Santa Barbara County Animal Services is once again open for community services at their Lompoc shelter location, after having to close in 2020.
"We didn't have the in-person information center," explained Animal Services Director Sarah Aguilar of the closure of the site early on in the pandemic.
She says that as well as reopening, the shelter is hoping to have improved convenience and accessibility with new hours.
Aguilar said the reopened facility had already made it easier for pet owners to be reunified with their pets, without having to travel further afield to in-person sites.
"If we didn't have this service then the dog would have had to go all the way to Santa Maria and the owner would have had to go all the way to Santa Maria," she explained.
Instead, they were back together within an hour of the pet being found and brought to the facility.
The Lompoc shelter is now open Fridays through Mondays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
