Humboldt County Animal Shelter’s Policy on How Long to Keep an Animal Before Euthanasia Is Now Being More Strictly Enforced
Humboldt County Animal Shelter
Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office would like to address recent inquiries regarding the Humboldt County Animal Shelter’s policy on euthanasia and unadoptable animals.
The policy of the Sheriff’s Office is to make every effort to reduce the incidence of euthanasia of animals in the shelter. Euthanasia is considered a last resort after all other efforts have failed for domestic animals that are ill, injured, aggressive, temperamentally unstable for adoption, too young for adoption; or possesses another condition that precludes them from placement into a new home. This policy has been in place since 2005.
After a recent inspection of the Animal Shelter, it was determined that dogs were being held up to four months after being deemed unadoptable by shelter protocol. According to our current policy, animals deemed unadoptable must be held at least five days total prior to being considered for euthanasia.
It was clear from this inspection that impounding these unadoptable dogs for several months in kennels was causing more harm to these already traumatized animals.
The Sheriff’s Office is proud of our staff who work tirelessly to reunite lost animals with their owners. We are also thankful for our positive relationships with several local animal rescue organizations who help us to find alternative homes for unadoptable animals.
Following the recent inspection of the shelter, shelter staff were advised of our policy, which was already in place, regarding timelines for unadoptable animals. Staff were directed that once an animal has been deemed unadoptable, no other organization is willing the take said animal, and two weeks has passed since the unadoptable determination has been made, the shelter will have to euthanize those animals. This two-week waiting period is longer than outlined by our policy, as the Sheriff’s Office recognizes it can take some time to find an alternative situation for these animals with our animal rescue partners. This waiting period can be extended on a case-by-case basis, if necessary, to facilitate a transfer with an animal rescue group.
This direction was given via email, which is linked at the end of this press release in an effort to provide transparency to our community.
Making an Unadoptable Determination
Animals may be deemed unadoptable by shelter staff if they meet the following criteria: animals that are ill, injured, aggressive, temperamentally unstable for adoption, too young for adoption; or possesses another condition that precludes them from placement into a new home
While some determinations may be made sooner, it typically takes shelter staff two weeks after the animal has arrived at our facility to make this determination. If an animal is found to be improving after shelter care and attention, this determination may take longer. Per our policy, every employee is expected to make every effort to give the animal the greatest opportunity possible to avoid euthanasia within the established timeframes.
There are currently 8 dogs that have been deemed unadoptable that have been held at the Animal Shelter since November 2019.
We believe after all resources are expended, rather than keeping an animal impounded in a stressful environment for months or years, the most humane last option is euthanasia.
The Sheriff’s Office will be meeting with leaders of local rescue organizations in the coming weeks to discuss our current policy and established timelines.
Shelter Statistics and Information
The Humboldt County Animal Shelter opened in 2004 to shelter stray domestic animals in the county. The Shelter maintains contracts with the cities of Eureka, Arcata, Trinidad and Blue Lake to provide shelter services.
In 2019, the Animal Shelter processed over 1,347 animals, over 900 of those animals were dogs. Throughout the year, 270 dogs were adopted, 197 were transferred to another shelter or organization and 533 were returned to their owner. In 2019, 47 dogs were euthanized. None of these euthanizations occurred because of the lack of space in the shelter.
What You Can Do to Help
While unadoptable animals are not available to the public, we urge community members to visit the shelter and adopt a pet from our adoptable animals. This opens more space in our shelter and helps reduce stress on all animals that are housed in the facility.
If you are looking for a pet to add to your family, please consider adoption.
The Humboldt County Animal Shelter is located at 980 Lycoming Road in McKinleyville. The shelter is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., and Tuesday and Thursdays from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. To inquire see adoptable pets, download an adoption application, or review our Animal Control Procedural Manual, please visit our website at: https://humboldtgov.org/377/Animal-Control-Division.
Additional Resources
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11 dogs and 45 cats for every man woman and child in the USA.
SPAY // NEUTER !!!
Sadly, to paraphrase the words of the controversial leader of PETA –who reportedly was enthusiastic about putting domestic dogs/cats down –“Euthanasia is a gift to an animal in a world that doesn’t want them.”
?
There is a common logical fallacy made by back yard breeders. It is called the naturalistic fallacy. And it is almost always accompanied by anthropomorphization of animals self-identity and values.
Anon, I feel the exact same way about abortions. Better not to come into this world if no one wants you or you will be beaten, trafficked and generally miserable for an entire lifetime.
Euthanasia is not a gift, it is a less than ideal outcome, a chore that has to be done because of the never ending river of animals coming in to shelters, and the risk to public safety that some dogs unfortunately present.
https://boston.cbslocal.com/2020/02/18/fairhaven-animal-shelter-girls-read-books-dogs/
Maybe we can get youth groups to help with stressful situations and get animals used to people?
Sadly, dogs that go so far as to fail temperament testing are beyond simply getting used to people – they usually have had very negative experiences with people and have a big risk of biting people if they haven’t already.
Can they euthnize the inmates at the jail and make room for the animals?
I like that idea a lot!
Yess!!! bring that forward to whomever is in charge and make it happen! That might just keep em honest. Do the Crime and do the time/death by euthanasia!
This is a radical change in the euthanasia practice at the Humboldt County Animal Shelter, one that has its ranks of dedicated volunteers and many staff outraged. For years, unadoptable dogs — those with medical or behavioral problems — have been taken over by Redwood Pals Rescue, which has paid for boarding them while trainers help them work through their problems, or while finding foster homes to get them out of the Shelter. Volunteers have continued to work with these animals, and it has been a good partnership with the county shelter, which has recorded a *very* low euthanasia rate as a result.
This new policy — apparently reinstating an old policy to fix a nonexistent problem — is unnecessary and may result in the unnecessary deaths of *many* good dogs.
I appeal to Sheriff Billy Honsal to rethink this wrongheaded and hardhearted policy.
For more information, contact Redwood Pals Rescue (http://redwoodpalsrescue.org/site/ or [email protected])
This is a current and chronic problem the shelter has been facing since I moved here in 2016! The shelter staff are scrambling on a regular basis to find spots to house an animal often putting dogs in cat rooms and in temporary pens for lack of proper “hold” kennels that are occupied by “rescue” dogs that have been here for months. The staff is who takes the hard/heavy emotional load. They care for these animals day in and day out developing trusting relationships with them. It’s not a quality of life to live in a shelter kennel. Especially if you are an animal who is constantly being triggered by a neighboring dog or being frightened by a dog jumping on the kennel wall as you cower in the corner afraid to move. This is NOT quality! Compassion Fatigue is a real thing. Animal Care Workers are committing suicide on a regular basis. The Sheriff is protecting the animals, his staff and his public.
Awwww, just look at that sweet face!!
Please protect the ones who can not protect themselves and have a voice for them!!
Ted,
thank you.
Is there anything we can do to stop the needless euthanasia?
That’s such a cute dog in the picture, he looks adoptable, worth saving.
Would more volunteers help?
Or maybe a go fund me to save the animals?
I hope they don’t euthanize them.
Thanks.
Vote Honsal out.
Sally,
upvotes to that, agreed.
I am very much in favor of euthanasia, but for selfish humans, not dogs & cats.
Was that a quote from Hitler?
It’s sad to realize that the local animal control is a revenue generating source.
How did we allow government to exploit our friends and companions?
Oh really? What’s the cost of caring for the animals vs. the fees that are collected? Getting a cat fixed at a regular vet can cost $300 or more – the shelter’s adoption fee for an animal is much less than that.
It’s too bad but because of so many idiots in this county owning and breeding their pitbulls, we are in this problem. Every second dog at the shelter is at least 1/2 pit bull. It’s a sad situation. Also, it’s very complicated and time consuming to adopt a pet from there. I was in the market for a backyard mouser and they basically wanted to do a full background check on me, tons of paperwork and something like $200. No thanks.
Willow Creeker,
please check out this group;
https://www.facebook.com/groups/FUR.FriendsUnitedinRescue/
They have a specific barn cat adoption program (they call these cats ‘rodent rangers’). These are cats that survived the Butte county fire.
I agree with you on most of that. & I personally have no interest in Pits either. And would just get a free cat. OTOH, $200 isn’t bad for a dog. I would not pay the $300 that many shelters ask, but $200 for Rabies and other shots, spay, wormer, health check and microchip is less than what it would cost at our local vet- who isn’t the most expensive. I could do without a microchip, but even without that it would still cost around $200.
I’m very glad they are euthanizing unadoptable dogs. There are so many that need adoption that it’s not fair to readily adoptable dogs if that’s not done. My current dog had problems. I have experience training horses and my late partner professionally trained dogs at one point in his life. It took the 2 of us 2 solid years of constant behavioral modification before we could trust my current dog in public. He was extremely dog and human aggressive. Fear aggressive. He’s fine now, I can trust him, but he would have been a sure liability in anyone’s hands who did not have experience in animal training. I ‘d rather not ever go through that again. Major, major PITA.
I’ve seen 3 people adopt dogs from shelters that were extremely dog aggressive in this county. They were eager to attack other dogs without provocation. All have attacked multiple dogs. One ended up being put down, 2 others I think are carefully isolated from other dogs. Those dogs should never have been adopted out, ESPECIALLY to people with no experience in training aggressive forward dogs.
It’s not OK to adopt out dogs that will very likely rip open a child’s face or kill another dog. It’s not OK to adopt out a dog who’s health problems will cost a great deal of money and grief to the owner when there are so many dogs that don’t have homes.
The HCSO shelter is reasonable. $35 – $200 for a dog which includes alter/spay, shots, worming, health check and microchip. It looks like they do a little bit of training too. You’d pay that or more for vet bills for most dogs you got anywhere. Cats $65 – $120.
“11 dogs and 45 cats for every man woman and child in the USA.”……A quick google check on this “Fact” shows how full of bs some people are. There are approximately 90 million dogs and 77 million cats in the USA, compared to 330 million people.
Dear Lord, some people!! Must be a democrat!! Now go Vote!! Thank you for getting the facts straight!!
Yep DD. That lazy Google search gave you the documented number of dogs/cats WITH OWNERS.
We are talking about something else entirely. Remember,
search terms are everything .
Add “homeless” or “overpopulation” to your search.
in just six years, one un-spayed female dog and her offspring can create 67,000 dogs and one un-spayed female cat and her offspring can produce 420,000 kittens in seven years, … That’s how the numbers of UNWANTED pets per capita is so inflated .
…roughly 2.7 million unwanted animals every year or five out of every ten dogs and seven out of every ten cats – that’s like 80,000 animals euthanized in the USA per week!
Five out of every ten shelter dogs each year amounts to about 5,500 euthanized dogs every day,
Do you really want to argue the obvious sheer magnitude of the problem with your “quick Google fact check?” Ok then.
As I sit here at my desk, I see a known “homeless” cat sauntering down the street. A few weeks ago, I saw her with a local “homeless” male cat on top of her. It looks as though my indoor only cat will be having some more kittens on the outside window sill to play with through the glass, soon. Then our neighbor traps the kittens, has them spayed/neutered and finds homes for them. All attempts to trap the mother cat have been fruitless – for well over a year or two. So, we either trap ALL male outdoor cats in the area, and have them neutered without the caretakers OK if they are not strays, or get dozens of traps and hope we get that Mama in one. Any other ideas?
Those concerned need to step up to the plate and adopt or foster an animal instead of blaming the Sheriff or others.
The sheriff is to blame.
It’s his policy.
They were allowed to live until he changed it.
I wish someone would adopt Jethro. He looks like an awesome companion. He’s been in there for almost a year. I can’t have more than one dog, but I look at their pages once in a while.
I have 4 “unadoptable” dogs. Are they “special”? You bet. If I didn’t adopt them do you think they would be alive right now? Hell no! Have worked around their quirks.
What needs to happen is people need to spay and neuter their pets. Period. Backyard breeders need to be stopped or regulated or licensed/fined. The number of animals ending up at the pound is absolutely unacceptable in a community like ours and in this day and age. It’s not the animal’s fault it’s at the pound, it people’s fault.
i think the shelters need to post the animals that are on the chopping block 3 weeks before their time is up. If people knew their fate they might go ahead and take them home.
I don’t think you get the part about them being unadoptable, which means they can’t be adopted out for the reasons stated in the press release.
I don’t think you get the part about letting them live
so they could be taken by redwood pals rescue, as they have been previously.
I get that part but that is not what the poster said. RPR is a great bunch of people but they are limited, as is shelter space. They are giving it 2 weeks, which is pretty generous. Big city shelters do the legally required 24 hours only because of space issues.
Looking,
thanks.
A lot of people want to help save them.
Hey,
does anybody know why they are wanting to euthanize the “unadoptsble” dogs more quickly, now?
Did something change?
Did the budget get suddenly smaller or something?
Whats different now?
Why not let the animals live?
How does “too young to be adopted “ qualify an animal for euthanasia???!!!!
That’s ridiculous!!!!! What happened to foster care programs?!
Foster programs don’t always have immediate space. The shelter policy is that every animal that is adopted out must be spayed/neutered so younger than that spay/neuter appropriate age of 6(?)months, and lacking room for them in the shelter ( or out) puts them at risk of euthanasia.
I was thinking the same thing! One of my dogs was adopted in McKinleyville and they fixed him when he was technically “too young” and let us adopt him. He is going on 8, and his breed is known to be aggressive, but we think a combo of the early neutering and early socialization made him the big, friendly giant he is.
I don’t know if there are any statistics to back me up on this, but I’ve always assumed a lot of dogs sit in shelters because many want a puppy. I would love to know what age is “too young to adopt” and if that’s different from how old they are supposed to be when sold by a breeder.
As for the sick/aggressive animals, I can see the argument that it’s cruel to keep them in cages for months longer than necessary. Plus, when any of us complain that the cost of adoption is too steep, we need to keep in mind that some of that money is probably needed to keep feeding and housing the sick/aggressive animals for all those extra months.
(P.S. I felt a bit misled by the headline of this article. “Strictly enforced” would mean euthanasia after the 5 days stated in the policy, while the press release states that they are actually allowing two weeks.)
Sorry you felt mislead but with dogs still in the Shelter from November at this time and the guideline to now euthanize after 2 weeks if there is no place willing to take the animal, that is a policy that is being MORE strictly enforced than it was before.
Animal Rescue Orgs Say They’re Worried and Furious About Change in Euthanasia Procedure at County Shelter
https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2020/mar/4/leaders-local-animal-rescue-organizations-say-they/
The problem at Humboldt County Animal Shelter is a systemic one. Shelter staff conduct pass/fail temperament tests that have been shown to have no predictive value of the dog’s behavior in the home. I am ashamed to say that I also took part in such temperament testing in the past. Modern animal shelters work with dogs whose behavior is uncertain by taking them into play yards and conducting basic training. They counsel adopters so that they can match dogs with appropriate homes. A jumpy dog might be placed with a family with older children, a fearful dog placed in a quiet home. The shelter would also have its own foster program so that dogs can transition to a forever home in the company of experienced foster caregivers and puppies could become of age for adoption. The Humboldt County Animal Shelter has no such programs, and instead counts on animal rescue organizations to do all this work. The rescues work with the dogs, giving them shelter enrichment and behavioral assistance, discovering their personalities by working with them outside of the stressful shelter and placing them in foster homes or with transfer partners. The dogs the shelter deems “unadoptable” are clearly adoptable as evidenced by the fact that all the of the dogs on the euthanasia list have been placed. The shelter needs to step up and put effort into these dogs instead of merely housing them and counting on rescues to do all the work of getting to know them. In the meantime, the shelter and sheriff’s office should do everything they can to work with the rescues who have so far managed to quietly and diligently keep the shelter’s euthanasia numbers low with no assistance from the shelter.
Excellent reply.
In numerous ways your post is a far superior explanation than the official report.
Of course euthanasia is an important component of our responsibility to love and care for our best friends. It used to be called animal husbandry. Culls happen.
At the same time, overbreeding isn’t animal husbandry, it’s inhumane.
How to afford the distorted system is the discussion. Taxpayers can’t cover everything. People MUST be accountable. My point is same as others on here, let’s love our pets and control the irresponsible cruelty of overbreeding. I see a lack of law enforcement pertaining to the control of humanity’s misuse of life. They’ve made a game of responsibility.
What nobody has said is why now?
Why not keep things the way they have been.
Nothing happened that was bad, there was no problem and things were good; now they are changing it which causes it to be worse, and works against the rescuers.
So why not let sleeping dogs lie, and let the animals live as they did before?