UPDATE:
Our 'Clear the Shelter' campaign wrapped up on Tuesday and we have some great news to share about its impact.
KRIS 6 News and the Gulf Coast Humane Society partnered to clear the shelters and find homes for dozens of pets. 155 adoptions were made during the campaign -- 89 cats and 66 dogs.
One of the pets adopted was Zoi, the shelter's longest resident. The 7-year old pooch had been at the shelter for 578 days!
ORIGINAL:
On Aug. 10, NBC launched it's Clear the Shelters campaign. Every year, they team up with hundreds of shelters across the country, to help pets find their fur-ever home.
KRIS 6 News has partnered with Gulf Coast Humane Society to help out.
It comes at an important time. Director of Marketing Jackie McCullough said right now, they are over capacity with 300 animals.
“We’re at the point now where we actually have to double up on some dog kennels. It’s not the most optimal thing. It helps when there’s certain animals that come in together or certain animals that we know get along really well, but it’s definitely not our preferred method,” she said.
To help out, KRIS 6 will be featuring a cat or dog every week day through Sept. 10, during the Sunrise and 6 p.m. newscasts. Dogs like Zoi will be featured. She is the longest tenured resident of the shelter at almost 400 days.
McCullough said an adoption has an affect on more than just one life.
“There’s so many animals that are waiting just to get a space at the shelter. We have a really long waiting list of people that are needing to surrender their pets. We have our local animal control facilities are always asking us to help with their euthanasia list. So, we prioritize saving those animals lives first. So, by helping us clear the shelters you're really helping to legitimately save more lives," McCullough said
Animals ready for adoption at Gulf Coast Humane Society are up-to-date on vaccines for their age, they're spayed or neutered and micro chipped. Pet parents also get a free vet visit, a starter bag of food and coupons.
Some pets are sponsored and can be adopted at no charge. They may also come with some extra gifts like a dog training voucher or extra heart worm or flea tick medication.
A bonus for the Clear the Shelters campaign, Greater Good Charities will be matching donations. People can make a donation on the Gulf Coast Humane Society's Clear the Shelters page.
For the latest local news updates, click here, or download the KRIS 6 News App.
