As a volunteer at both the Baldwin Park and Downey Animal Care Centers I always feel like it’s a case of one step forward and
tw
o steps back. Every time I celebrate the successful rescue of a pet, magically two more show up as replacements – and I feel like I’m trying to bail out the Titanic with a small bucket, with the only consolation being that at least I don’t have to listen to Celine Dion warble turgidly over the sound of barking dogs. Today while Baldwin Park had two off site mobile adoption events, and another forty-five dogs were being prepared for transport for Monday, over 70 pets were impounded at the Animal Care Center.
We are still plagued with problems brought on by hopelessly ineffective and inefficient management from the bureaucrats running the County shelter system. The DACC leadership failed to purchase liability insurance for their shelters, and after a mauling incident at one of the County Care Centers they had to pay out a settlement of several hundred thousand dollars. To pay this settlement the DACC had to take it out of their budget – and rather than cut the salary of the individual who made such a disastrous decision, the DACC has elected not to fill vitally needed kennel attendant and field officer positions and have also deferred much needed maintenance at the shelters.
Despite this disastrous management the individual Animal Care Center’s staff and volunteers have responded as best as they can, and I am pleased to see that their absolute commitment to rescue and adoption is steadfast.
Additionally I am gratified on a daily basis for the Jason Dubois Heigl Foundation who have made a huge difference by offering free spay/neutering clinics at both Baldwin Park and Downey. Today at Baldwin Park we had a long line of people waiting to bring their pets for altering, and it brought a huge smile to all of our faces.
Every Saturday, the Baldwin Park and Downey Animal Care Center Volunteers assisted by volunteers from United Hope for Animals gather at one of the Care Centers and produce a networking list – and we are ecstatic to announce that starting in June we will be producing a networking list for our good friends at the Carson Animal Care Center as well!
To see the latest networking list from the Downey Animal Care Center please click here:
To see the latest networking list from the Baldwin Park Animal Care Center please click here:
