What's wrong with you people!? Or are they telling lies? (San Bernardino: low income, rentals)

[chevykat5150]

I was recently told that people from San Bernadino are a "whole different type" of people. More specifically, that you guys don't care about your pets. I was told that is why the shelters are so overcrowded in SBC. Because you guys "don't want your dogs" and you "let them run away", "do not want them returned to you", and that you people "are the reason behind the problem". I would like to believe otherwise.


So, after finding little on this site to help support my theory that people are generally the same no matter where you go, I have decided to have a little faith in the forum. So, PLEASE. Enlighten me. People of San Bernadino County, I want to know... Have you ever had a pet? Did you love it? Have you ever known a dog who went stray? How did he get loose? What happened to the dog? Are you aware that there is a problem in your area with overcrowded animal shelters? How many dogs do you think are euthanized each day in the Devore shelter alone? How many days do you have to claim your pet at the shelter before it is adopted or put down? There is nothing on this site that will help me with these FACTS. I'm county on YOU, people of SBC. Thank you, in advance, for your time and effort. It is very much appreciated.

[Hal Roach]

I would move to Cuba, Iran, or Myanmar before I moved to SBC.

[nightlysparrow]

Not from SB nor living there, but consider the following:

1) Many immigrants in SB are from south of the border, where there is a whole different attitude toward dogs. If you've been down there, in the impoverished areas especially, even dogs as pets are let out to run in the streets, not fed particularly well, unvaccinated, etc. Non-owned dogs are abandoned to starve. Feeding kids comes first; dogs are not a "member of the family" in the US sense of the term.

2) Lots of evictions in SB. Most rentals do not allow pets. If evicted for having an unauthorized dog, getting rid of it may be the only way to secure another rental.

3) SB is high crime. Dangerous dog breeds are popular in such areas. Having or moving in with kids, neighbor complaints for aggressive dog behavior, or police impounds with high money penalties to retrieve dogs may cause owners to give up their dogs.

[Adamson865]

Someone who charges onto the forum with a grand total of one post titled "What's Wrong With You People"? = troll.

[chevykat5150]

Awesome input! Thank you! I am on a mission to resolve what's going on there and now I have an entirely new perspective. This is great!

[chevykat5150]

Originally Posted by rah62

Someone who charges onto the forum with a grand total of one post titled "What's Wrong With You People"? = troll.

Not a troll, but I understand and forgive you for that assumption. I actually came here to learn, as part of my research. Glad I came to this forum, too, because even though I had taken a look at SB's statistics myself, none of it really settled in until it was put into words for me by another member. Now I'm having second thoughts about staying there during the length of my project.

[lae60]

I do not live in SB, but in the MTN communities above SB. Devore is the local animal shelter for us. There is also one in Big Bear that is smaller and also ran by the county.

We got our dog from the BB shelter.

We also have a few cats, all taken in when neighbors moved or that were born to wild/feral mothers..

My daughter, an adult on her own, got her dog from the Devore shelter.


The county as a whole is in poverty. People move and can not take their pets with them as they re moving into a car or the streets when they are evicted from their homes. WE have gotten some of our cats-2- from neighbors -2 different neighbors--that lost their homes and just left the cats.

The shelters seem to adopt out breeds that are popular and specific breed puppies to 'adoption groups'. My aunt went to Devore to get a dobbie puppy but they would not adopt them until they were older. She would have taken to mom after the pups were adopted or a puppy. None of the 13 dobbie dogs were available for a person to adopt. They knew she was interested, but they let a dobbie rescue group take all 13 dogs. She went there every day to look at the dogs and wait until they were available to adopt. The rescue group that took them would sell her one for $350. Same thing happened when she wanted to adopt a German shepherd there. The day it became available a rescue group took the dog. It seems that rescue groups looking for $$$$ should have to wait until the public gets a chance for a day or two first. Many people do not look there for a pet because of this issue.

There are also trappers up here that trap PETS that are outside and take them to Devore. People often can not afford to get their PETS out. And they are taken from in front of their own houses or on their own streets. This has happened to the cats in our area a lot. My cats are only inside but when one got out I looked at the shelter webpage each day until we found him and got him back inside. Luckily he was still on our street. Many of these pets are chipped, but Devore will still put them down after a few days.

POVERTY plays a lot of the cards for Devore and the pet overpopulation, plus an open relationship with the trappers. Personally I think that trapped animals that are PETS should be held for a month at the TRAPPER'S expense so that people can go and get their basically STOLLEN PETS back without a fee. Let the trappers pay that fee upfront and they will stop taking friendly pets. With low income people's budgets they do not have the money to get their pets in a few days, and can not afford the fees. They have to wait to get paid, then eat less for that pay period. Also, rumor is that Devore gets $$ for selling the surplus animal bodies they put down. If that is true, then that is likely why Devore will take numerous trapped animals from the same trappers over and over.

BTW, the people that live in the CITY of SB do NOT use Devore. They have a city animal shelter, and its as sorry as Devore. But I do not think they have the trapped animal turn on rate there that Devore has.

[Beardown91737]

Since you asked about San Bernardino County, no it is not in poverty as a whole. Upland, Rancho Cucamonga, and Redlands do not have the same experience as San Bernardino City, and I would guess the same for most other cities where the people are mostly decent even if not very wealthy.

It is true that some people keep their dogs outside, and that can be as a layer of protection of the exterior of the home.

One problem is that the shelters are not 'no kill' shelters. This is a matter of budgeting priorities and as long as the people keep voting for spendthrift politicians at all levels, we will not be able to have no kill shelters.

[lae60]

Originally Posted by Beardown91737

Since you asked about San Bernardino County, no it is not in poverty as a whole. Upland, Rancho Cucamonga, and Redlands do not have the same experience as San Bernardino City, and I would guess the same for most other cities where the people are mostly decent even if not very wealthy.

It is true that some people keep their dogs outside, and that can be as a layer of protection of the exterior of the home.

One problem is that the shelters are not 'no kill' shelters. This is a matter of budgeting priorities and as long as the people keep voting for spendthrift politicians at all levels, we will not be able to have no kill shelters.

BUT the cities that you mentioned have CITY animal shelters. They do not use Devore which is a COUNTY animal shelter for the unincorporated parts of the COUNTY.

The unincorporated County areas are much more in poverty than the CITIES, especially the cities you mentioned, maybe not Needles and some of the desert cities. Many of the cities are not in poverty at all. I was writing about the areas of the county that are unincorporated and would use the County shelter at Devore when writing about the poverty level.

[Vic Romano]

Originally Posted by Hal Roach

I would move to Cuba, Iran, or Myanmar before I moved to SBC.

Really? At least in San Bernardino (city) I have the freedom to move away...