Group wants to stop animal euthanasia

Eron Ben-Yehuda

HUNTINGTON BEACH --A newly formed resident group wants the city to build

an animal shelter that does not kill its captives.

As long as the homeless pets are healthy, the shelter should keep them

alive until they’re adopted instead of the usual practice of putting them

to sleep, said resident Karen Chepeka, president of Save Our Strays, a

10-member group formed in October.

“There are too many people who think that animals are disposable

property,” she said.

The city contributes to the injustice by hiring the services of the

county’s animal shelter, she said.

The Orange County Animal Care Center kills about 20 dogs and 62 cats

every month, said Kathy Francis, the agency’s public education officer.

While most of the cats euthanized have behavioral problems, about half of

the dogs are healthy but were not picked up by their owners or adopted,

she said.

“We save the ones we can,” she said. “Unfortunately, euthanasia is a

necessary evil.”

If the city builds a no-kill shelter, the kennels eventually will fill up

and there won’t be room for additional strays, she said.

“Where are the excess dogs going to be going?” she asked.

Chepeka said an adoption program that is more aggressive than the

county’s will keeps the numbers manageable, sparing the pets from an

untimely death.

The county facility serves 21 cities, and Huntington Beach is one of its

biggest customers, she said. About 120 local dogs and 85 local cats end

up there every month, she said.

They should be taken care of in the city, which could set aside a few

acres of land and help pay for the shelter’s construction, Chepeka said.

Grants and a fund-raising drive led by Save Our Strays would help cover

some of the expense, she said.

Once the shelter is built, the operating cost should be less than the

$342,000 the city annually pays the county for its services, based on her

research of similar facilities in the county, she said.

Before the city takes a position, officials must review the group’s

proposal, said the city’s senior administrative analyst, Peter Grant. But

he points out that the cost for Irvine’s shelter, which does not kill its

animals except for health reasons, is about twice as much as what

Huntington Beach pays the county.

Councilwoman Pam Julien said she is trying to resist the obvious

emotional appeal of a no-kill shelter. She worries the financial analysis

prepared by the group might be overly optimistic.

“Does it really pencil out?” she asked.

The City Council will decide if the plan makes sense but not before a

recommendation is prepared by city staff, which plans to meet with Save

Our Strays members by the end of April, Grant said.

For more information about Save Our Strays, call 960-0093.

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