Rancho Cucamonga's Kitten Nursery Steps Up

摘要

The City of Rancho Cucamonga (pop. 175,251) is located 45 miles east of Los Angeles and operates its own Animal Care and Services program, whose mission is "Building a community in which every adoptable pet finds a home." Animal shelters nationwide are inundated during "kitten season," which typically runs from April through October. Rancho Cucamonga's Animal Center anticipated receiving nearly 1,000 orphaned kittens between the ages of 1 day and 8 weeks during the 2015 kitten season. Prior to 2015, city staff did not have enough volunteer foster homes or resources to provide 24-hour specialized care for the underage kittens. As a result, at least 20 percent of them were humanely euthanized. "We were committed to finding a better way," says Veronica Fincher, director of Animal Services. "We wanted to create a safe place for every kitten that entered our center. Homeless animals are a community issue, and we were determined to save more lives and engage our community to help us."