Animal shelters across San Diego County will reduce or eliminate adoption fees this Saturday, as part of a nationwide Clear the Shelters Day.  Participants include the county of San Diego Department of Animal Services, San Diego Humane Society, Rancho Coastal Humane Society, Camp Pendleton, Friends of Cats, Shelly’s Shelter, San Diego House Rabbit Society, Southern California Siamese Rescue, and municipal animal services departments Chula Vista, Coronado and El Cajon. “Clear the Shelters began last year in the Dallas-Fort Worth area,” said Kathy Zerkle, Rancho Coastal Humane Society’s vice president of adoption services. “It included several dozen North Texas animal shelters.” “By the end of the day more than 2,200 homeless animals had been adopted in North Texas. We would love it if our kennels, cattery, and Rabbitat were all empty at the end of the day.” More than 300 shelters in 19 cities in the U.S. will participate, according to Rancho Coastal.

— City News Service

Updated at 8:00 A.M. Sunday, Aug. 16

More than 900 animals were given new homes in San Diego County on Saturday as animal shelters in the area participated in the nationwide Clear the Shelters event. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. an estimated 300 animals combined were adopted in city shelters, The San Diego Humane Society said.
According to Chief Financial Officer Kelly Riseley, crowds of people visited shelters, which did not stop until 5 p.m. as potential pet owners were attracted by little to no adoption fees.

“It never ebbed and flowed,” Riseley said. “It was an hour wait throughout the day.”

The crowds forced the city shelters to triple the average staff and according to her, turned into an assembly-line adoption process. The streamlined process was able to put more than half of the animals available for adoption (581 total) with human companions. The 300 plus animals adopted is six times the weekend average, Riseley said. More than 43,000 homeless animals enter county shelters each year. Riseley said that all these adoptions will allow for more space and more animals to receive care. “We made a big dent in getting more animals care,” she said. “It makes a huge impact.”

According to NBC7, about 16,800 animals were adopted today nationwide.

— City News Service