Sacramento County's beautiful new $14 million animal shelter is facing closure due to the budget crisis.  This will be disastrous for the animals currently housed at the shelter and those at risk in our community.  The old shelter just up the road from this new one was where I adopted two of my basset hounds, Patience and Bubba Gump, and my parents adopted their two Scotties, which enriched their lives so much. One of those dogs, Laddie, helped my dad heal from a debilitating stroke years ago.  The new shelter, which opened only six months ago, is a world apart from where they were all housed before their rescue.  I toured the facility just after it opened and was so amazed at the improvements for the animals kept there.  In fact, I based a shelter I wrote about in my most recent novel, on this state-of-the art model.  

Sacramento needs more shelters to address the animal overpopulation problem, not fewer.   If any of you reading this blog can help, please consider making a donation to the Sacramento County Animal Shelter at 3839 Bradshaw Road, Sacramento, CA.  I'm making my donation now.  Better yet, adopt one of the pets at the shelter and reduce the unwanted pet population. If everyone would adopt instead of purchasing a pet, perhaps we wouldn't need to keep any shelters open.