Four dogs — one home.
As part of the culmination of Santa Clarita’s first-ever Pet Adoption Week that started Nov. 13, four dogs from the Castaic Animal Care Center participated in Pet Adoption Day on Saturday.
Truly, Serenity, Klaus and Khaleesis captured the hearts of the residents stopping by to give cuddles, walks and a potential fur-ever home.
The purpose of the weeklong campaign was to encourage residents to adopt, with the city covering all fees related to bringing a new family member home for the holiday season.
“City Council (and) staff wanted to increase our collaboration with the shelter and really help animals in need. And one of the ideas that came from the City Council, and was directed by them, was for us to do adoption promotions. So this is our inaugural adoption promotion for 2023,” said Tracy Sullivan, the city’s community preservation manager.
Sullivan discussed the importance of helping to find a dog, or other animals, a new home as a continuous effort, despite the promotion being a one-week event.
“I really encourage people to go out to the Castaic Animal Care Center to look at the animals, and see if they can add an addition to their family,” Sullivan said.
Fred Agoopi, manager of the shelter, gave potential adopters advice — such as approaching new dogs from below the face, rather on top of their heads.
“The city of Santa Clarita has graciously hosted this event, we’re just participating. We’re thankful that we were allowed to come here,” Agoopi said. “We brought four lovely dogs with us and we are hoping to get them adopted out. This is just a small representation of what we have at our center.”
According to Agoopi, the process to organize this weeklong event took eight months, ensuring that every logistic was worked out to smooth out the process and ensure an easy adoption process. In addition, those who adopted throughout the week were eligible to receive a free week of online training.
“The adoption process is really easy. Just come in to play with an animal, and if everything goes well, just do some paperwork and take the animal home,” Agoopi said. “The city covered the cost of the adoption, all that residents had to pay was the cost of the license.”
Even after the conclusion of the adoption promotion, Agoopi encuraged residents to visit the shelter.
“Just come on down. We have a lot of wonderful animals that need homes,” Agoopi said.
As of Saturday afternoon, 10-month-old Truly and 4-year-old Khaleesis are still up for adoption. The Castaic Animal Care Center is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday to Saturday.
“When you visit the care center a staff member or a volunteer will assist you (based on staff capacity) in viewing our Ready to Go Home (RTGH) animals that day. This means they are spayed or neutered, off stray hold and have gone to dog playgroups at least once (for dogs over 35 pounds). All RTG animals can be adopted on a first-come, first-served basis,” according to the L.A. County Animal Care and Control center.
