Meet Darwin

Meet Darwin, the 4-month-old Australian cattle dog mix pup. Darwin arrived to the Shelter as a stray with his two siblings. A good Samaritan found them in the Santa Cruz mountains by themselves and brought them to the safety of the Shelter. Since their arrival, the puppies have enjoyed TLC with staff and volunteers. Typical to pups their age, they are still perfecting life skills and manners like potty training, leash walking and age-appropriate socialization. Adopters should plan to have patience, time and lots of treats handy to help their new puppy learn and develop into a good canine citizen. A home with other animals may be a fit. Any resident dogs are encouraged to meet at the Shelter prior to adoption. Any cats or other animals should be introduced in a slow, thoughtful manner in the home. We do not have any history of Darwin with children. Adopters should plan to do some herding breed specific research to ensure they are ready to care for a dog of that nature. Darwin is available for pre-adoption. Come meet him, fall in love and take him home after his neuter surgery. The Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter Foundation is now offering “Pawsitivity Bucks” with every dog adoption. This $200 training voucher is a way for newly adopted canines and their guardians to connect with local positive reinforcement based behavior consultants and get their relationship started off on the right paw! Please note: Our Santa Cruz location’s Shelter hours are 11-6pm, 7 days a week! Although clients can walk through and see any animals in their kennels during open hours, we end “meet and greets” (aka meeting an animal out of the kennel) at 4:30pm every day. If you’d like to meet an animal out of the kennel, please arrive before 4:00pm to allow for time to discuss individual animals and meet them.