Apple Valley Animal Shelter asks pet owners not to surrender pets for next 3 weeks
As of Thursday, the shelter is at full capacity and staff is trying to leave room for strays to get them adopted.
APPLE VALLEY, Calif. (KABC) -- The COVID-19 pandemic shutdown led to a surge in pet adoptions from local shelters, but those promised forever homes are not panning out for some pets.
"Right now, we're thinking people are going back to work now that COVID restrictions have fallen off a little bit more, being a little bit more lax, and unfortunately, that doesn't leave much time for the animals," said Brandie, a rescue coordinator at the Apple Valley Animal Shelter.
She said pet owner-surrenders have skyrocketed.
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As of Thursday, the Apple Valley Animal Shelter is at full capacity and is temporarily postponing the acceptance of owner-surrender animals from residents through Wednesday, Oct. 20. The shelter is also asking residents in the unincorporated area of San Bernardino County to also hold off. Officials said the shelter is focusing on re-homing the strays they already have.
"This is just temporary," said Brandie. "This is to help us in the placement of the animals currently in our care."
The shelter is offering $15 to $30 cat adoptions and $75 dog adoption fees.
"These adoption fees actually include everything for the pet. So, they will be altered receive their first set of vaccinations and a microchip," she said.
For more information, visit the Apple Valley Animal Shelter's Facebook page.
