SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — More than 250 animals that had been sent from the San Diego Humane Society to the Humane Society of Southern Arizona have been adopted, and the remaining animals are at a rescue organization in the Phoenix area, according to HSSAZ CEO Steve Farley. His answer comes after multiple people in both San Diego and Tucson reached out to ABC 10News with concerns about not seeing the animals publicly put up for adoption.
“Almost 250 of them are in their forever homes right now and having a wonderful life. So that’s the really great thing happening right now," Farley said in an interview with ABC 10News.
Farley says the organization requested to remain anonymous for fear of encouraging more large transfers of animals.
The San Diego Humane Society acknowledged receiving numerous inquiries about the status of the animals since their transfer due to over-capacity conditions earlier in August.
“They graciously stepped up to help us, and they coordinated with a local private rescue to help take in these animals," Vice President Jessica Des Lauriers told ABC 10News.
RELATED: San Diego Humane Society transports 318 small animals to Arizona shelter
Concerned citizens who reached to ABC 10News were puzzled that they could find no information about where the animals were, seeing that they were not listed on the HSSAZ website and were seemingly not taken in by well-known rescue organizations in Arizona.
“If they did go to a rescue, the rescues would be saying 'Hey, we’ve got 300 rabbits. We need fosters, we need money,'" explained Mary Moran, an animal rescue advocate who lives in Tucson.
She says she had been in touch with rescue organizations across the state and that none of them had heard of where the 318 rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters and rats had gone.
“The small animal rescues in this area certainly would have heard about it. 300 rabbits? That’s a lot of small animals for one rescue," said Moran.
“I don’t know what to say to answer that — only that it happened." Farley said when ABC 10News asked about Moran's concern. "This is a great group of people, a wonderful family-run organization that we’ve worked with for years, and we’re trying to respect their privacy.”
Farley says the remaining animals that have yet to be adopted, 68 as of Thursday afternoon, will be brought back to Tucson over the weekend, then listed for adoption next week. He also says they plan to reach out to additional rescue organizations for possible animal placements.
The San Diego Humane Society says they still have numerous small animals available for adoption and encourage anyone interested to reach out.
