Visitors and staff at the Santa Cruz County Animal Care and Control shelter urged pet owners to spay or neuter animals and to promptly reclaim lost pets, saying the facility faces limited space as it takes in dogs and cats found wandering the county.

The visit, filmed by a local resident who brought “puppuccinos” for animals at the shelter, included on-camera remarks from Lieutenant Jose Pena of Santa Cruz County Animal Control. “To our department, the best way that, you know, owners can be responsible is to spay and neuter them,” Pena said. “Also, do not allow them to run free. They end up at our shelter and a lot of times they don't come for them. … It just creates a big issue for us because we have a smaller shelter.”

The resident who recorded the visit said many animals are held at the shelter with limited spacing and encouraged adoption or retrieval rather than letting pets stay in the facility. Pena added that owners sometimes do not come immediately: “We got owners that, you know, come and look for their dogs like a week after they lost them.” He urged owners to check the shelter promptly rather than waiting several days.

The recording provided a contact phone number for the shelter — (520) 761-7860 — and noted that an address was displayed for in-person visits. No formal actions or policy changes were announced during the visit; the exchange consisted of public information and remarks from shelter staff and the visitor.

For pet owners, the shelter's requests were practical: spay or neuter animals, do not let pets run loose, check the shelter quickly if a pet is lost, and consider adoption as an alternative to leaving animals in a crowded facility.