon, who suffers from cerebral palsy. Jasmine is now a significant part of their family, helping out the both of them in more ways than they could have imagined. The story is going to appear in the July issue of “Dog Fancy” magazine on pages 26 and 44. Trust me, it will be well worth the read.
Click the "Read More" link below to be redirected to the featured article on Dogchannel.com.
“Finding the best purpose for a dog is key to a successful adoption, and this is where fate intervened” (Slone).
Saturday’s Forever Friends For Free event was a booming success! With the help of everybody combined, we adopted out a total of 137 pets! 73 dogs, 55 cats, and 9 birds, bunnies and other small pets! We would like to extend a gracious “thank you!” to The Angels Baseball Foundation, Paws For A Cause, all of our volunteers, staff, adopters and anyone else who came to support! This could not have happened without you all!
OC Animal Care was recently the lucky recipient of 400 Home Again microchips to be used for the Feral FREE program. The microchips were donated by SCVMA The SCVMA donated by Dr. Peter Weinstein, Executive Director of SCVMA and Dr. Jennifer Hawkins, President of SCVMA. These donated microchips will not only provide a valuable resource for a new shelter program, but will help us identify cats that have participated in the program. Thank You SCVMA!
Celesta Peterson has been a volunteer with OC Animal Care for almost 6 years. During that time, she has been a Cat Socializer, Kitten Nursery Attendant, Foster Caretaker and has even recently begun working with our TNR program. Celesta is incredibly knowledgeable about cats and has an upbeat and positive attitude. Her efforts have assisted in helping hundreds of cats find their forever homes!
Our 3rd Annual Animals for Armed Forces adoption event was a huge success! During the event, current, former and retired military men and women and their families flocked to the shelter in search of a new forever friend. Animals adopted during the event were free (excluding licensing and microchip) with proof of military service. We are so thankful for everything that our Armed Forces members do for us every day. The least we can do is to help them find the perfect pet!
Thank you to the Animals for Armed Forces Foundation for making this event possible!
Are you between the ages of 14 and 21 and interested in an exciting career that involves the handling of animals? If so, then our Explorer Post may be just the thing to get you started. Explorer Post 538 focuses on the fields of animal care and control, animal handling and training, and law enforcement, just to name a few!
OC Animal Care has partnered with Found Animals Foundation to provide animals for Orange County's first Adopt & Shop store. Located on the lower level of The Shops at Mission Viejo, this unique pet store only adopts out animals from local shelters. So far, OC Animal Care has placed more than 30 animals at the store and in only a few days, several have been adopted. May 21st marked the grand opening of the store and the Mayor of Mission Viejo as well as staff and volunteer from Found Animals Foundation and OC Animal Care were in attendance. We are very excited to be a part of this wonderful opportunity for our shelter pets and to showcase our pets in the Southern parts of Orange County. Please stop by and check Adopt & Shop out!
Don't miss our 3rd annual Animals for Armed Forces adoption event this Saturday, May 25th. During this special event, current, former and retired military members will receive FREE* adoption on dogs, cats and bunnies.
*Free adoption does not include the cost of the microchip ($15) or dog license ($24).
Amanda Evans has been a volunteer at OC Animal Care since 2011. During that time, she has become an invaluable Rabbit Socializer and trainer for incoming Rabbit Volunteers. In addition to these duties, Amanda has become well known for her delicious cupcakes that she makes for the bake sales at shelter events. These cupcakes have helped to raise money for shelter animals and are enjoyed by all!
Our Annual Pet Fair event last Saturday was a huge success! Lots of folks came down to the shelter to visit with pet related vendors, rescue groups and meet adoptable pets. The weather was awesome and the visitors were great! At the end ...of the day, 48 shelter pets (12 cats, 35 dogs and 1 bunny) found their forever homes. In addition, the spinning wheel booth and bake sale raised over $700, which will be used to reduce adoptions at our Catopia event in July. Thank you to everyone that stopped by and adopted!See More
Last weekend's Pet Expo was a huge success. Thank you to everyone that came out and adopted as well as to our dedicated volunteers who helped so many animals find their new homes. At the end of the weekend, 21 dogs and 3 cats found their new forever homes. This photo features little "Bubbles", who came to us as part of an abuse case. After months of recovery, she found her new family at the Pet Expo on Sunday!
Alan Miller began volunteering with OC Animal Care as a Dog Walker in May, 2011. It didn’t take long for him to begin seeking out new opportunities in the shelter and he soon became a Greeter and a Public Education/Outreach Volunteer. It is not unusual for Alan and his dog Beignet to attend several off-site events each month to promote OC Animal Care and shelter adoption. Beignet acts as a shelter ambassador and collects donations on behalf of the shelter. To date, Alan and Beignet have collected more than $1,000 in donations for the shelter and assisted in placing dozens of animals in forever homes. Please join us in congratulating Alan Beignet as Volunteers of the Month for April 2013!
The event at Honda Center on March 24th was AMAZING! Ducks fans, OC Animal Care Volunteers & Staff and the player's wives were on hand to showcase adoptable dogs, shelter services and collect donations. More than $2,500 was donated to shelter pets as well as a van load of food, towels, blankets and supplies. More than half of the featured dogs have already been adopted too. Thank you to everyone for your generousity. We appreciate it!
Diana Rodgers has proven to be one of our most active volunteers. Most recently, Diana’s fellow volunteers have recognized her for her efforts in creating warm poncho-like sweaters for the adoptable dogs. These sweaters are bright, colorful, and help to keep the dogs cozy!
Please join us in congratulating Diana Rodgers as the Volunteer of the Month for March 2013!
Thank you to our staff, volunteers, rescues and community for making our annual Spay Day USA event a huge success! At the end of the event, 62 pets were adopted from the shelter, including 39 dogs 18 cats and 5 bunnies.
Our 2012 statistics are now posted on our website. In addition to providing comprehensive statistics for 2012, we are also providing a breakdown for each city that we serve. We are happy to report that our overall intake continues to decrease! In 2012, it decreased by almost 1,500 animals. In fact, if you look at just cats and dogs (our primary intake), it decreased by almost 1,600. Although our Return to Owner statistics may not show it, we believe that the lower intake, particularly with dogs, has been reduced because of the greater awareness and efforts related to Dog Licensing and pet ID, and more spay/neuter education. Another positive is our Adoptions/Live Release numbers held pretty steady across the board. Given that we had a lower intake, this would actually indicate that rates (percentages) were higher! For more information, please click read more.
OC Animal Care and the PAW program will be featured in a PBS documentary airing this spring called “Shelter Me.” The special will be seen nationwide and will document the progress of three shelter dogs as they go through the program at the Orange County Juvenile Hall Detention Center. During the months of December through February, a crew filmed OC Animal Care staff and volunteers as well as staff and incarcerated youth (wards) at the juvenile facility as they participated in the program.
Since 2010, Sharon has been an active participant in OC Animal Care’s volunteer program. She not only consistently serves more than 60 hours per month (sometimes more than 100 hours per month), she looks for creative new ways to improve the shelter and the volunteer program. With her hard work and dedication, Sharon has made a visible impact on the daily function of our facility. Sharon’s ability to go above and beyond is why she has been selected as February’s Volunteer of the Month!
OC Animal Care celebrated our amazing volunteers at a special recognition event on Saturday, January 12 at Irvine Regional Park. Volunteers were treated to a lunch, awards cerimony and several prizes. Congratulations to all of the volunteers that received awards and thank you for all that you do for our shelter pets!
Featured in this photo are the Excellence in Volunteerism Award winners from OC Animal Care, Pat Highfill and Lynda Weisman along with the the OC Parks Award winners Allee Eckert, Russ Onkka and the Laguna Canyon Foundation. Several OC Animal Care, OC Parks and OC Community Resources staff were in attendance to express their appreciation as well.
Alex Grant completed his Eagle Scout project today by building beautiful new benches for the shelter courtyard. They look wonderful and are very comfortable too! We know our shelter visitors and volunteers will love hanging out on these benches during their visits to the shelter. Thank you, Alex, for your support!
January 2, 2013
OC Animal Care Debuts New Website!
Welcome to the new and improved OC Animal Care website. We designed this site to be user friendly and easy to navigate. We also wanted to showcase all of the wonderful animals and services our shelter offers. Take a look around and see what you think! We hope you like it as much as we do. Enjoy!
Since August 2011, Debbie has been a unique member of the OC Animal Care volunteer team. Not only is Debbie dedicated to exercising and socializing the dogs at our shelter, she also utilizes her photography skills to ensure the dogs have gorgeous pictures posted on our website. While serving approximately 60 hours per month, Debbie is able to promote some of her favorite large breed dogs for adoption, greatly increasing their chances of finding a forever home! Debbie’s outstanding service has lead her fellow volunteers to nominate her as January’s Volunteer of the Month! Congratulations!
On Saturday, December 22nd, OC Animal Care held it's most successful Pawliday Adoption Event ever. At the end of the day, 93 animals had been adopted (57 dogs, 35 cats and 1 bunny). Thank you to Desperate Paws of Orange County Dog Club for your donation of $1,000 towards the first 20 dog adoptions. Thank you, as well, to our community supporters whose generous donations allowed for additional discounts during the event!
UPDATE - Hook has been adopted by a local animal rescue group!
OC Animal Care Field Staff is investigating a possible case of animal cruelty. If anyone has information relating to this dog or witnessed someone dropping off or handling him near Malden Avenue, in the city of Fullerton, on Saturday, December 8, 2012 please call the Operations Department at 714-796-6460 to provide the information.
The keys to keeping your pet safe are thoughtful preparation, safe confinement, and a watchful eye. Following these guidelines will keep Halloween safe and fun, instead of being a night of unwanted fright
