In Inyo County, CA pet license fees and donations are an important source for funding essential animal services. When you license your pet, know that you are doing your part to help your local shelter workers care for lost, injured and abused animals.
We are proud to call the Inyo County Animal Shelter an official Safe & Happy Partner. We will always donate 20% of every designer tag sale to ICAS in an effort to provide additional funding for the community’s vulnerable animals and the staff that serves them. They are doing some pretty amazing things for local animals in need, read on to learn more about this great organization!
By The Numbers
650
Animals sheltered
per year
400
Adoptions
per year
6
Employees
20
Volunteers
1,000
Volunteer hours
Q&A
Talkin' Shop
We spoke with Animal Services Supervisor, Julie Richardson, about what’s been going on at the ICAS.
What is something you are really proud of as an organization? A very high adoption rate.
What is something that makes your shelter unique? Proactive case work against animal abuse, and we have one shelter for a county that covers 10,181 square miles.
What is a program that you run that is really important for people to know about? Working in coordination with the I Care Stitch Fund, which is a local nonprofit organization that raises money for medical care for our shelter animals. The fund has provided $123,852.90 towards our shelter animals since the fund started in 2002.
Can you share a story of a specific pet you helped recently? Darnell is a 3 year old Rottweiler mix that was hit by a car in late October of 2020. His left front leg was severely broken and needed extensive surgery in order to save his leg. Through the I Care Stitch Fund we were able to raise the cost of surgery which was $4,500 in a matter of 19 days. The fact that our community came together for this wonderful dog was an amazing gift. He is now on his way to recovery for a life full of running and playing, all thanks to the fine people in Inyo County.
To what extent are pet license fees contributing to your overall budget? Licensing is a significant part of our budget.
What is something you are raising funds for today specifically? We are always looking to raise money for the I Care Stitch Fund for our shelter animals’ medical needs.
Do you have any specific advice for pet owners that you’d like to share? I enjoy this quote from John Grogan, American Author. "Such short little lives our pets have to spend with us, and they spend most of it waiting for us to come home each day. It is amazing how much love and laughter they bring into our lives and even how much closer we become with each other because of them."
For more information about ICAS, visit
https://www.facebook.com/BigPineShelter/