After an unusual animal hoarding bust brought on a surge of
homeless cats
– followed by a distemper outbreak that halted adoptions and
instigated the quarantine of 175 felines in mid-September – the
hubbub is finally tapering off at the San Martin Animal
Shelter.
After an unusual animal hoarding bust that brought on a surge of homeless cats – followed by a distemper outbreak that halted adoptions and instigated the quarantine of 175 felines in mid-September – the hubbub is finally tapering off at the San Martin Animal Shelter.
As of Saturday, locals looking for a purring pal are welcome to visit the facility at 12370 Murphy Ave., which is currently offering a fabulous promotion with a twofold benefit for destitute animals and adopters on a budget.
Whereas normal adoption fees for dogs, puppies, cats and kittens range from $90 to $120, prices have been slashed to rock bottom in conjunction with Empty Our Shelters – a drive now emphasized between six shelters in San Jose, Palo Alto, Morgan Hill, Silicon Valley and Santa Clara. Beginning now and lasting until Oct. 16, the adoption fees for puppies/dogs is $50, and as of Saturday, the adoption fee for kittens/cats is $10 (see the box in this story for more details on adopting).
If you want to peruse (online) the furry faces begging you to take them home, visit www.sccgov.org, then click on the “adopt a pet” link. A number of adoptable pets have profiles and pictures, as do other creatures of various species that often end up in the shelter, such as neglected horses.
Currently, the shelter is recouping from a mass influx of cats, which flooded the facility with 40 extra felines – a number in poor health – after 80 to 90 were discovered at an undisclosed location in San Martin in early September. The shelter has since received an additional 14 cats, according to Shelter Supervisor Brigid Wasson, who said she’s expecting an additional 24 next week.
“And hopefully that’s the end of it,” she said Friday. “That should be the last of the ones that were in the trailer.”
She said Town Cats, another feline rescue organization in Morgan Hill, is bearing some of the burden by helping to catch a possible 20 more cats still roaming the property freely.
The hoarding discovery was made Sept. 1 following complaints of a pungent odor surrounding a trailer in San Martin, according to Albert Escobar, program manager for Santa Clara County Animal Care and Control.
“It wasn’t actually a person’s home,” said Escobar, who described the hoarder as an elderly man. “He had these cats in an alternative location in San Martin.”
Following the bust, Kevin O’Day, County Agriculture and Environmental Management Director, described the shelter as “bursting at the seams.”
On Friday, Escobar said the hoarding case is still under investigation.
“We’re still working with the guy; there’s still cats out there,” he said. “We’re trying to help not only the cats, but him also.”
Escobar wasn’t inclined to comment extensively on the situation as the case is still active, but said the advantage of pressing charges is that “he’ll get the psychiatric evaluation, and that, really, is kind of what I’m looking for, more than a criminal prosecution. My favor is giving the guy the help that he needs.”
The Shelter was hit with another bomb in mid-September, when a case of panleukopenia – or, “feline distemper” – killed two cats, forcing staff to quarantine all of its feline for more than two weeks.
The affliction is a viral infection affecting cats (not dogs) and can kill swiftly and suddenly if contracted, Wasson said.
While animals can be exposed to the virus in a number of places, chances are heightened in a shelter as inhabitants are under stress, occupying small rooms and living in cages, she explained. Although panleukopenia is almost 100 percent preventable by vaccination, Wasson said a total of three cats succumbed to the virus – despite receiving the shot.
She noted, however, “It could have been a lot worse.”
To read more about the quarantine, click here: Outbreak
To read more about the bust, click here: Hoarding
To visit the San Martin Animal Shelter’s website, click here: Animal Shelter
HOW TO ADOPT OR DONATE
Santa Clara County Animal Shelter
– Visit: 12370 Murphy Avenue, San Martin
– Call: (408) 686-3900
– Donate on the web: www.sccountypets.org
– Volunteer: Orientation is held at 1 p.m. the second Saturday of every month. Volunteers must be at least 18 years old and must attend a volunteer orientation. For questions, call Shelter Supervisor Brigid Wasson at (408) 686-3901
Adoption includes:
– Spay/neuter surgery
– Microchip ID implantation and registration
– Age-appropriate vaccinations
– De-fleaing and de-worming
– FIV/FeLV testing for cats
– A large bag of Hill’s Science Diet pet food

