LAKEPORT, Calif. – The goal of giving more animals a chance to find new and happy homes has taken a step forward with the opening of a new veterinary clinic at the county’s shelter.
Operations at the clinic, located at Lake County Animal Care and Control’s headquarters at 4949 Helbush outside of Lakeport, began earlier this month, according to department Director Bill Davidson.
The clinic was the focus of a Friday open house for local officials, with County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox and his staff visiting. Supervisor Denise Rushing also dropped in to see the new facility.
Davidson said the clinic’s goals are to increase adoptions, decrease the high number of animals euthanized each year and address the county’s cat overpopulation problem.
One of the clinic’s benefits is that it is significantly reducing the medical fees associated with adopting animals, with reductions ranging from 15 to 39 percent.
Addressing the cost makes it more likely that the shelter won’t be the final stop for the cats and dogs that are brought there, but rather the place where they can meet loving new owners and begin new, happier lives.
Davidson said the shelter’s euthanasia rate is still very high this year, with 68 percent of the animals coming to the shelter being put down.
Of the animals euthanized, 78 percent are cats, said Davidson, adding that half of those cats are ferals.
Davidson said Animal Care and Control has received many complaints about the high cost of adoption, which has as a requirement spaying and neutering.
“We can do it cheaper ourselves,” he said.
That led to the clinic, similar to facilities operated by many other animal control departments around the state.
The clinic is staffed by medical program director Dr. Anthony Wong of Walnut Creek and veterinarian assistant Lannie Hickson, a recent graduate of Carrington College.
Davidson said Wong was one of three veterinarians who responded to the county’s request for proposals and, ultimately, won the contract.
Hickson will be at the clinic five days a week, while Wong will be on site Mondays and Fridays. Wong’s associate, Dr. Richard Bachman, who was hired to do the clinic feasibility study for the county, will be there on Wednesdays.
Animal Care and Control had $56,000 in donations to go toward setting up the clinic, Davidson said.
The clinic was set up for much less, about $33,000, which Davidson says leaves them a reserve.
He credited Wong with staying under budget, assembling with Bachman’s help the needed equipment, much of it used but in excellent condition. That allowed the clinic to get up and running at a reduced cost.
Animal Care and Control has a five-year lease on the clinic building, a small modular that was dropped off late last year, Davidson said. The department hired local contractor Willy Turner to get the building ready, with Turner responsible for hooking it up and building a ramp.
Davidson estimated that the clinic staff will perform up to 27 surgeries a week.
Wong said that female dogs typically take the longest in surgery, requiring up to a half an hour for spaying, compared to about 10 minutes for neutering male dogs. Male cats take five to six minutes for neutering surgery, while female cats take longer, about 10 to 15 minutes, to spay.
The clinic’s surgeries will primarily be for animals at the shelter that are being adopted, as well as community cats, said Davidson.
Having the clinic close and readily available will provide a more seamless, faster transition for pets heading to new homes. Davidson said they will be spayed or neutered and vaccinated, and ready to go home with new owners quickly, without delays arising from the need to transport them to area vet clinics.
In some cases, he said, by the time the animals are presented for adoption they already will have been altered and can go home to their new families immediately.
Animals being sent to rescues also will be spayed or neutered before transfer, he said.
He said local rescues will each be able to have two spay/neuter surgeries a week, or can give vouchers for those surgeries to low-income county residents.
Davidson wants to put special emphasis on addressing the problem of feral cats.
Local veterinarians have joined together to start a program called “Catsnip” to perform spaying and neutering on “community cats” – ferals that don’t specifically belong to anyone but which are fed by people in a neighborhood.
It’s estimated that the group will perform about 450 such surgeries a year on ferals, which is an important start but “a drop in the bucket compared to what’s out there,” said Davidson.
He said the vets have indicated they don’t intend Catsnip to be a permanent program, so Davidson wants to be prepared to take over in the future.
The new clinic opens not long after the Board of Supervisors approved allowing Animal Care and Control to hold up to four annual “amnesty” events in which the county’s $20 adoption fee for cats and $30 adoption fee for dogs is waived in an effort to encourage more adoptions.
Davidson said the amnesty events will be weeklong efforts. He’s aiming to hold the first one in May.
Also lowered is the cost for microchips. Pets now can be microchipped at the shelter for $15 each, down from $25. Davidson said that service is open to the public.
Davidson said that at some point in the future he plans to ask the Board of Supervisors to support having a veterinarian at the clinic full-time, which would allow him to pursue goals such as opening up feral cat spaying and neutering to the public at large.
He is hopeful that the clinic will solve many problems and offer more animals a second chance.
In assessing the potential benefits, he said, “It’s like a big win-win circle that keeps going around.”
A breakdown of the new adoption fees that became effective March 5 – as well as the old, higher fees – is included below.
CATS
Female
Adoption fee: $20 (remains the same)
Spay: new fee, $65; old fee, $129
Microchip: new fee, $15; old fee, $25
Rabies vaccine: $6 (not previously included)
Total: new, $106; old, $174
Male
Adoption fee: $20 (remains the same)
Neuter: new fee, $55; old fee, $69
Microchip: new fee, $15; old fee, $25
Rabies vaccine: $6 (not previously included)
Total: new, $96; old, $114
DOGS
Female
Adoption fee: $30 (remains the same)
Spay: new fee, $90 for dogs under 60 pounds, $105 for dogs over 60 pounds; old fee, $161
Microchip: new fee, $15; old fee, $25
Rabies vaccine: new fee, $6; old fee, $20
Heartworm test: $5 (not previously included)
License, $10
Total: new, $156 to $171; old, $246
Male
Adoption fee: $30 (remains the same)
Neuter: new fee, $80; old fee, $123
Microchip: new fee, $15; old fee, $25
Rabies vaccine: new fee, $6; old fee, $20
Heartworm test: $5 (not previously included)
License, $10
Total: new, $146; old, $208
For more information call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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