Draw your adoption fee from May 2-8, 2022 to take home a winner for $0-$25.
If you’ve been waiting till the time is right to adopt a cat or dog who’s in desperate need of a new place to call home, then this may be just the nudge for you.
Prompted by a need to clear a crowded shelter, the SPCA of Texas Ellis County Animal Care Center will participate in a special Empty the Shelters event hosted by the Bissell Pet Foundation, during which adopters can draw a ticket for the adoption fee they’ll pay — which can be as low as $0 and never more than $25. The event lasts May 2 – 8, 2022.
The reduced adoption fee adds to the value that adopters receive when they adopt from the SPCA of Texas as all cats and dogs adopted from the Ellis Animal Care Center have already received well over $500 worth of veterinary care and are ready to start their new lives with their adopters. The list of services and offers that accompany each dog or cat includes:
- Spaying and neutering
- All age-appropriate vaccinations
- Heartworm testing for dogs six months or older
- F.I.V./F.e.L.V. testing for cats four months old or older
- Initial flea and tick preventative
- Initial heartworm preventative
- Microchipping
- 30 days of pet health insurance
- 14-day wellness exam
- One week of free, on-demand training via the Good Pup app
- A free leash or temporary cat carrier
The Ellis County Animal Care Center is operated by the SPCA of Texas which has recently seen an increase in animals taken into the two shelters that the organization operates, thus prompting participation in the reduced adoption fee event.
“Right now is a pivotal moment for shelters across the entire country,” says SPCA of Texas President and C.E.O. Karen Froehlich. “The disruptions the pandemic caused in staffing has gotten a lot of attention, however, the backlog of animals that occurred in the last two years has caused the crisis we currently find ourselves in … .
“We need more help in relieving the pressure on our people and pets. Please volunteer, foster, adopt and give. That is what will lead us out of the current crisis animal welfare organizations are experiencing here in North Texas and nationwide.”
Just five months into the year, 2022 has already proved stressful for animal shelter workers in North Texas and throughout the nation. Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, a national animal welfare non-profit organization that partners with foundations and shelters, reports that shelters in the U.S. started the year with about 100,000 more animals in their care than they had at the beginning of 2021. The organization says the increase is due mainly to staffing shortages and reduced hours caused by state and local COVID-19 mitigation measures that prevented shelters from meeting with the public and conducting adoption events.
The Bissell Pet Foundation started the Empty the Shelters campaign in 2016 and since then has issued grants that have reduced the adoption fee to $25 or less for more than 80,000 animals in participating private and municipal shelters.
“Our last event of 2021 was held in 245 shelters across the country, impacting a record-setting 15,297 animals. Not only did pets go home during this event, but it also opened up space in the shelter to save more lives,” says Cathy Bissell, founder of Bissell Pet Foundation and director of corporate affairs for Bissell, Inc.
You can view all dogs and cats available for adoption right now from the Ellis County Animal Care Center in Waxahachie and the Jan Rees-Jones Animal Care Center in Dallas by visiting the SPCA of Texas Find a Pet page.
THATS MY DOG