Facing significant overpopulation, the Lee County Humane Society will once again partner with the nation’s largest pet adoption event to waive adoption fees for all dogs available at the facility.
LCHS is one of 345 shelters across the country partnering with the Bissell Pet Foundation for the annual “Empty the Shelters” event. From Sunday to October 15, adoption fees will be reduced to $50 or less for vaccinated and sterilized animals.
The event is designed to ease the burden of overcrowding many shelters face.
“We don’t have space, so we have to move or adopt as many adult dogs as possible during this event,” said Jill Gilbert, LCHS rescue and grants coordinator. “It’s very beneficial not only for us, but also for all the shelters that participate. The problem of pet overpopulation is a nationwide crisis.
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The Bissell Foundation grants shelters like LCHS $25 per animal adopted at the event, which offsets the costs of participating shelters.
For the event, LCHS will waive adoption fees for all available spayed or neutered dogs, meaning it will be free. However, the foundation’s grant is contingent on all adopted animals being sterilized. There will therefore be a $50 fee for any animal that does not meet these criteria.
Anyone interested in adopting from LCHS must complete an online application. There is also an online catalog of dogs and cats available at https://www.leecountyhumane.org/.
Overcrowding plagues LCHS
The event comes at a critical time for LCHS, which has been facing severe overpopulation for several months. Even with the Bissell Foundation quarterly report “Empty the Shelters” Eventsthe shelter still faces a problem of overpopulation, particularly of dogs.
“For foundations like Bissell to come in and try to help us not only with funding but also with space issues, it’s critical,” Gilbert said.
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“Black,” the shelter’s oldest resident, wanders into an office at the Lee County Humane Society on March 25. Black arrived on March 25, 2022, but they were recently adopted to a forever home.
Adam Sparks,
Since LCHS joined “Empty the Shelters” events in 2020, the shelter has seen more than 600 animals adopted. The Bissell Foundation as a whole has recorded a total of 189,931 adoptions in 49 states and Canada.
Gilbert, who has worked at LCHS for nearly five years, said the shelter hasn’t really done a good job of solving its overcrowding problem. There is a constant influx of pets being found or dropped off by owners worried they can no longer care for them.
“It wasn’t as bad when I got here. Over the last couple of years, it’s become a real problem,” Gilbert said. “We have noticed over the last few years that the main problem is that people simply struggle to care for their pets. So they think the best option is to bring their pets to us.
The shelter currently has about 225 pets in its care, including nearly 175 in a foster program that has essentially helped ease the burden. Gilbert said the drop-in program helps create space at the facility. This prevents the shelter from “having to make very unfortunate decisions” and euthanizing shelter animals.
A growing number of stray and unwanted animals
According to Gilbert, another part of the overpopulation is due to the lack of spaying and neutering of pets in the area. This leads to an increase in the number of stray and unwanted animals in the area. Part of the lack of spaying and neutering is due to lack of education about the availability of services and lack of enforcement of laws that require spaying and neutering services for adopted animals.
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“Eros” looks out the window of his kennel at the Lee County Humane Society shelter on March 25, 2023. Taken in by the shelter in April, Eros is still awaiting adoption.
photos by Adam Sparks,
For the “Clear the Shelters” event at LCHS, all animals up for adoption that have not already been altered will receive a $50 payment, essentially a contract that guarantees the animal will eventually be altered.
“We will charge a $50 spay/neuter contract fee, and that just guarantees that the animal will be altered,” Gilbert said. “Then that $50 fee will either be refunded to the adopter or they can turn it into a donation for us.”
Other participants in the fall event include the Greater Birmingham Humane Society, Heart of Alabama Save Rescue Adopt Inc. and Tuscaloosa Metro Animals Shelter Inc.
Save a life
The Bissell Pet Foundation was founded by Cath Bissell in 2011. The first-ever “Empty the Shelters” event took place in 2016. Initially an annual event, the idea quickly grew into a quarterly series as overpopulation became a more widespread problem. issue.
“Our nation’s animal shelters are facing an overpopulation crisis the likes of which we have not seen in over a decade. The devastating increase in owner abandonments and stray admissions has left tens of thousands of socialized, house-trained and leash-trained animals desperate to find homes,” Bissell said. “Opening your home to a shelter animal saves a life and creates space to give another pet a chance.”
Since the event began, 709 organizations and partners have participated in lowering adoption fees to less than $50, leading to nearly 190,000 adoptions. This year’s group of 345 participating shelters was selected from a pool of more than 6,000 people from across the United States and Canada, through an extensive selection program.
Additionally, through the Bissell Foundation’s various programs outside of “Empty the Shelters,” the foundation estimates that 433,521 pets have been impacted.
“Our goal is obviously to help every animal find a loving home, but we work closely with shelters and rescues by offering various grant opportunities,” said Bissell Marketing and Public Relations Specialist Brittany Schlachter . “We also offer vaccinations through our vaccination and microchipping program, we have a veterinary program and provide spay/neuter services. So this large number essentially represents the total lifetime impact of the lives that we have touched through all of our programs.
A map of each shelter participating in the upcoming event is available on the Bissell Foundation website. A list of all cats and dogs available for adoption is available on the Lee County Humane Society website.