orange county animal services, with the support of the community, has been able to reach lifesaving milestones in recent years. in fiscal year 2022 the shelter achieved live release, through adoption, reunification and rescue placement, for 95% of the dogs and 88% of the cats.
orange county animal services does not identify as “no kill,” a term that is ambiguous, as there is no clear and legal definition for the term.
ocas is an open admission shelter, meaning no animal in need is turned away, regardless of health issue or behavior concern. animal services is the only open admission shelter in this county and is committed to being an available resource for people and animals in need.
as the only open admission shelter in this area, animal services receives pets on all sides of the spectrum. while most are healthy, friendly adoption candidates, some have critical needs due to medical issues or pose a threat to public safety due to demonstrated aggression. a small portion of animals may have contagious disease that pose a risk to the other pets or may be too young to viably stay in the shelter. it is these animals for which there are extremely limited resources and therefore the shelter may need to make the difficult decision to humanely euthanize.
euthanasia of animals is a community issue, not just a shelter issue.
to review relevant data to learn more about the high volume of animals the shelter receives, and their outcomes, please visit our “shelter statistics” page.