Looking for the Helpers: Humane Society sees record number of pet adoptions

As our area is faced with ongoing changes due to a growing pandemic, we are bringing stories of people doing good in the community during a time of uncertainty.

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Families continue to adopt shelter animals through pandemic

Despite the pandemic, the Santa Barbara Humane Society and the Santa Maria Valley Humane Society are seeing a record number of both adoptions and clinic visits.

Earlier this year, the Santa Barbara Humane Society and the Santa Maria Valley Humane Society merged into one organization. It was an exciting move for the organization until Governor Gavin Newsom’s emergency order to close in March.

The organization was forced to take took a step back to develop a plan so that it may continue to serve the community under the new health guidelines.

“Despite the pandemic, we are doing amazing with both adoptions and clinic visits. We are actually beating some of our 2019 numbers including number of adoptions and number of vaccine visits,” said Kerri Burns, CEO of the organization.

Since the start of the pandemic, people have had to make appointments to visit the shelters and clinics. At the height of the pandemic, more than 800 appointments had to be rescheduled.

The organization developed a way for people to schedule and work with the shelters online. People are able to drive up to the facilities and be assisted from their car, or in one-on-one appointments.

The clinic is back in full swing under this adjusted system.

The teams have performed 274 spay/neuter surgeries for animals being readied for adoption.

They've also had 2,687 vaccine and wellness appointments and nearly 1,000 spay/neuter appointments for community-owned animals already this year.

Additionally, shelter staff have had their hands full with a steady flow of adoptions. The need for service for public animals has also been great.

As of October 1, there have been 1,102 cats and dogs adopted from the Santa Barbara and Santa Maria campuses.

Adoptions are by appointment only, which giving staff a chance to work more closely with the animals and adopters.

To learn more about available services and to view adoptable
animals, click here.