#svaca

By Melissa McKenzie

With kitten season finally winding down, and local shelters tackling the never-ending task of finding homes for their animal residents, Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority held its annual Walking in a Whisker Wonderland adoption event on Nov. 8.

The pay-what-you-want in adoption fees yearly adoptathon gave event attendees the chance to participate in a raffle, and new pet-owners and long-term pet parents the opportunity to have their pet take a photo with Santa - fundraisers for SVACA’s non-profit group, Friends of SVACA.

Wonderland’s main goal, however, was to find homes for the 69 animals up for adoption (60 cats, eight dogs and one rabbit) - including long-term resident Sugar and unique kitty Cashew.

“I think the longest one, at the moment, is Sugar,” said Jennifer Mathers, care specialist lead at SVACA. “She’s an older cat and I think she’s been here since July. Our fingers are crossed for her.”

“The [special cat] that comes to mind is Cashew,” she continued. “It’s kind of hard to describe it, but he has an odd gait. He’s really cool though. He’s been here since September. He’s kind of quirky and everybody loves his quirky personality.”

As some perused SVACA’s cageless facility, others, like Mary Hadley and her mother, Jessica, came in knowing exactly which animal they wanted to adopt.

“We already have a cat, Nova ... and my mom came in here yesterday,” said Mary Hadley. “We wanted a black and white cat because we wanted to name it Sylvester, which is my grandfather’s middle name ... I love cats. I couldn’t have any when I was younger because of asthma, but when I turned 16 my doctor cleared me.”

“I saw him online and I fell in love with him,” said Jessica Hadley of Seymore, the cat the family adopted. “If you look at him straight in the face he kind of looks like Batman because of his ears. And, he has a goatee, and my husband has a goatee.”

By Melissa McKenzie

It’s tough to be an adult cat during kitten season.

Families and individuals are kitten crazy during the summer months, which often gives adult cats the shaft, as adopters flock toward the cuddly, playful, younger, furry felines. As part of an effort to save as many lives as possible, Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority holds quarterly pay-what-you-want in adoption fee events, with its most recent happening on Aug. 9.

The shelter’s annual Hawaiian-themed Aloha Adoption adoptathon attempts to clear shelter space and give some of the organization’s overlooked and special case dogs and cats a little extra attention.

Of the approximately 40 felines up for adoption, 14 kittens and one adult cat found their forever homes last Saturday, but others are still anxiously awaiting a family. One of the shelter’s special cases is Roo, a two-year-old, three-legged, torbie, domestic short hair mix. “We don’t have a lot of history on her,” said Shelter Manager Michael Limper, of the young cat who came to the shelter in May. “Basically, it looks like she was found and that person was feeding her for a little bit, but didn’t know what to do so they brought her to us.”

When Roo was brought to the shelter, her hind right limb was sticking straight up. With few options and an inability to correct the problem, the shelter amputated the leg. “We think it was an old injury,” said Limper, “that’s why we amputated. It happened and it was never treated so there was nothing that we could do to try and repair it. The best thing was to take it off. She recovered quick.”

Roo has become quite the favorite among shelter volunteers, as has her roommate, Ophelia, a sweet senior kitty who is still looking for love. Ophelia is a gray, domestic long haired gal who enjoys getting affection from volunteers and lounging around while checking out the world around her.

Four of the 15 dogs available also found homes during the event. “We had a big rush right at the beginning and we’re getting a lot of guys out - a lot of dogs and a lot of kitties, too,” said Limper about an hour into the event.

By Melissa McKenzie

It’s tough to be a shelter this time of year. With kitten season almost in full swing, older cats and sometimes dogs, get overlooked. As shelters try to deal with the influx of animals, Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority chooses to showcase their older animals with an annual event. This year, SVACA held Celebrate Companion Animals, a “name your own adoption fee” adoptathon on May 3.

In addition to the shelter’s animals (five cats, five kittens, 12 dogs and three rabbits) up for adoption, rescue partners Our Pack, Mickaboo and MickaCoo were at the event with their own group of adoptable dogs (Our Pack) and birds (Mickaboo and MickaCoo).

One of SVACA’s adoptable dogs, Cupcake, a five-year-old pit bull mix, has been at the shelter since March. “Cupcake came in and she was hit by a car,” said Jennifer Mathers, SVACA care specialist lead. “She was really grungy. She was stinky. You could tell she had a litter - many litters probably, but she’s tightening up now and looking better. She was just obese and the mud was caked on her. She was pretty yucky. She had a urinary tract infection and was pretty much peeing blood. It was really sad, but she is awesome. We love her and she’s up for adoption today.”

As potential adopters looked at and overlooked cupcake, one of the volunteers showed just how sweet she was by walking into her “apartment,” squatting down and cuddling up to the tan beauty, disproving the stereotype that all pit bulls are vicious creatures.

Potential adopters are in luck though. Cupcake was not one of the three kittens and three dogs that were adopted at the event. She’s still available and waiting for her forever home.

There are plenty of other animals waiting for adoption as well, including 47 kittens in foster care that will be ready in time for the Maddie’s Fund adoption event on May 31-June 1.

SVACA is also currently looking for kitten foster homes. “We are always in need of more foster parents,” said Mathers. “We have more fosters than we had last year but we also have more kittens. Usually this time of year it’s slow getting them kittens as they trickle in, but I think I have almost every home full so we definitely need fosters ... Bottle babies are the highest need ... It’s such a short-term commitment and once you get past that almost anybody that’s willing to foster can take them. It’s just the two to three weeks of that high need.”

By Melissa McKenzie

It was the start to a happy holiday season as Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority kicked off its winter adoption drive with Walking in a Whisker Wonderland, a name-your-own-adoption fee event on Nov. 9. In addition to the nearly 50 dogs and cats up for adoption, there was a raffle held by Friends of SVACA and, for a $10 donation, residents were able to get their pets’ photos taken with Santa.

As always, there were a couple of special animals available. Years ago, animals arriving any shelter in need of medical treatment would be euthanized. But, because of the support the organization receives, SVACA is able to provide medical attention to these animals and give them the chance they deserve. Two of the animals that have recently been treated, both whom are currently up for adoption, are Neo, the cat, and Pirate, the dog.

Eight-year-old Neo, a gray domestic shorthair, came into the shelter with an injury. The shelter speculates that Neo was hit by a car and his hip came out of its socket. Because of the difficulty involved in putting the hip back into place, the shelter performed a femoral head ostectomy (FHO) surgery, where, according to SVACA’s Registered Veterinary Technician Gina DeMartini, the top of the femur (femoral head) is shaved off in order for the body to heal itself. Neo, despite a long scar on his hind leg, can walk and jump, although he now has a slight limp.

Similarly, Pirate, a black and white five-year-old Parson Russell Terrier mix, was seen getting hit by car. Due to the hard work of SVACA’s animal control officers, Pirate was eventually coaxed from his hiding place and also recently received an FHO surgery. Pirate is now back to being a happy, fun-loving pup who is waiting for his forever home.

If interested, Neo is in the shelter’s expanded cat area, and Pirate is down the hall in the last room of the dog section, wearing a cone to protect his scar. While Neo and Pirate await their happy ending, 10 of their shelter mates (two dogs, two cats, and six kittens) found families at the Whisker Wonderland event.

By Melissa McKenzie

It’s that time of year again.

Kitten season, from June through October each year, keeps Bay Area shelters filled to capacity. Each year, Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority holds an adoption event, this year on Aug. 10, to find forever homes for the animals in its care. While the focus remains mostly on cats, SVACA has had an influx of dogs to its cageless complex on Thomas Road in Santa Clara.

“We have a lot of dogs right now,” said Shelter Manager Michael Limper. “I think we have about 40 percent more than last year and we’re not quite sure why that is.”

While the shelter usually receives smaller dogs due to its size, there were quite a few larger breeds available for adoption, including Zoe, a 2-year-old blue pit with a slight vision impairment and five pit bull puppies.

Within the first hour, two bunnies, Jazz and Airel, and one dog, Sidney, had been adopted. By the end of the day, 18 of the over 20 dogs and 30 cats that were available found forever homes at the name-your-own-adoption-fee event. One of those dogs enjoying life with his new family is Mogo, a one-eyed Chihuahua who had been at the shelter since May 8 and before Saturday was “always the bridesmaid and never the bride.”