LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Thinking about getting a pet? Now may be a good time to do it to save some cash on a new furry companion. There are 11 animal shelters in Kentucky participating in BISSELL Pet Foundation’s Empty the Shelters event, which reduces pet adoption fees until May 9, 2021.
What You Need To Know
- BISSELL Pet Foundation’s Empty the Shelters event goes until May 9, 2021
- The event offers reduced-fee pet adoptions in hopes dogs and cats find their “forever homes”
- There are 11 animal shelter locations in Kentucky participating in the event
- Each location has its own hours, reduced-fee pet adoption prices, guidelines, and COVID-19 protocols
The Kentucky Humane Society’s (KHS) two pet shelters in Louisville already have their appointments booked up for the entire Empty the Shelters event.
Spokesperson Andrea Blair said this is KHS’s first large-scale adoption event since the pandemic started. Normally, she said, a line would be out the door for an Empty the Shelters event. However, now appointments are required due to the pandemic.
“That’s so that we can manage the number of people in the building. Each adopter gets their own room so that they can meet the animals that they are interested in,” Blair explained.
On Wednesday, Therese and William Gussler had an appointment to look at cats.
“Because when our son lived with us he had a cat, and now we decided we want one,” Therese told Spectrum News.
At KHS, normally cats cost $75 to adopt, but throughout the event they are $10. Dogs cost $25 versus the normal $200. The large discount on pets aged one year or older is because KHS is participating in BISSELL Pet Foundation’s Empty the Shelters event.
“They are the ones making this possible because they are helping pay for adoption fees so we can reduce them,” Blair explained.
The timing of the event for KHS couldn’t be more perfect.
“So in 2020 we saw a lot fewer animals coming into shelters. But that’s really starting to change,” Blair explained.
Blair said KHS has over 600 dogs and cats in care, which she said is back to the same level before the pandemic, during this time but in 2019. Many of the cats and dogs that KHS is receiving is from animal shelters in rural Kentucky because Blair said there was less spaying and neutering during the pandemic. However, Blair explained that summer is always a busier season.
“We always see more animals surrendered during the summer. More animals are getting lost, families tend to move, so there’s a lot of reasons why we see intakes increase,” Blair explained.
Blair said the hope is to have 80 pets adopted by the end of the Empty the Shelters event that goes until Sunday, May 9. One of those was a cat named Sanders adopted by the Gussler’s on Wednesday.
The Kentucky Humane Society’s appointments are fully booked for the Empty the Shelter event at both of their locations. However, there are nine other animal shelters in Kentucky participating in BISSELL Pet Foundation’s event. You can see a map with all of those locations here.
Each animal shelter has has different hours, reduced adoption fees, and COVID-19 protocols so check with each shelter regarding more information.