Update: Orange County is no longer offering free adoptions at its OC Animal Care shelter after the pet giveaway proved so successful that 221 animals from the facility found new homes in just two days, county staff said late Friday.

The OC Animal Care shelter had been 95 percent full before the event and began offering free adoption so it could reduce overcrowding and drop below 60 percent of its capacity. On Friday, it met that mark.

“We are very thankful for the many folks who came from all around (Riverside, L.A., San Diego and Orange counties) to adopt a shelter pet,” OC Animal Care Director Dr. Jennifer Hawkins wrote in a statement. “And let’s not forget the staff and volunteers who have been working overtime and extra shifts to help provide care for the many great shelter animals and for stepping it up one more time to process the hundreds of adoptions.”

The Oct. 25 county Board of Supervisors’ vote that permitted the free adoption will also allow it to happen again in the future if the shelter’s population rises above 80 percent of its capacity.

Read the original article below:

Orange County’s publicly operated animal shelter is so overcrowded with dogs, cats and rabbits that the facility on Thursday (Nov. 3) will begin waiving adoption fees to give the pets away.

The Orange-based shelter has been nearly 95 percent full for several weeks, housing as many as 630 animals, “which is about 200 more than even the busiest times of the year,” according to county staff.

Want to adopt? Check out what pets are available.

“High numbers of animals increases the impact on the physical and mental health of shelter animals,” said Dr. Jennifer Hawkins, director of OC Animal Care. “By removing fee barriers to adoption and encouraging visitors to the shelter, it is our goal to unite adoptable shelter pets with families.”

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County supervisors on Oct. 25 voted unanimously to authorize OC Animal Care to waive adoption fees anytime its animal population grows to greater than 80 percent of the shelter’s capacity and continue until it drops below 60 percent of capacity.

The 75-year-old shelter, at 561 The City Drive, serves 14 Orange County cities but is not very large. In July, the county broke ground on a new $30 million shelter being built on 10 acres at the former Tustin Marine Corps Air Station. It is set to open by the end of 2017.

Adoption fees normally average $167 for dogs, $171 for cats and $77 for rabbits. That cost covers spaying and neutering animals, veterinary services, implanting and registering microchips, and administering vaccinations. Despite the fee waiver, people adopting animals will still have to pay $27 for a rabies-vaccination certificate.

County staff said the shelter’s abundance of animals stems from the impounding of 200 rabbits seized from a home in October. Due to the overcrowding, the shelter currently is not accepting animals surrendered by their owners.

Contact the writer: jgraham@scng.com or 714-796-7960