Animal advocates calling for help with stray animals in Desert Hot Springs
Dead dogs found on streets in Desert Hot Springs have some residents disturbed. Many are calling for help from Animal Services, others taking it upon themselves to bury the dead animals.
“It’s just heartbreaking. It’s so sad and it brings tears to my eyes constantly,” said Georgina Roldan-Smith.
Roldan-Smith and Stacy Schroeder are working together to tackle the stray animal issue in their city.
“I usually get a text or a phone call saying there is a deceased pet on the side of the road. So off I go with my shovel and I have numerous cemeteries and I bury them and usually put a little cross on the grave and say a prayer and that’s what I do,” Schroeder said.
They said the number of dead pets found on the side of the road is not normal.
“I notice that there are so many animals, dogs, cats, running the streets and unfortunately a lot of them don’t make it off the streets. They become one with the street,” Schroeder said.
Now they’re asking for help. Frank Corvino is the deputy director of Animal Services and said there’s a reason it takes a while for officers to pick up these dead animals.
“We prioritize our calls. So animals that have been hit by a car, animal cruelty cases, aggressive animals at large, things like that always take priority over a call of a dead animal in the street. That animal is not going anywhere, it’s not hurting anyone so it’s a lower priority,” Corvino said.
Riverside County Animal Services said calls about dead dogs or cats on the side of the road are some of the most common. Ultimately, he said it all comes down to needing more officers in the city.
“In Desert Hot Springs we pick up close to a thousand animals a year. There’s one animal control officer for the city, and a city that size could probably use two officers and they have in the past,” Corvino said.
But he said the city is unable to afford another officer. We reached out to them for comment but have not heard back. Until there’s funding for more officers, he’s urging responsible pet ownership.
“Which means licensing your animal, vaccination, getting your pet micro-chipped. Making sure they’re spayed and neutered so that they’re not producing more offspring that are going to be running around in your city or whatever area you’re in,” Corvino said.
As far as burying animals yourself, animal services recommends you wait for one of their officers. But most importantly it asks if anyone is noticing an issue to contact it as soon as possible so it can address the issue.
