PET ADOPTION PLAYS WELL ON PUBLIC-ACCESS TV.

Byline: Sylvia Oliande and Donna Huffaker Staff Writers

If the 3-year-old schnauzer had knocked Burbank City Councilman Bob Kramer over, no one would have yelled cut.

As host of Burbank Adopt-A-Pet on cable television, Kramer believes viewers should see a dog or cat's natural behavior - whether it be slobbering, jumping or frantic tail wagging.

``Occasionally, dogs knock over things or grab my pocket. But they're happy and their real behavior makes the show interesting,'' he said, disregarding the dog hair blanketing his button-down shirt.

For 4 1/2 years, Kramer has been licked, sniffed and loved by scores of dogs and cats once a week, in the course of his effort to have them adopted from the Burbank Animal Shelter.

Across town, packs of pooches and felines bestow similar signs of affection on Glendale Mayor Dave Weaver during his long-running pet show.

Both city officials volunteered to host cable access TV programs because they thought something needed to be done to find homes for abandoned or stray animals.

``Humane societies have been able to take care of the animals and rescue them, but they don't get the (media) exposure. Television is a powerful medium,'' said Weaver, who owns several dogs and a cat.

Two city staffers film Burbank Adopt-A-Pet every Monday at 3 p.m., to be aired at 9 p.m. on Channel 6 during the council meeting recess Tuesday night, city spokesman Peter Musurlian said. The show runs several more times after the initial airing.

In Glendale, during a recent taping of ``Weaver's Dog House,'' a 5-year- old female terrier mix named Rusty bounded onto the set at the Humane Society. She jumped onto Weaver's lap, wagging her tail happily.

The dog quickly turned her attention to co-host Leslie Eppick, executive director of the Glendale Humane Society, then strained her leash toward the cameraman - a close-up for the people watching at home.

``This is a big change for Rusty,'' Eppick said, smiling.

She explained that Rusty's owner could not take her along when he moved out of his home, so he turned her over to the shelter.

The terrified dog had refused to eat. For days she hid under blankets on the floor of her pen.

Now a completely changed pooch, Rusty was one of a dozen dogs and cats to be showcased on an installment of the cable television show, one of the more popular shows on Glendale's Channel 6 cable access lineup.

A new episode airs every other Monday, three times daily, at 7 a.m., 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Weaver said that when he was elected to the City Council and found out members were allowed to produce a show on cable, he jumped at the chance to do something with animals.

The Glendale shelter has a 60 percent to 70 percent adoption rate normally - and a 96 percent adoption rate among animals it features on ``Weaver's Dog House.''

The other 4 percent either are reclaimed by owners who saw them on the show or became ill soon after taping and were no longer available.

Eppick said the shelter euthanizes dogs and cats as a last resort, if the facility is running out of space. Volunteers nurse sick animals back to health and showcase older and other hard-to-place animals to spur interest.

Since launching Burbank Adopt-a-Pet, Fred DeLange, the Burbank Animal Shelter superintendent, said the number of people perusing shelter aisles for pets has doubled. On any given day, an average of 50 to 60 people come through the door, he said.

And the interest in kittens has skyrocketed. DeLange said the shelter now holds a lottery every morning for newly available kittens.

The animals get adopted fairly quickly, DeLange said. And although euthanizing animals is a last resort, it is necessary when the animals are sick or have behavior problems.

On an average day, there are about 52 dogs and 26 cats at the Burbank shelter, DeLange said.

Eppick said the Glendale shelter houses about 80 dogs and 25 cats, about 15 percent to 20 percent of which are not available for immediate adoption. Strays are held for six days before they are eligible for adoption, and pets turned in by their owners are held for at least 48 hours.

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Photo: Burbank Councilman Bob Kramer, right, and Animal Regulations Superintendent Fred Delange tape a cable-TV pet show.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer