South Valley animal shelters seeing influx of dogs, including litters

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Valley Oak SPCA's adoption center in Visalia is always at capacity.

But last week, they had to make room for even more animals.

"We ended 2019 in a crazy busy fashion, and we entered 2020 in the exact same way," said Valley Oak SPCA Executive Director Lydia House.

House says the non-profit took in more than 20 dogs from Tulare County Animal Services on Thursday, including an abandoned German Shepherd and her puppies.

They took in the animals to take some pressure off the County shelter, which brought in at least 50 animals, mostly dogs, that day alone.

Some were strays; others were owner surrenders.

That may seem like a high number for just one day, but House says it happens.

"It's not an uncommon number for any of the Central Valley municipal shelters to intake in one day, especially county," House said. "Tulare County is a huge county first of all, and a lot of the rural areas are the areas that don't typically spay and neuter like they should, so you have this population of animals that just gets out of hand very, very quickly."

House took to Facebook to ask for foster families, and they answered the call.

The German Shepherd and her puppies will soon have a temporary home.

So will a Husky and her litter.

But it's possible the SPCA will have to call on one of their rescue partners if the requests don't slow down.

"If we keep getting more and more litters, and we don't have a home for them to go to while they're growing, we'll reach out to our friends and send some up north," House said.

On Monday, House told us about a new PetSmart Charities grant that will be used to spay and neuter and pay for some animals' medical needs.

It's already making a difference.

Recently, House says a local family was ready to surrender their injured dog because they couldn't pay for the steep medical bills.

But the costs were covered, the family kept their pet, and the SPCA saved space inside their walls.

If you want to help the SPCA, adopt or be a foster.

You can also be a volunteer or make a donation online.

House also hopes you'll like their Facebook page and share their posts, so the public stays educated about what's happening in local shelters.