Community Corner

Animal Shelter Competes to Find Homes for Animals

More than $300,000 in grant funding is available to shelters showing the most improved adoption rates. The grand prize is $100,000. The grant money will be used to assist pets.

Temecula's animal shelter is competing to find homes for the most animals to win a grant.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals offered a $300,000 grant to the shelter that can adopt out, return to owners or rescue 300 more animals than it did between August 1 and October 31 of last year.

in Wildomar serves Temecula's animal service needs.

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The society organized the challenge as a way to boost pet adoptions nationwide. More than $300,000 in grant funding is available to shelters showing the most improved adoption rates. The grand prize is $100,000. The grant money will be used to assist pets.

The shelters had to qualify for the society's challenge. Several local shelters made the cut, including Southwest Communities and Riverside County Animal Services, which operates shelters county wide.

Find out what's happening in Temeculawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

To increase its odds of winning some of the grant money, Southwest Communities Animal Shelter is kicking off its “FurrEver Homes” campaign that is seeing all adoptions rates cut in half, plus the cost of spay/neuter. There is a minimum $25 adoption fee.

On Aug. 7, the shelter will do an official campaign kickoff with special giveaways, a shelter mascot-naming contest and an appearance by Thunder of the Lake Elsinore Storm.

Southwest Communities Animal Shelter opened in Wildomar last year and serves the cities of Wildomar, Lake Elsinore, Temecula, Murrieta and Canyon Lake through a joint powers authority agreement.

For its part, the county has also turned on the competitive heat. A “Five-Dollar Feline” adoption promo. Every cat or kitten can be adopted for only $5 through Oct. 31. Read more by .

The Department of Animal Services lowered the adoption rate for cats specifically because adoptions for felines have been very sluggish, according to a county news release.

“The $5 cat adoption rate will hopefully remind the public that we have a large homeless cat population at our shelters – and they need loving families just as much as the dogs,” said Robert Miller, the director of Riverside County Animal Services.  “We also wanted to do something very dramatic for our first-ever participation in the ASPCA Challenge.”


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