BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Kern County Animal Services is asking community members to adopt their animals just for the day. They have a new program to get their animals out of the shelter and into new homes.
"We’re really trying to encourage, you know, if you can’t take a pet home because you have other pets but you really want to help, to come take them out on an adventure for the day," said Deputy Director Sally Breyer.
Breyer said the new “Streets of Bakersfield” program lets you hang out with a shelter pet for the day without committing to fostering or adopting. You can take a dog for a walk in the park or to a family picnic, or you can just go for a drive together. Breyer said anything helps when it comes to getting their animals out of the shelter and into people’s homes.
“It really provides a level of mental enrichment that shelter pets need to stay healthy while waiting for their forever homes," she said.
Animal Services oftentimes shares their animals on Facebook and said the shelter isn’t an ideal place for any of them, causing some to not act like themselves and get overlooked when people come searching for a new pet.
“This program is vitally important because it keeps the pet healthy and mentally engaged while they wait for their home and it reduces stress. The longer that a pet spends in a shelter environment, you know, its risk of getting sick goes up," said Breyer.
Breyer said the more socialized the animals are, and the less time they spend inside their cages, the more likely they are to get adopted and find their forever homes.
“We want to, you know, just encourage the public to come down. We have great dogs here and they want to go to the park just like your dog at home, and they want to go for a car ride, so you can do that, you know, for a day or an afternoon and then bring them back and that information that we gather is helpful in us finding, you know, placement for their next homes as well," said Breyer.
If you’d like to participate in the Streets of Bakersfield program, visit Animal Services during their hours from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. or give them a call at 661-205-7982 or 661-246-8267.
