Very Busy but Rewarding Day for County Animal Services

Employees at County Animal Services were up with the chickens for Clear the Shelters Day Saturday but by day’s end, it was all worth it. See the final tally and a gallery of adopted pets.

Nearly one thousand visitors showed up, and employees spent the day directing people into lines, handing out applications, conducting dozens of meetings between animals and potential adopters, completing paperwork and taking photos of happy families. Not to mention the regular care and feeding of the animals. Phew!

Director Dan DeSousa knows it's a lot of work and he waxed poetic in a thank you note to his employees:

Twas Clear the Shelters Day in San Diego, and all through the land

People were lining up at dawn, ready to sit or to stand

In Bonita it started at 5:45 am in the dark

When the first adopters arrived and did park

Their plan they had finally

To add a dog to their family

They knew the dog that they wanted

And the wait left them undaunted

The shelter staff were all busy early that day

Posting signs directing people to every which way

The animals were in their shelters getting ready for the day

Hoping that their forever family would soon walk their way

The adopters were ready, they had scouted out their pet

And they even knew some would have to be seen by a vet

When 9:30 arrived, our doors opened wide

To let all of the wonderful people come running inside

The adopters stood in line after line

Understanding that this would all take time

They came looking for Spot, for Tiger, and Chance

And when they found their future pet, they all started to dance

Some paperwork here, some paperwork there

It did not matter as their hearts were full of love to share

The time would come when their name we did call

And the pet would soon be interacting with them all

Happy barks, delighted purrs and even a meow or two

Meant all of these animals had found their new “you know who”

Someone who saw the lines and was not scared

Someone who really, really cared

A new family member to love, a new pet to dote on

Come on new mom and dad, let’s get a move on!

For our visitors we counted nine hundred and ninety three

Throughout the day, 155 interactions did handle we

Out the doors the new families went

Knowing today had been well spent

For in their own special way

They had helped with Clear the Shelters Day!

At the start of the day of rabbits we had two

And they both got adopted so we say Woo Hoo!

We had Bruiser and Dora, a bonded pair

Combined they have no teeth but they did not care

Their last owner had passed and they ended up here

But their new owner filled them both with cheer

They came in together and we committed to adopting them as one

And in the middle of the day, we could mark that adoption as done

But what about our darling China Rose?

The chunky cat that could not see her toes

Last year it was Chanka who did not get adopted

Would China Rose be the one that nobody wanted

While we had shaved off most of her fur

From ten feet away you can still hear her purr

If she was not adopted, KNSD had invited her to the station

To allow us to say “Hey Public, You Forgot One!”

As the day came to a close and we were all really tired

A couple walked it and it was China Rose they desired!

Thank you to Dagmar, Guad, Heather and whole KNSD crew

And even David Hernandez of the Union Tribune showed up too!

At the end of the day our adoptions stood at seventy three

For that you have the most sincere appreciation from me

There was so much hard work from our great staff and volunteers

But the hardest part came when our favorite animal was adopted and we tried to fight back the tears

Rest assured that they were definitely tears of happiness

And one of the main reasons we are all in this “business”

To find them all homes be it a dog, cat, and sometimes even an emu

To all of our staff, volunteers and adopters, we truly say “Thank You”!!