SAN DIEGO — The number of dogs currently at the San Diego Humane Society has never been seen before. The record number is only climbing following 4th of July fireworks shows.
Humane Society is expecting hundreds of strays. If your pet is missing there’s a full list, photos included, on www.sdhumane.org/lostpet. You can also text 1-858-SAN-LOST to get helpful information.
"We know we're going to get another 300 pets into our care in the next coming days," said Nina Thompson from the San Diego Humane Society. "But we're already full, so we're setting up emergency crates."
Thompson adds, "During fireworks, pets will do what you don't expect them to do."
Hundreds of dogs spent the night outside, scared and alone. Every year, the 5th of July is the busiest day for animal shelters.
"We went to look for Sky and Chico and Chico was there, but no signs of Sky," Milton Garcia said. He was one of many at the San Diego Humane Society Friday, hoping his dog was turned in.
"She was so scared, the fireworks, probably," he said.
Garcia was celebrating the 4th with family, thinking his Boxer and Maltipoo were safe and secure. But looks like Sky panicked and escaped through a broken part of the fence.
"Oh my gosh, she's been in the family for ten years. We really love her," he said.
Other families were there who had found lost dogs.
"She has a collar, but there's no tag. She was heading toward traffic, I was like I can't, I gotta save her."
The Humane Society will never turn a dog away, so you are encouraged to try to find the owner in your neighborhood first, by posting to social media or taking the animal to a vet, to see if they have a micro chip. That's because all of our local shelters are well over capacity.
"In total, we have about 2,000 animals, for dogs, we're at about 170% capacity," Thompson said.
There are 358 dog kennels and currently 786 dogs.
"Some of them are sharing space, other times we have to split the kennel into two, and think about our staff," Thompson added.
Dogs lost on Independence Day will be held for 72 hours, then they go up for adoption. Adopting or fostering would help alleviate the crisis.
"It is extremely stressful for an animal to sit in a shelter for 24 hours, let alone a month or a year. We're so strapped for space and manpower, we really need fosters," Thompson said.
To hopefully reunite you with your pet as fast as possible, the Humane Society is waiving the reclaim fee through Monday.
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