North Bay Animal Services takes Petaluma city bus to Stockton to rescue 55 cats and dogs facing euthanasia

When North Bay Animal Services learned that 10 adult dogs were going to be euthanized at the Stockton Animal Shelter, the Petaluma-based no-kill animal shelter sprang into action.

Mark Scott, the executive director of North Bay Animal Services, said Petaluma City Manager Peggy Flynn came across the city of Stockton’s “Facebook SOS” first. The shelter there was at capacity and they were going to have euthanize animals.

“Peggy reached out to me and said, ‘Do we have any way we could help?’” Scott said Tuesday.

Shelter staff then had a meeting to see what could be done and checked on available space at their facility.

Like a cast of superheroes, a team started to assemble July 19.

Bella O’Toole and Mary Myers, the dog and cat care coordinators at the shelter, respectively, helped assess the availability at the Petaluma shelter.

Matthew Buckley, a part-time city bus driver, volunteered to drive to Stockton on his day off.

And Flynn coordinated with Jolene Medeiros, the executive director of the Animal Protection League in Stockton.

Scott said he contacted Medeiros and explained what they could do. They had 10 open kennel spaces they could fill.

Medeiros asked how soon they could be in Stockton.

In all, Scott said the shelter rescued 55 dogs, puppies and kittens from the shelter.

“If you have three puppies that can go in one kennel that are together, that changes it,” he said.

Medeiros said it’s not typical to see a city bus roll up with crates, ready to take away a load of animals.

“Everyone is always so full,” she said of shelters around the state. “And everyone’s kind of in the same boat.”

As to how the influx of animals will impact the Petaluma shelter, Scott said it’s all positive. One of the Stockton transplants, a wide-faced seemingly smiling pit bull now sits behind the desk with the workers at the shelter.

They named him Buckley, after the bus driver. “Now they got a office buddy,” Scott said.

Now the shelter is looking for more foster families and volunteers. “So, the impact is a good impact. And it's the kind of impact we want to make,” he added.

Scott said the trip also was important for his team, many of whom had never gone out to pick up animals.

“To go actually and help ones that are on the list is a big difference, you know,” he said.

It helps boost staff morale because they got into the business to save and protect as many animals as possible, he added.

Once the animals were loaded into their crates in the city bus July 19, Scott and his team decided they could take a few more and made a second trip the next day.

There’s no formalized partnership between the two shelters, but Scott said the two “made some great connections.”

And North Bay Animal Services is open to more animal transfers in the future, he said.

As of Tuesday, shelter staff said just two or three of the animals from Stockton had been adopted.

They have about 52 still waiting for their forever home.

You can check out the pets available for adoption at northbayanimalservices.org.

Kathryn Styer Martínez is a reporting intern for the Press Democrat. She can be reached at kathryn.styermartinez@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5337.