y Carol Leish
‘Sometimes all it takes is a look.’
“The Ventura County Animal Shbelter in Camarillo currently has dogs, cats, rabbits, mice, birds, snakes, turtles, chickens and roosters available for adoption,” according to, Randy Friedman, the Marketing Manager. “We also occasionally have horses, chameleons, bearded dragons, and other exotic-type animals.”
The adoption process has changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “We have continued to provide services while conducting all business in a safe and healthy manner,” Friedman said. “Those who are interested in adopting a dog are asked to schedule a virtual adoption counseling appointment at www.vcas.us/Scheduling. After the initial phone consultation, if all feel a good match is likely to be made, we will schedule a time for them to come in, meeting the animal in person, and adopting them if they choose to.”
Cat adoptions have also changed due to the pandemic. “Even though cat adoptions occur on-site at the Camarillo Animal Shelter from 2:00pm-4:00pm daily, those who are interested in adopting a cat need to come to the Camarillo Animal Shelter (600 Aviation Dr. Camarillo, CA 93010) at 9:00am to put their name and phone number on a clipboard, which is made available in the parking lot area.”
“For adopting rabbits,” according to Friedman, “we are asking the public to contact our Ventura County Animal Services Bunny Brigade, which is an all-volunteer run group who takes care of our rabbit population. Their email is: [email protected]. Those who are interested in adopting other pets can follow the same procedure that is outlined for dog adoptions. The full adoption process is at: www.vcas.us/adoptionprocess.
“A safe environment for all shelter guests has been made due to the pandemic,” according to Friedman. “Our appointment-based pet adoption system has resulted in thousands of pet adoptions since the pandemic began. Now we have an adoption counseling process that is virtual, which starts out with a phone consultation. A telemedicine process has been implemented in order to allow our foster care-givers access to our veterinarian for medical consultations. We’ve also promoted the use of an online licensing system, and established a drop-box at the Camarillo Shelter.”
The Ventura County Animal Shelter provides a wide variety of services. These include: medical care; animal behavioral evaluations/modifications; and, animal enrichment. Friedman also emphasized that, “Our teams respond to calls for assistance in the community, from the capture of aggressive animals, to the rescue of injured wildlife.” Our published annual report highlights many of our services (www.vcas.us/2020AnnualReport.)”
“As a municipal/government run agency with a 501c3 non-profit fundraising arm (Animal Services Foundation of Ventura County),” Friedman said, “there are many ways the public can help us, which includes: becoming a foster parent; making a monetary donation; donating items listed on our Amazon Wish List (www.vcas.us/Donate); and/or pledging to adopt pets. In Memory of, or in Honor of donations can be made at: www.vcasFoundation.org/donate). Those who want to volunteer, please go to: www.vcas.us/volunteer; those who want to foster, go to: www.vcas.us/foster. Our Amazon Wish list is at: www.vcas.us/AmazonWishList. Amazon Smile is at: www.vcas.us/AmazonSmile. For a complete list of ways to help, please go to: www.vcas.us/ways-to-help. Also, we would like to highlight our Lost and Found page (www.vcas.us/LostandFound). The animals we have in our care are listed at: (www.vcas.us/pets.)
