Tuscaloosa’s Metro Animal Shelter is taking part in a national adoption event,“Empty the Shelters,” through Oct. 15, allowing the adoption of cats and dogs at a reduced price.
The event is supported and funded by the Bissell Pet Foundation.While the usual adoption rate is $100 for dogs and $50 for cats, during this event, the adoption rate is $10 for any animal.
The event aims to reduce occupancy in shelters nationwide and allow as many pets as possible to find a new home.
“This event encourages people to come visit us, even if they don’t end up adopting,” said Raquel Kimball, the shelter’s kennel manager. “We see a lot of long-timers getting adopted.”
Kimball said that as of Oct. 10, 60 cats and dogs have been adopted from the shelter, giving hope to a community in a state that she describes as facing a “genuine crisis” with overpopulation and diseases among stray cats and dogs.
Along with increased adoptions, the shelter has also seen a surge in volunteers and foster families over the past five years, Kimball said. Its “Happy Hour” program, popular among university students, allows people to take one of its dogs out for one day at a time.
“I participated in the happy hour program several times throughout last year, and I had so much fun,” said Lexi Cespedes, a junior majoring in marketing.
She added that it was “great to get the dogs out of the shelter for the day” and to “give them an opportunity to have a fun and social day outside of their crates at the shelter.”
This program, among others, has helped the shelter continue financial recovery from the canine distemper outbreak in June 2024, which led to the halting of all adoption, fostering and intake operations for three months. Since then, the shelter has added a second building just for the isolation of sick animals to contain any viral diseases.
However, the shelter still faces daily troubles with spikes in intakes. According to Kimball, the shelter received 34 animals Tuesday from animal control and citizens. This is more than twice its daily average of 10 to 15 animals.
Alissa Fisher, a sophomore majoring in human development and family studies, and Alex DeSantis, a sophomore majoring in political science, adopted a cat together from the shelter.
“We wanted to get them out of the shelter,” said Fisher.
Kimball said that despite the turmoil within many shelters nationwide, the shelter “will continue to grow.”
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