Santa Barbara County Animal Services sees surge in volunteers, fosters, and pet adoptions

SANTA MARIA, Calif.– The Santa Barbara and Santa Maria communities stepped in to house and shelter more animals from the Santa Barbara County Animal Services system as the county took in 117 more pets in November 2022 than in November of last year.

On Friday, Dec. 2 the SBCAS alerted the community of having no space for strays and nearly 33 pets went into homes over the weekend.

SBCAS Director Sarah Aguilar is grateful for the surge in volunteers, foster parents, and forever homes that came together to help the overwhelmed animal shelter system.

"The high volume of pets in need that we are seeing right now is something that we haven’t seen in years. The outpouring of support indicates just how much Santa Barbara County cares about our pets. Over 100 pets are currently housed in foster homes, on their way to adoption.”

Volunteers put in over 1300 hours in November to maintain the basic services and level of care for these animals from bathing to providing companionship for the lost dogs.

To learn more about pet adoption, fostering, or to become a volunteer, visit here.