Dogs being euthanized due to lack of budget, not a lack of space at Visalia Animal Services

VISALIA, Calif. (KFSN) -- Two dogs at the Visalia Animal Services center near Highway 99 found their forever home Friday.

"We had a litter of 8, which all got adopted, which was really exciting," says the Visalia Animal Services Manager Candace Harrington.

But for many dogs that don't go to a home or a rescue shelter, the reality is euthanasia.

"It could be 5 or 6 in the week. It could be 15 if it has been a high intake week. It depends on what we get in and what we can find placement for," Candace continues.

Harrington explained how long animals typically stay at the shelter, "Generally, the average length of stay is about seven days. But the stray hold period is four days if they have no identification, tags, or anything, and six if we know who the owner is."

The shelter has 29 kennels that can house large dogs and 32 for smaller dogs.

When Action News walked through the shelter on Friday, more than half of the kennels were empty.

We asked Harrington what many viewers were asking: Why are dogs being euthanized when there appears to be space?

The question was: "You have ten plus open kennels in there, but two dogs were at risk of being euthanized... perfectly healthy dogs. What would you say to that?"

Candace responds, "I think we need to finish this interview."

After this interview, Action News asked to speak to Visalia City Manager Leslie Caviglia.

Cavilgia told us it just comes down to cost. The city doesn't have the budget to keep animals longer than seven business days.

"Space is not one of the criteria in how we process animals," Caviglia continues, "It costs $50 a day to retain an animal at the shelter so it's a balance act with the overall general budget of the city."

The city's annual budget is $100,000,000. Just over one percent is allocated for the shelter and the mortgage for the space.

"So that's $1.8 million out of a 100 million dollar general fund budget, so it's not an insignificant portion," says Caviglia.

Her message to the community is, please consider adoption.

"We are struggling with overpopulation. We are struggling with people who can't keep their animals for one reason or another. It's their own balancing act in their families, whether it's their own space needs or their ability to cope with an animal at the expense of an animal; there's just many reasons they have that balancing act, just like we do at the shelter," Caviglia says.

There are two dogs at risk of being euthanized on Tuesday.

People can help by adopting, volunteering or donating.

Community members are also urged to attend city council meetings if there are any questions, comments or concerns.

The next one is Monday, August 12, and there will be one on Monday, August 19.

Meetings are held every first and third Monday of each month.

Details can be found here.

For South Valley news updates, follow Kassandra Gutierrez on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.