Saturday morning began with a scrum, standing outside the front doors of the Kern County Animal Services shelter.

Among them was Jo Kantz, a former physician and mother to two cats. Kantz said she drove three hours from Solvang, a town northwest of Santa Barbara, to find a replacement for two dogs she’s lost since March.

“We were devastated,” Kantz said of the latter dog, a 14-week-old puppy named Coco. “We had her for two weeks of her 14-week life. But she took our heart.”

With a list of ID numbers, she narrowed a dozen dogs to three, two of which she eventually drove home with that day. “I’m just hoping to see if they can get along,” Kantz said.

On Saturday, more than 150 animal shelters statewide slashed adoption fees and bolstered incentives as part of the first-ever California Adopt-a-Pet Day.

At the county shelter on Fruitvale Avenue, KCAS senior staff member Megan Clark seemed hopeful.

“It’s a little warm (outside) but it’s a nice day and we’ve had a lot of people walking through,” Clark said.

Organized by CalAnimals, which represents about 200 shelters across California, the event pooled together $500,000 with the help of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and San Francisco SPCA to offer free adoptions and associated fees.

Immunizations, neutering and microchips were also provided free of charge.

“But if we have to, we’ll pay more, and we’re happy to do that,” said ASPCA CEO Matthew Bershadker. “Quite frankly, nothing would make me happier than having to give out more grants to support saving more lives.”

It came as California and the nation are at “a tipping point,” Bershadker said, as shelters are routinely over capacity by “50, 100, 200%.”

Nationwide, more dogs are entering shelters than leaving, according to a recent report by Shelter Animals Count, a national nonprofit that tracks numbers across the country. Between 2021 and 2023, the rate nearly doubled, from 5.6% to 10%, in the first six months of each year.

In Kern, the county shelter over the past two years has operated at triple its capacity. As of Saturday, it had 321 dogs and 56 cats, and averages 25 to 30 incoming dogs a day. Many are pregnant. Many are puppies, left in a hole-poked box on the side of the road. Many are older, larger and therefore less likely to be adopted. Some are injured, or mentally unstable.

With a new shelter still years away, the current site — a former brake shop converted — has the basic necessities but functions ad-hoc with cramped quarters that workers overcome each day.

Organizers set a statewide goal of 2,024 adoptions for the event, according to Jill Tucker, CEO of CalAnimals, to tackle the “enormous pressures due to overcrowding conditions, as the number of animals entering shelters is outpacing those leaving.”

But despite the morning crowd at the Kern County Animal Services shelter, adopters dwindled by noon, to the dismay of staff. At the start, senior staff member Taylor Meade said he hoped they would double the 17 to 21 adoptions they see in a day. But hours later, he said he’d be content if they finished on par.

“It’s really hard to figure out what works,” Meade said, listing various promotions they do that result in different turnouts. “But I think every adoption is a win.”