TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

This story was first published Nov. 11, 2004

A Kern County judge has ordered animal shelters run by Kern County to stop putting animals to death earlier than state law allows.

Superior Court Judge Gary Friedman issued a preliminary ruling Wednesday that will force the county shelters to hold onto stray and abandoned animals for four days before giving them lethal injections. Currently, the county regularly violates the two 1989 state laws that require the waiting period.

Wednesday's ruling was a victory for a Frazier Park animal rescuer who has sued the county for violating state animal protection laws.

"It's just exactly what we were hoping for," said rescuer Patricia Lock. "This was an immediate, 'Stop killing the animals.'"

The ruling also pressures the county to change the way it handles Bakersfield's dramatic animal overpopulation problem, Lock said.

And it sets the scene for a battle over other animal control issues when the full lawsuit next comes before a judge.

Deputy County Counsel Charles Collins, on Wednesday, acknowledged the county hasn't abided by state laws.

"We're trying to get into a position where we're in compliance," he told Friedman.

"You're admitting you're not in compliance now," Friedman pointed out.

Collins argued that the county has good reasons to break the laws.

In a brief to the court, he pointed out that the county shelter on South Mount Vernon Avenue can only house 300 dogs and 70 to 80 cats at one time, but handles more than 2,000 animals each month.

If all those animals are kept for the required four days, there will be overcrowding, fights and illness among the animals, he said.

Matt Constantine, the county's animal control manager, said overcrowding will create inhumane conditions for the creatures in his care.

Steve McCalley, Constantine's boss in the Environmental Health Services Department, said on Wednesday that animal control is working to develop a plan to obey the court order.

He said overcrowding may have to be allowed or, alternatively, the county shelters may have to close their doors to new animals when they are full.

"If we have a capacity issue at the shelter, then people are potentially going to be turned away," he said.

Lock's lawyer, Kate Neiswender of Ventura, said the order stops the county from killing animals at will.

"What (the county's) been saying is, 'Animals are a problem, let's kill them all,'" she said.

Lock, who met her attorney for the first time on Wednesday, was clearly excited by the victory.

"Did you hear the number of animals that are not going to die between now and the lawsuit (hearings)," she said.

County animal officials euthanize between 20,000 and 25,000 animals in Bakersfield a year -- a number that translates to around 2,000 animals a month.

McCalley said he isn't sure how many of those animals might or might not be saved because of the court order.

From a practical standpoint, the court order only requires the county to hold animals longer. Those animals can still be euthanized when the holding period is up.

But it does give owners more time to find lost animals.

Collins said the county will obey Friedman's ruling.

"The burden's on us now. We've got to comply with the judge's order," he said.

He, Neiswender and Lock all agree that the ruling is going to force county animal control to change how it does business. "It requires new thinking," Neiswender said.

Lock said the county has resisted giving unadoptable animals to rescue groups that could keep the animals away from the lethal needle.

"If they will work with rescues, they will not have overcrowding," Lock said. "If they don't start opening their doors to animal rescues, they are going to be crowded."

Infobox:Some animals will get at least a temporary reprieve from death and some may escape euthanization altogether.

Right now, the county regularly puts animals to death early if they are turned in by their owners or if they are clearly wild. Those animals will likely only get a temporary reprieve from the needle.

Some animals are put to death early because of overcrowding at the shelter. Those animals will have to be kept alive longer, giving their owners more time to pick them up.

Kern County Animal Control shelters collect animals from a number of sources -- animals turned in by their owners, strays caught by neighbors, and animals picked up by city and county animal control officers.

What happens then depends on the animal and the availability of space at the shelter:

* Stray animals are held for four days, plus the day they were brought in, in the hopes that their owners will find them at the shelter.

* After the fourth day, or sooner if the shelter becomes crowded, county animal control officers evaluate the temperament of the dog or cat and decide if it can be adopted out to a new home.

* If the animal isn't adoptable, it is given a lethal injection. Around 70 percent of animals that land in the shelter are euthanized.

* Feral cats and animals turned in by their owners are often euthanized within the first day or two they are at the shelter.

What Wednesday's ruling means:

* Stray animals taken into the shelter will not be put up for adoption or put to sleep before the four-day holding period is up.

* After the four-day period, the animals can be euthanized or adopted.

* Feral cats will be held for three days before euthanization.