A total of 459 animals were adopted and are now at what, hopefully, will be their forever homes at a two-day “mega pet adoption” event in downtown Jacksonville, Florida, USA, on Friday and Saturday, according to a report on FirstCoastNews.com.
Eleven shelters collaborated for the event, bringing animals from across northeast Florida to the Petco Love ‘Mega Pet Adoption’ camp at the Jacksonville Fairgrounds, the first time in nearly five years the event was held. Petco Love is a nonprofit that was founded in 1999 as the Petco Foundation and has helped to find loving homes for more than 6.8 million pets in partnership with organizations across the USA.
The Jacksonville Humane Society said not one cat was left behind. “Every cat from every shelter was adopted, and a Duval-sized number of dogs were, too,” the nonprofit organization said in a statement on Facebook.
Jacksonville Humane Society Chief Executive Officer Denise Deisler told the website the event makes a big difference as shelters grapple with overcrowding. “It helps us relieve some of the population in the shelter at what is a very busy time for us,” Deisler said.
All the pets taken home during the event were spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped. All the adoptions were free, apart from a possible licence fee, the report said.
While the event fell short of its stated goal of 2,000 adoptions in two days, it was still a grand success for at least 459 animals that found their forever families.
“Animal shelters work hard every day to help save the lives of the animals in their care, but none of it is possible without you,” the society said in a statement. “To everyone who came to this event, you are our heroes.”
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