Animal Services

The mama dog that was rescued from the desert with her puppies after being shot more than 25 times with a BB-gun has found her forever home.

A dog "” shot multiple times by a BB-gun "” and her puppies were rescued from the desert by Mission Viejo Animal Services (MVAS) and will soon be ready for adoption.

The MVAS team learned about the pups and their mother, which was shot by a BB-gun more than 25 times, while Animal Services Commercial Enforcement Officer Adrian Enriquez was assisting a Laguna Hills resident with a permit. The resident told Officer Enriquez that he "wish he had this type of help at his other property."

In the spring, ducklings hatch in heavy brush away from a water source. Once they are old enough, mom leads them to water. Unfortunately, there are many obstacles for ducklings and their mothers during this journey.  Ducklings are commonly spotted following closely behind their mother duck in a neat single-file line. The mother serves as both their guide and guardian, imparting crucial skills for survival such as finding food, locating water, and seeking shelter all while offering protection from potential predators.

The Mission Viejo Animal Services Center on Saturday, March 16 will host a low-cost pet vaccination clinic for Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita and Laguna Hills residents.

The drive-through clinic is from 8:30-10 am at 28095 Hillcrest.

The Mission Viejo Animal Services Center is reminding residents to be aware of snake season after recently receiving a report of a rattlesnake inside someone's tire rim.

Animal Control Officer Julie Forton arrived to find a juvenile rattlesnake coiled inside the tire rim of a resident's vehicle. She safely removed and relocated the snake to a natural area away from the public. Neither the resident nor snake were harmed. However, the start of snake season, which runs from March through October, marks a period of increased awareness and vigilance. 

Just 24 hours after Angel's story aired on KNBC Channel 4 and went viral via the City's social media, the Mission Viejo Animal Services Center experienced a surge in adoption applications for this sweet Siberian husky-German shepherd mix th

At 1.5 years old, Angel, a Siberian husky-German shepherd mix, has already had a tough start to life. She was found tied to a tree at night in an Aliso Viejo park with her seven puppies in a box next to her "¦ no food, water or way to protect her or her pups from danger. Mission Viejo Animal Services is investigating this abandonment but hasn't yet determined who could have committed this crime.  

Did you know that Mission Viejo Animal Services (MVAS) has a program called "A Mission for Home," which allows MVAS to transfer high-risk pets from crowded shelters to be adopted locally? MVAS has been transferring animals from other agencies since 2004. This program began as an informal way to increase the number of adoptable animals available through MVAS. However, over time, the numerous benefits of this rescue program have become more evident:

In December, a little orange cat was lucky enough to be rescued off of the I-5 Freeway by Caltrans workers.  Suspecting that she was deceased, the workers approached the kitty to dispose of her but were pleasantly surprised that she was alive! Named Callie in honor of her rescuers, she required extensive veterinary care, but Callie survived her ordeal. 

Mission Viejo Animal Services received a call in April from a concerned Laguna Hills resident who spotted baby skunks (known as kits) roaming through a busy parking lot in the afternoon. Animal Control Officers arrived at the parking lot and were able to locate three kits without their mother in sight—a rare and concerning situation that suggested something unfortunate had happened to her.