Robert Chacon
Several dogs spooked by Fourth of July fireworks were waiting at
local animal shelters Tuesday for someone to take them home.
Owners should call the Pasadena Humane Society -- which handles
animal control for Glendale, La Canada Flintridge and La Crescenta --
or the Burbank Animal Shelter to reclaim their pets. The Pasadena
Humane Society's website -- www.phsspca.org -- has pictures posted of
pets picked up since Sunday.
By Tuesday afternoon, 11 Glendale families had been reunited with
their runaway dogs, said Ricky Whitman, the Pasadena Humane Society
public relations director.
At least three dogs picked up Sunday in Glendale were still in
kennels, including a white male German shepherd mix, a golden
retriever mix and a Rhodesian ridgeback and Labrador mix. Another
Labrador retriever mix was picked up in La Canada Flintridge with a
leash still attached to its collar.
The shelter received almost 100 calls reporting stray dogs between
Sunday night and Monday, said Lt. DuWayne Moe, an animal-control
officer at the shelter.
Though pet owners are usually charged $35 if their dog is picked
up as a stray, they will not be charged if the canines ran away
Sunday, Whitman said. Stray animals are held for 10 days. After that,
they are put up for adoption.
At the Burbank Animal Shelter, seven families had picked up dogs
that ran away Sunday, and the shelter was holding 10 more, one of
which has a Glendale dog license.
"It was a typical Fourth of July night for us," said Debbie
Beiter, senior animal-control officer at the Burbank Animal Shelter.
"It was surprising, though, that we did not have any injured dogs.
This is the first year that I can remember that we didn't pick up a
dog that was hit by a car."
The Burbank Animal Shelter charges owners a $25 impound fee and $7
a day to hold the pet. Both animal shelters charge a state surcharge
of $35 if the dog is not spayed or neutered.
Owners at both shelters need to show proof of ownership, including
copy of a license that is on file, or if their dogs are not licensed,
they can bring in a photo of the pet.
The shelters do not pick up cats as a result of Fourth of July
fireworks, officials said, but they advise owners whose cats have run
away to leave fresh food and water outside their doors because cats
sometimes hide for several days.
For more information about pet pick-ups, call the Pasadena Humane
Society at (626) 792-7151, or the Burbank Animal Shelter at 238-3340.
