BARC, the City of Houston’s Animal Shelter and Adoption Center, announces 138 adoptions during its participation in BISSELL Pet Foundation’s Spring National “Empty the Shelters” (ETS) event. From May 2 – 15, a total of 13,504 homeless pets were adopted from 280 shelters in 45 states. Since 2016, “Empty the Shelters” is the nation’s largest funded adoption event, impacting the lives of more than 96,000 pets through adoption.
BARC participated May 3 -15 and offered discounted $10 adoptions as well as waived fees during select days for pets including dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens. In total, 100 dogs and 38 cats were adopted into their forever homes through the spring Empty the Shelter campaign, making it one of the City’s most successful ETS campaigns to date.
“Empty the Shelters” is BISSELL Pet Foundation’s largest initiative and continues to grow each year to provide critical relief to overcrowded shelters. The nationwide event set a new record during this event with 280 participating shelters. BISSELL Pet Foundation provides grants for each adoption – $100 per dog and $50 per cat – allowing shelters to reduce adoption fees to $25 or less. Pets must be spayed/neutered, vaccinated and microchipped before being adopted out, an additional cost savings for the family, making the choice to adopt even more affordable.
“Right now, shelters are so full, and pets are experiencing longer stays. Our partners are reporting that ‘Empty the Shelters’ is driving even more adopters into their facilities. With the decline in transport, local adoptions have become our primary lifesaving tool,” said Cathy Bissell, founder of BISSELL Pet Foundation. “This is an expensive program for our small foundation, but it is a proven success, and we can’t turn our backs when we know we can save thousands of lives in one event.”
This Memorial Day weekend, BARC hopes to repeat the success from this campaign by offering $5 pet adoptions from noon to 5 p.m. on May 28 and 29, for all fixed and ready-to-go dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens. Pets must already be spayed or neutered at the time of adoption to qualify for this promotion.
To meet our adoptable pets, stop by BARC’s Adoption Center at 3300 Carr St. from 12 – 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday or visit http://www.houstontx.gov/barc/adopt_a_pet.html to see our adoptable pets. For more information on BARC’s full services, visit www.houstonbarc.com.
About BARC
BARC, the City of Houston’s Animal Shelter and Adoption Center, takes in more than 25,000 animals annually regardless of behavior, breed, or medical condition. BARC works each day to improve Houstonians and their pets’ health and safety by pioneering programs such as low-cost and no-cost spay/neuter services, mobile adoptions, transfer/rescue partnerships, and community outreach.
Through these programs and with community partners’ support, BARC’s live release rate has continued to improve and reached a historic high of 94.1% in calendar year 2021.
Visit www.houstonbarc.com or www.Facebook.com/BARCHouston for more information.