Adopt Your Next Pet for Free This Weekend at Thousand Palms Shelter

The county’s two large shelters are offering fee-waived adoptions on Saturday, July 27. The Mid-Summer Special will be valid for an adoption of any cat or dog at the county’s shelters in Jurupa Valley or Thousand Palms.

The Coachella Valley Animal Campus is located at 72-050 Pet Land Place, Thousand Palms, 92276. The shelter opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 4 p.m. on Saturdays.

The Western Riverside County/City Animal Shelter is located at 6851 Van Buren Blvd., Jurupa Valley, 92509. It is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

The fee-waived adoptions include the pet’s spay/neuter surgery, vaccinations and a microchip. A $16 dog license is extra and is applied to any resident within the jurisdictional areas served by Riverside County Animal Services.

The Mid-Summer Special is part of Riverside County Animal Services’ strong adoptions push during the ASPCA’s Rachael Ray $100,000 Challenge. Riverside County is just one of 50 organizations nationwide vying for the grand prize and other grant-funding awards during the Challenge.

Organizations are trying to record as many adoptions as possible during the months of June, July and August. The success rate is based on the number of adoptions shelters recorded for those same months in 2012.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) announced last week that Riverside County was No. 1 on the leader board for the Challenge’s first 30 days. Riverside County recorded 1,382 adoptions, an increase of 309 from the previous year.

“We’re off to a great start, but we know we can’t let up,” said Deputy Director Frank Corvino, who helps oversee the county’s shelter services division. “We would love to be No. 1. We’re more thrilled in seeing so many pets get into loving homes. That’s really what this is all about – saving as many lives as possible.”