Who We Are
We are a registered 501(c)3 (non profit) association composed of a group of public and private citizens who have come together with the sole objective of saving lives. LCAS works with all County Shelters and Rescue Groups in an ongoing effort to lower the overall number of companion animals put to sleep, we welcome the participation of individuals who share our common goals. These common goals include focusing only on the job at hand: saving lives.
What is the difference between kill- facility and a no- kill facility?
It would be much easier to help a "no kill facility" and list animals whose lives were not in danger because the facility they were housed in could keep them indefinitely. It's a known fact that people would prefer to donate to a "no kill facility", or adopt from a "no kill facility". Our jobs, overall, would be much more pleasant and there would be no unhappy endings.
Consider this:
Many "no kill facilities" will only accept a limited number of animals, which means that they can say "NO" to someone who needs to rid themselves of their pet. And there's nothing wrong with being able to say "No", this is not in any shape or form a criticism, it's just a truth.
All of our local County Animal Control division cannot say NO, they are bound by the laws of the county to pick up stray animals and accept those being signed away by their owners for one reason or another.
Diseases run rampant at county shelters.
While not a question, this is something else we hear a lot of. Again, some shelters have the good fortune of being able to pick and choose who they help, and again, that is great and any person involved in animal welfare should be blessed. But, again, your local County Animal Control does not have that latitude and so yes, on occasion, a disease will hit the shelter and in many cases, hit it hard. When it happens many fingers are pointed and blame is placed on the shoulders of those whose only fault is simply doing their job. If we all stopped to think, it wouldn't be so hard to place that blame correctly. Where you ask?
On the shoulders of those who prefer not to vaccinate or properly care for their pets and help only in the spread of preventable diseases. Your County Animal Control does not propagate the disease, it arrives there in the form of all those unwanted animals who were callously cast out of their homes and to whom County Animal Control cannot say NO to.
Mission
2003- the beginning of LCAS: Lake County Animal Control currently euthanizes up to 15 dogs per day. Euthanized cats number in the hundreds per week. In addition, Lake County Animal Control currently loses to disease up to 50 cats and dogs per week. As a county organization, Animal Control depends on local County funding to operate, and is generally understaffed by 2 employees daily. There has been a change of directors 4 times in the past two years. They have been the target of a grand jury investigation. They subsist on below standard wages and inadequate operational funding. Cash donations to the offices of Animal Control are routed to the general fund and a limited percentage is re-routed to Animal Control. Currently, the existing facilities are not adequate for the housing of healthy animals and actually assist in the spread of disease. The facilities are outdated and extremely difficult, if not impossible, to keep clean. Sick and dying surrendered animals are brought in by the public on a regular basis through the same door and hallway that healthy animals are transported out for exercise and adoption.
2007- Where we are today: Lake County Animal Care and Control currently goes for weeks having to euthanizing only unadoptable pets. The county still has a big problem with the feral cat population and euthanize many adoptable cats and kittens. LCACC and LCAS continue to work togethar, and LCAS has brought in 4 more organizations under their umbrella. Lake County Animal Care and Control has had the same director for the last 3 years. Our county is building a new shelter and we have broken ground on the new location. LCACC and LCAS have run many PSA's on our local station about pet care. Our county has passed a new spay/neuter ordinace requiring all pet owners to spay and neuter their pets, with some exceptions.
We would like to use our volunteer resources to assist in efforts to protect and support our local animal population. We operate safe and disease free foster homes for at risk puppies and dogs that are surrendered or in care at another agency. These foster homes hold the animals for a 2-week quarantine period so that the dogs are adopted as healthy disease-free animals. The foster homes feed, medicate and clean all animals. They transport animals to the vet for routine and specialized medical care. Common costs associated with the care and feeding of healthy and recovering sick animals are: antibiotics, flea treatments, heartworm tests, parvovirus tests, worming medication, vaccinations, vitamins, HeartGard ©, premium foods both wet and dry, flea shampoo, skin treatments, ointments, creams, salves, compresses, and heating pads. All are supplied to the foster homes by our consortium.
Foster homes are inspected on a regular basis by our directors. Each foster home is required to have adequate space for its foster animals, separate areas for adult dogs and puppies, adequate fencing, and covered sleeping areas. Furthermore they must provide clean fresh running water to the kennel areas, a bed, a blanket, and two daily feedings. Foster homes shall also ensure adequate socialization for all dogs and puppies, both with humans and other animals. Foster homes shall not have: any unsafe instruments in kennel areas, holes in fencing or kennels, sharp ends to fencing or gates, plants or other material poisonous to dogs, more than one litter at a time, animals fostered by other organizations, or any adoption practices outside the LCAS organization.
Lake County Animals Services also created and continues to maintain a web site with goals of education and adoption. Our website address is: http://www.lakecountyanimalservices.org. From beginning to end, our goal is to secure safe and happy permanent homes for healthy and well-mannered dogs and puppies. The website was created by and is maintained by volunteers. We update daily to showcase our adoptable animals. Our goal here is to bring together all the people in Lake County who work to protect and support animals in our County. We regularly take pictures of all adoptable dogs in Lake County , at the animal control shelter, the SPCA shelter, the foster homes, and animals that are up for adoption by private individuals, who are working independently to adopt out animals to appropriate homes. Our webmasters also maintain a web presence through Petfinders.com so that we can offer our available adoptable animals to appropriate homes all over California . Lake County is a very rural area and we need exposure for our animals. The city of Lakeport has a population of under 5,000 people. Lake County boasts 60,000 people. We need more exposure to find good homes and the Internet answers that need. Maintaining and updating our site literally takes hours per day. We have a group of dedicated volunteers who regularly work to keep the sites up to date. We also work with a local High school class, who assists us with website creation and maintenance for community service.
In short our mission is to:
To provide the rescue, adoption and population control services necessary to ensure all companion animals in Lake County a stable and loving home in which to complete a natural lifespan.
To improve the quality of relationships between people and pets, so that they stay together, with emphasis on training, vaccinations, and alteration.
To support and lead other animal protection and human service organizations, locally and across the country, with solid program models that help save animals and bring the healing touch of animals to local communities.
To create educational programs utilizing innovative methods to introduce the higher ideals of compassion toward animals and people, define responsible pet guardianship and make the case for the need to control companion animal overpopulation.
We work with in the principals of the Asilomar Accords.
Our Goals
To help you meet your new best friend
To encourage responsible pet ownership in Lake County and beyond.
To minimize the number of companion animals put to sleep every day.
To raise funds for a new County Shelter in order to meet the needs of our ever growing community.
To help you keep your pet
