After 1,250 Adoptions, CARE Looks for Home for Final Pet

After rescuing 1,250 local homeless cats and dogs in the past decade, a popular nonprofit is shutting its adoption arm to focus solely on fundraising.

The transition stems from 's , which in January stopped showing CARE's rescued cats to potential adoptive-pet parents on Saturdays at the store's Luv-A-Pet center on Doheny Park Road.

Two animals remain in CARE's possession. One will stay in its foster home, but a longhair "torbie," Olivia, needs a new home.

"It is kind of a bittersweet situation," said member Marsha Schwartze. "We became a foundation in January 2010, so we will focus our attention now on supporting other like-minded groups that share the same mission that we do. We still have members; we still have money."

The money will be used to make grants to support projects, causes and other local animal-focused groups. Earlier this year, for example, it awarded its first donation of $10,000 to the city for a dog park that will be named after CARE's founder, late veterinarian Joe Cortese.

CARE will move out of its offices on Paseo Adelanto by Sept. 1. In the meantime, its board of directors will meet to redefine its organization's mission. "It's a work in progress," Schwartze said.

She said the transition will not result in a bad ending for local stray and abandoned animals. She expects the Ark of San Juan Companion Animal Resuce, a group that sprouted up in the wake of CARE's loss of a lease on city-owned property that would serve as the future site of its dog kennels.

In 2009, the City Council voted to end its lease with CARE for the small piece of land on Camino Capistrano where it had planned for years to build an animal rescue and adoption center.

According to CARE officials, the site’s viability was in question due to its proximity to the adjacent creek. It's the same location where the may now be built.

Those interested in adopting Oliva, CARE's final pet in need of adoption, should call 949-240-1735 or e-mail info@CapoAnimalRescue.com. The 5-year-old cat is litter-trained, spayed, microchipped and up to date on her vaccines.