Letter: Coronado Shelter Official Explains Use of Garage for Cats

Regarding the use of the garage to house cats at the Coronado Animal Care Facility.

This letter is in response to several comments that have been posted on various blogs.

I am the Support Services Police Commander, and the Animal Care Facility is within my division of responsibility.

For a variety of reasons the Coronado Animal Care Facility is experiencing an unprecedented influx of animals, both through relinquishments as well as animals abandoned throughout the city. The reasons vary from the bad economy, the animal's or the owner’s declining health as well as military overseas transfers to name a few.

All shelters in the county are experiencing the same influx of unwanted animals. Although our adoptions have increased, they have not kept pace with the intake. We pride ourselves on being a no-kill shelter in that we make every effort to find a home for all adoptable animals. Along with PAWS, we are in constant contact with other adoption groups as well as breed-specific organizations to help reduce our current population.

Technically we have the room to house all of our cats in our community rooms, however, we have to separate cats that cannot be housed with the general population due to illness, special dietary needs or behavior problems. All of our dog kennels are currently occupied, thus we are unable to utilize them for cat overflow.

We currently have several cats with URIs (upper respiratory infections) and have to isolate them from the healthy population, but also from the other infected cats so they do not become re-infected.

This is where the use of the garage comes in. We are currently housing URI cats in separate cages in our garage because the cat quarantine rooms are at capacity. The garage affords the cats with much needed fresh air and sunshine as we keep the garage door partially opened during business hours. The garage has thermostatically controlled heaters for evenings.

I can assure you they are quite comfortable and as soon as they are healthy they will join other healthy cats in one of the community rooms. This is a necessary temporary action for the safe operation of the shelter to ensure all our animals stay healthy.

As far as taking in more animals, although some shelters euthanize animals to combat overcrowding, we make every effort to find a home for all adoptable animals. We do not turn down relinquishments, thus we occasionally experience a shortage of space to isolate sick animals.

The Coronado Animal Care Facility is staffed by dedicated, enthusiastic employees and volunteers that interact with the animals daily. They take pride in providing the best care, as the comfort and welfare of the animals is their primary goal.

If you are interested in adopting or fostering an animal from the Coronado Care Facility, please call (619) 522-7371.

Thank you,

Commander Laszlo Waczek
Coronado Police