Cats, dogs, but no cows

Ellen McCarty

FOUNTAIN VALLEY -- Her tiny hand petting Jake, a dog up for adoption,

3-year-old Cynthia Gores said she wanted to adopt “a cow.”

Her mother, momentarily shocked by the suggestion, replied, “We could

have our own milk, eh?”

Unfortunately for the Gores family, no cows will be at this weekend’s

Adopt-A-Thon at PetSmart, 17940 Newhope St., from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. --

just plenty of cats and dogs from the county’s shelters, which may put to

sleep if they’re not adopted, or pets living at foster homes waiting for

a permanent owner.

Gores is Jake’s foster parent, caring for the pet whose previous owner

couldn’t support him anymore, but she’s eager to find him a permanent

home, she said.

“It’s like having a fifth child,” she said. “We decided to wait until our

four children get a little older before adopting a pet.”

DiAnna Pfaff-Martin, founder of the Community Animal Network, said the

annual adoption event gives pets a second chance at life.

“We have to support the shelters as a community,” she said. “If it’s

working properly, a shelter should be just that, providing food and

health care. It should not be a killing field.”

Last year, about 18,000 pets were put to sleep at Orange County shelters

because there was not enough space and funding to keep them, she said.

The Community Animal Network promotes adoptable shelter animals and

sometimes adopts untouchables.

Tammy, a stray cat who was found in an abandoned apartment complex, had a

severe eye infection when animal control caught her. With the help of

donations, the Newport Beach shelter nurtured her back to health,

although she is blind in one eye. “If the eye needs to be replaced with a

glass eye, we’ll pay for it,” she said.

Tammy will be at PetSmart on Saturday and Sunday, and Pfaff-Martin hopes

the gentle cat will connect with a new owner and be able to leave her

cage at the shelter.

The volunteer organization also pays foster parents $75 a month to keep

pets, who would otherwise be killed, until an adoption can be arranged.

The only animals who should be put to sleep, Pfaff-Martin said, are those

who are too aggressive to live in a real home.