Riverside County Department of Animal Services releases 2024 annual report
THOUSAND PALMS, Calif. (KESQ) - The Riverside County Department of Animal Services (RCDAS) has released its 2024 Annual Report diving into euthanasia rates and adoptions. This comes as RCDAS continues to face scrutiny from local activists.
In an exclusive interview, News Channel 3's Luis Avila spoke with Kristen Hassen, the consultant hired to help Riverside County animal shelters. She says the biggest problem they're facing is overcrowding.
“What we see now is that the influx particularly for dogs, they’re trying the best they can. I work all over the country and I see shelters that they could be saving more animals but the challenge in Riverside County is they already have 2/3 dogs in a kennel. They are above max capacity almost every day which makes it harder for them to do the things that they could do to solve the problem.”
Kristen Hassen, Outcomes for Pet Consulting
According to the report, between all four campuses in the county, about 3/4 dogs make it out alive. At the Animal Campus in Thousand Palms, the rate is higher at above 80 percent.
Last year, RCDAS took in over 31,000 dogs and cats, making it one of the nation's highest intake shelter systems.
"Our goal when working with Riverside is to end the euthanasia of adoptable and treatable animals but using the term 'no-kill' means different things for different people. For some it means reaching that 90 percent benchmark of saving 90 percent of the animals but for others it means saving every animal.”
Kristen Hassen, Outcomes for Pet Consulting
She says they're hoping to get capacity down to be able to better focus on other strategies, including building a foster program, increasing volunteers, and transporting more animals to shelters with less animals.
The new director for RCDAS will start next week. The consultant was hired for a 2-year contract.
Stay with News Channel 3 for more.
