RivCo's Inde-Pet-Dence Event Hopes To Clear The Shelters: 2024

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — From Thursday to Saturday, dogs and cats in Riverside County's animal shelters can be adopted without the customary fees, as part of a countywide push to put more unsheltered pets in new homes.

The Riverside County Department of Animal Services is holding the three-day "Inde-pet-dence" event ahead of the Fourth of July to encourage adoptions. It follows a Memorial Day weekend special, dubbed "10-10-10" for the hours of operation at each of the county's shelters, during which over 400 canines and felines were adopted.

"The `10-10-10 Day' was a huge success -- and we're optimistic `Inde- pet-dence Days' will result in the same community support," agency Director Erin Gettis said. "Our shelters are beyond capacity, and the help is, once again, desperately needed."

From Thursday until closing hours on Saturday, visitors to the Blythe Animal Shelter, San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus, Coachella Valley Animal Campus in Thousand Palms and Western Riverside County Animal Shelter in Jurupa Valley will be eligible to adopt a pet without paying any adoption, spay/neuter, vaccination or microchipping fees. If the adopter is a county resident, he or she would still be required to pay for a dog license, however.

License fees vary, depending on where an adopter resides within the county, ranging from $12 to $25 for altered pets.

"On average, more than 100 pets are impounded daily at county shelters during the work week," according to Department of Animal Services spokesman John Welsh. "During the summer, that figure soars to more than 150 a day. The number of animals getting adopted or returned to their families is not keeping pace with the impound figures. Each day, difficult decisions become a reality because the daily intake figures are overwhelming almost every Southern California shelter."

Agency Deputy Director Jackie Schart said welcoming a homeless dog or cat into a home ahead of Independence Day not only saves the animal's life, but also frees up capacity at the shelters so as to make "additional room for all the frightened pets that end up in our care when the Fourth of July holiday is over."

The pyrotechnics activity generally causes a cascade of pets to run the streets.

More information about adoptions, shelters' hours of operation and locations can be found at www.rcdas.org/shelters.