Making Happy Happen: Over 220 Animals Find Loving Homes During Shelter Capacity Crisis
Between June 12-16, over 220 animals found new homes thanks to you, our compassionate community, stepping up for the animals and for our shelter!
Last week, we faced an emergency: our shelter was over capacity. We had resorted to doubling and tripling kennel occupancy to keep up with the number of animals entering our outdated and aging facility. In the two weeks prior (May 28-June 11), over 500 animals had entered our shelter. We knew we had to act quickly to create life-saving space.
We put out a plea to our community, waiving adoption fees for adult dogs, adult cats, and all critters from June 12-16. And our incredible network of supporters responded. Our plea was featured on KING 5, KIRO 7, KOMO, FOX 13, and was shared over 10,000 times across social media platforms. Each day, there was a line of community members eagerly waiting to meet adoptable pets before our doors opened.
“We asked for help, and our community showed up in a big way,” says Leslie Dalzell, Chief Executive Officer at the Humane Society for Tacoma & Pierce County. “We had a line out the door each day with people eager to adopt, foster, or donate. We are so grateful to the community, and we appreciate everyone’s patience and flexibility as our staff worked long hours to match adopters with their new furry family members.”
Currently, the shelter has 27 dogs, 9 cats, and 4 critters available for adoption.
While the kennels may be less crowded now, as one of the few open-admission animal shelters in the state, we never know what will come through our doors on any given day. Many animals arrive in dire need through animal control agencies, while others are lost pets hoping to be reunited with their families. As soon as one animal is adopted, their space is quickly filled by another in need.
By adopting from our shelter, you enable us to extend our life-saving services to animals with no other options. Community members play a vital role in reuniting lost pets with their families. A significant number of lost pets are found less than a mile from home, and many brought to shelters never make their way back to their families.
When finding a lost pet, here’s how you can help give them the best shot at reuniting with their family and sustain life-saving shelter space:
- Provide the pet with a temporary home, if possible.
- Walk the dog around the area – most dogs don’t wander far from home!
- Have the pet scanned for a microchip at your local veterinary clinic.
- Post online and put up signage around your community to help locate the owners.
- Call the shelter to give our staff a description of the pet for inclusion in our found pet records.
Learn more about the best steps to take to help a lost pet reunite with their family on our Lost & Found Pets page.
Thank you to our community for opening their hearts and homes to Make Happy Happen for over 220 shelter pets in just five days!
