Community Collaborations to Help the Animals
The goals and mission of the Valley Animal Center
are to help reduce the dog and cat population
through spaying/neutering, adoptions and educational
programs, not euthanasia. It is much
more complicated to reach the goal and no one shelter or organization
can do it alone. It takes everyone working together
to end the killing: humane societies, private
shelters, private spay/neuter, foster and adoption
groups, government agencies, volunteers, community
groups, and most importantly, the community as a
whole.
Many great things have been achieved in recent years
for animals. Euthanasia rates are down from 17
million per year in 1987 to approximately 5 million
last year. Spaying and neutering statistics have
climbed to 65 percent for dogs and 85 percent for
cats. There have been many crucial improvements for
animals in Fresno County alone. The construction and
opening of the Valley Animal Center, the opening of
a new high volume, low cost spay/neuter clinic, the
expansion of several other no-kill shelters and the
formation of new groups dedicated to helping
animals. When we first opened our doors in 1992, as
the California Feline Foundation, there were no
other organizations for animals except for animal
control agencies.
The Clovis Project
The Central Valley ranks 3rd in the nation for the
highest euthanasia rate! The sad fact is that
thousands of dogs and cats are surrendered or
picked-up by animal control agencies in Fresno
County and approximately 40,000 are euthanized
annually. Because of this horrendous situation, the
Valley Animal Center has teamed up with Clovis
Animal Services to try to eradicate the use of
euthanasia in their shelter by taking in many of
their treatable and adoptable animals whose time is up
and who are slated for euthanasia, bringing them to
our shelter for a chance at finding a forever home.
While here at the shelter, each animal is spayed
and/or neutered, tested for any diseases,
vaccinated, micro-chipped and given any other
medical treatment it may need. The animal then
remains at our shelter until it is adopted.
Since this program’s inception in 2005, the use of
euthanasia for healthy and treatable animals from
Clovis Animal Services shelter has declined by more than 40%!
The Valley Animal Center and Clovis Animal Services
are now more committed than every to end the use of
euthanasia of all healthy and adoptable animals in
their shelter by 2011.
As we embark on this program,
called the Clovis Project, we will be able to share
our successes with other communities and shelters
and use this as a blueprint on how no-kill shelters
and animal control agencies can work together to
make significant changes in the welfare of animals.
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