Clear The Shelters Day: Help Escondido Pets Find Forever Homes

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CA — Hundreds of animal shelters across the country are participating in Clear the Shelters pet adoption events on Saturday, Aug. 17, to help find loving homes for animals that have been abandoned or surrendered to shelters. In San Diego County more than a dozen animal shelters, rescues and sanctuaries are participating.

Clear the Shelters is sponsored by NBC- and Telemundo-owned stations, which are teaming with San Diego County Department of Animal Services, San Diego Humane Society and others across the county and nationwide in the pet adoption drive. Since 2015, more than 250,000 pets have found forever homes as a result of the effort.

"People still need to go through the normal adoption process of filling out an application and doing a screening interview with staff," County Animal Services Director Daniel DeSousa said. "We just want to make sure their new owners are prepared and committed to an animal."

The San Diego Humane Society's San Diego, Escondido and Oceanside campuses and the county of San Diego's Department of Animal Services shelters in Bonita and Carlsbad will participate in the event and waive adoption fees for all animals adopted throughout the day.

According to the county, 81 animals were adopted during last year's Clear the Shelters event, while more than 400 animals were adopted at the humane society's three locations last year. According to San Diego Humane Society President and CEO Gary Weitzman, more animals were adopted from SDHS than any other shelter in the United States.

"We use the phrase 'clear the shelters' endearingly to express our desire for every shelter pet to have a new home and family of their own," Weitzman said.

In addition, an assortment of other shelters and animal rescues like the El Cajon Animal Shelter, the Rancho Coastal Humane Society in Encinitas and Wee Companions Small Animal Adoption will participate in the event. A map of participating locations and their hours can be found at cleartheshelters.com.

Here's a full list of local shelters taking part: (Search for more here.)

• Spot Saving Pets One at a Time – Oceanside
  • 3420 Marron Road Oceanside, CA
  • Phone: 760-729-4546
  • Website

• Lyff Cat Rescue (Love Your Feral Felines)
  • PetSmart Vista: 1740 University Drive Vista, CA
  • Phone: 760-689-2216
  • Website
• County of San Diego Animal Shelters – North Shelter
  • 2481 Palomar Airport Road Carlsbad, CA
  • Phone: 619-767-2675
  • Website
• Lyff Cat Rescue (Love Your Feral Felines)
  • Cat & Craft Cat Cafe: 3211 Business Park Drive Suite 3B Vista, CA
  • Phone: 760-689-2216
  • Website
• Rancho Coastal Humane Society
  • 389 Requeza St. Encinitas, CA
  • Phone: 760-753-6413
  • Website
• Saving One Life
  • PetSmart: 415 N Escondido Blvd. Escondido, CA
  • Phone: 602-715-2700
  • Website
• Cat Adoption Service
  • PetSmart: 8657 Villa La Jolla Drive San Diego, CA
  • Phone: 858-535-9175
  • Website
• Wee Companions Small Animal Adoption
  • 3368 Governor Drive Suite F San Diego, CA
  • Phone: 619-934-6007
  • Website
• San Diego Humane Society
  • 5500 Gaines St. San Diego, CA
  • Phone: 619-299-7012
  • Website
• Cat Adoption Service
• PetSmart: 1660 Camino de la Reina San Diego, CA
• Phone: 858-361-5499
• Website
• El Cajon Animal Shelter
• 1373 N Marshall El Cajon, CA
• Phone: 619-441-1580
• Website
• Friends of Cats
• 15587 Olde Highway 80 El Cajon, CA
• Phone: 619-561-0361
• Website
• County of San Diego Animal Shelters – South Shelter
• 5821 Sweetwater Road Bonita, CA
• Phone: 619-767-2675
• Website
• Perrito Munguia Rescue Corporation
  • 877 East H St. Chula Vista, CA
  • Phone: 619-481-7238
  • Website

It's not just dogs that are filling up shelters. The ASPCA — or American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals — estimates that in addition to 3.3 million dogs in shelters at any given time, there are 3.2 million cats.

About 1.5 million of them — 670,000 dogs and 860,000 cats — are euthanized before they can be adopted, though the ASPCA says those numbers are declining, in large part because a greater percentage of them are adopted. About 1.6 million dogs and 1.6 million cats are adopted every year.

The ASPCA also says that about 620,000 dogs and 90,000 cats that enter shelters every year are strays that are eventually returned to their owners.

Adopting a pet has multiple benefits. Some of them include:

1. You'll save an animal's life. The Humane Society of the United States says the number of animals that are put down every year could be reduced even more if more people adopted pets.

2. Most pets in shelters are already house-trained and used to living with families. The Humane Society says most pets end up in shelters 'because of a human problem like a move or a divorce, not because they did anything wrong."

3. You'll save money. Often, the costs of spay/neuter surgeries and first vaccinations, and in some cases, microchipping, are included in the adoption fee. That alone will save upfront costs, but breeders can charge much more than the cost of adoption.

4. You'll help fight puppy mills. If you buy a dog at a pet store, flea market, or from an online seller, chances are you're unwittingly supporting puppy mills, factory-style breeding facilities where dogs often live in squalid conditions, don't get adequate medical care, and can have health and behavior problems as a result.

5. You'll help break the cycle of companion-animal overpopulation. There aren't enough homes for all the pets that are born every year, and adopting from a shelter helps weaken the pet overpopulation cycle.

6. Adoption helps more than just one animal. When you provide a shelter animal a home, you'll be making room for other unwanted pets. Also, the adoption fee helps shelters provide better care for the animals they take in.

7. You can get an adult pet. Puppies and kittens are bouncing balls of energy given to biting, clawing and chewing. Many adult dogs in shelters already know basic commands like "sit" and "stay," and cats are litter-trained. The personality of the adult pet also shines through, and you’ll know what kind of pet you're getting.

8. Shelters offer a lifetime of resources. When you adopt, shelter employees who work with pets every day will provide resources on many different issues.

9. You're supporting a valuable community charity. Shelters are nonprofit groups that help improve community life and reduce pet overpopulation with a requirement that all animals be spayed or neutered. That reduces the chances that more unwanted animals will be born.

10. You'll feel great and you'll encourage others to adopt. Pets give unconditional love, and research shows them to be psychologically, emotionally and physically beneficial to their companions. Caring for an animal provides a sense of purpose and can lessen feelings of loneliness. When someone asks you where you got your pet, tell them "at the shelter." That may encourage others to do the same.