Adoption Center Opens in Lake Forest

Lake Forest's own adoption center (AC) opened on Monday. Dozens of people showed up. Among the animal activists were Rose Tingle (pictured with me and April Josephson), Mayor Pro Tem Leah Basile (seen in the photo behind Aporil Josephson), Cherie Anderson, Lisa Doud, Ashley Brown, Merijoe Axelrod, Susan Brown Matsumoto, Anne Breuer, Bob Holtzclaw, Mary Altoff, and Larissa Clark. The County's Director of Community Services (that oversees the Shelter) Dylan Wright was also present. Conspicuously absent was OC Shelter Director Jennifer Hawkins.

The center is organized by April Josephson and supported by grants from the City of Lake Forest and from the County. Principal funding comes from the Stanley W. Ekstrom Foundation and the entire agency is made possible by the hard work of dozens of volunteers.

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The idea for the center came about last year when I was advocating that Lake Forest organize its own no-kill shelter instead of using the notorious high-kill County shelter. Votes by Councilmen Hamilton, Voigts, and Robinson killed that deal, but in the process of organizing the proposed no-kill local shelter, the idea of the adoption center in Lake Forest was born. April Josephson had been struggling to get something going in Laguna Hills, to no avail. She re-oriented her idea to suit our needs in Lake Forest, and we linked up with a local Veterinarian Hospital as well as an animal control agency. When the Gang shot down this idea, April went ahead and developed the center as proposed.

The first priority for the AC will be to prevent Lake Forest animals from going to the shelter. The AC will provide counselling and assistance for Lake Forest residents who are considering surrendering their animals or asking that they be euthanized. The AC will try to keep the animals in their home, by providing help with medical bills, food, temporary housing, and behavioral training if needed. Failing that, the AC will accept the animals and try to get them adopted.

Because Lake Forest has only a few hundred animals admitted each year, there is surplus space for the AC to work with other cities and to adopt out pets from outside Lake Forest.

Following Phase 1, I am working with the City Attorney to make arrangements so that stray pets picked up in the City will be brought to the AC instead of going to the County shelter. If the plan goes through, the City will arrange to handle any medical bills, working with a local Veterinarian Hospital.

Having local services means higher quality, less time and hassle for local residents, and ultimately lower costs. If successful, this model can be adopted by other cities that contract with the County, allowing the County to function at a much higher level.

(FYI - the sweat shirt I am wearing in the pictures is the same sweat shirt I wore when I spent a month in New Orleans rescuing animals in the wake of Hurricane Katrina)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Jim Gardner is on the City Council for Lake Forest. You can check him out on LinkedIn and/or Facebook and you can share your thoughts about the City at Lake Forest Town Square on Facebook. His comments are not meant to reflect official City Policy.

Dr. Gardner has office hours every Tuesday from 4 pm to 6 pm at the City Hall. In addition, he holds a Town Hall meeting every quarter. The next meeting will be on May 20 at the Foothill Ranch Public Library.