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2014 STORIES OF THE YEAR: Gimme Shelties, Calfnapping, Water-themed Rescues....

December 31, 2014

Download 2014 Stories with Photos

As we close out another year, we always like to look back and remember the stories that resonated with our employees, our community and media professionals.

2014 marked another strange year for us. We always seem to end up with one or two events that not only get covered by our dedicated Southern California media professionals, but also get scooped up national media organizations.

We try to put together a fairly decent Top 10 list each year. Some stories get forgotten. Even as I write this, I think to myself, how did we seem to miss putting the monkey lady of Cherry Valley on this list? (Some of you might recall the episode that led to us meeting up with her: one of her pet monkeys bit a woman outside a Beaumont pizza parlor back in August.) Of course, sometimes we know that, whereas the monkey lady is a fantastic one-day episode, we also know there might be something more going on with someone who has illegal monkeys for pets.

Some stories just don't make the cut for one reason or another. As you look at our list, you'll also realize that we do not include serious dog attacks. These, too, are huge stories for that particular day, and sometimes for days afterward. And these are important stories for us to put out to our media professionals. After all, public safety is one of our missions. And these stories, often horrific events, act as serious reminders to pet owners everywhere to raise their own levels of pet ownership, especially if they have a pet that is capable of great harm against a child, the next-door neighbor, the senior woman simply taking a stroll after supper, etc.

But we think we've got a good list for you all to dive into and enjoy and reflect, with us, on another interesting year.

Some of the stories, of course, make us angry. Who could do THAT to an animal? Those types of stories. But the second chapter in many of these tales always seem to remind us why we do what we do. We know Riverside County -- and beyond -- has so many homes for the dog that was discarded, like trash. We know there are advocates that want nothing more than to see an unfortunate dog that somehow made the news with a plastic jug on its head, get that second chance. We are so fortunate to serve a community with so many caring people. We know there will always be a need for animal control activities that take us to a gut-wrenching scene. But we are driven by our community's passionate residents, reminding us that there are far more gracious hosts for those creatures that were dumped, abandoned, mistreated.

One last thought: This list does not include some great stories that are ongoing, every-day moments for us. As many of you know, we partner with dozens of rescue-group organizations. Just about every day, we're working with many small- to mid-size nonprofit, pet rescue organizations. These groups come to our shelters and play a major role in our life-saving mission. These groups raise funds for pets, work on shoestring budgets, spend more money than they have in the kitty, so to speak, rely heavily on their own network of volunteers -- all in the name of getting dogs and cats out of shelters where the pet's life is always an uncertainty.

If you will indulge us, a nod to these groups is in order. In 2014, 5,616 dogs were saved by these groups and individuals. And 956 cats were transferred to rescue group organizations. All told, 6,572 animals received second chances at life, thanks to these wonderful groups. We humbly thank them all.

And, lastly. How do we continue to make a dent on the pet overpopulation problem? Spaying and neutering pets, of course. That's one of our biggest challenges. But chew on this little statistical nugget: 10,982 dogs were spayed or neutered by Riverside County Animal Services in 2014. And 2,911 cats were altered. Our grand total for 2014 is 13,893 altered pets. We're thinking that number is likely tops in the state of California for public agencies. Maybe it's even tops for any agency, public or private, nonprofit? It's not a statistic that's always easy to track down, but we'd certainly encourage a reporter to tackle that story.

Once again, thank you to all for helping spread all of our heartbreaking -- and heartwarming -- stories.

We do not thank the professional storytellers enough. So this list is also a tribute to all those who travel into our county to give these stories life.