Shanes War prompts animal shelter to cease euthanasia

The decision to euthanize animals is a painful task for any animal shelter. But, this week the Coachella Valley Animal Campus is pardoning all pets thanks to a campaign known as, “Shanes War.”

“There’s about 10,000 a year that go through this shelter and so there may be a dozen animals euthanized each day,” said Riverside County Director of Animal Services, Robert Miller.

Shane Smith and his wife, Janet, are trying to change that. They set up a campaign that travels across the country fighting “Shanes War” to help increase pet adoptions.

“The main reason we come is because the animals are not moving,” said Smith. “There’s more coming in than going out.”

The Coachella Valley Animal Campus is home to more than 200 cats and dogs. Shane’s goal is to have them all in their forever homes by the end of the week. On average, he says between 100 and 400 dogs find homes during their weekly visit.

“By the end of the week I hope that they’re all out and that’s our goal,” added Shane. “And to bring more support for later on.”

Although Shane is only at each shelter for a week, his goals for each facility are long term.

“His goal is he gets to know all the animals in this shelter, he asks them to pardon them and the pardon is not just for the week for these animals,” added Miller. “It’s moving forward as well.”

The Coachella Valley Animal Campus is located at 72050 Pet Land Place in Thousand Palms. The phone number is (760)343-3644. For more information, including shelter hours, click here.