Orange County Animal Services Beyond Capacity; Waives Adoption Fees This Weekend; Asks Community to Hold Stray Pets

Orange County Animal Services Beyond Capacity; Waives Adoption Fees This Weekend; Asks Community to Hold Stray Pets

Orange County, FL - Orange County Animal Services (OCAS) announced its "Christmas in July" promotional event to encourage residents to adopt a pet from the shelter. The promotion is for Saturday, July 20 and Sunday, July 21 and adoption fees on all pets will be waived. This promotional event comes as OCAS is facing capacity concerns while caring for more than 200 dogs over the last several weeks.

"It's been a challenging not just for us but all the shelters around us as we've seen adoption and reclaim interest wane," said Diane Summers, Manager for Orange County Animal Services. "We've received an overwhelming number of stray pets and in addition to those, we have a queue of more than 275 people that are seeking to surrender their dogs to our shelter."

In addition to promoting adoption, OCAS is also asking residents who have found a displaced pet to attempt to locate the owner rather than resorting to immediately bringing the pet to the shelter.

"Data shows that most missing pets are within a quarter mile of home and that bringing them to the shelter could reduce their chance of being reunited with their family. Not all pet owners are aware of the shelter as a place to look for a lost pet or have the means to visit," said Summers. "We're asking those that have found a stray pet to hold onto them and take steps to find the owner." OCAS shares those steps on the lost and found section of their website.

The shelter keeps a live tally of dogs and cats in the shelter on the main page of its website. Information on the adoption process and foster program onboarding can also be found online.