Participating shelters
DEARBORN
• Bottle Babies Rescue, PetSmart 5650 Mercury Drive.
• Friends for Animals of Metro Detroit, 2661 Greenfield Road.
MACOMB COUNTY
• Macomb County Animal Control, 21417 Dunham Road, Clinton Twp., www.petfinder.com/search/pets-for-adoption/?shelter_id%5B0%5D=MI369 248-858-1070 Almost Home Animal Rescue League 25503 Clara Lane Southfield http://almosthomeanimals.org/adoptable-pets/ 248-200-2695 ">animalcontrol.macombgov.org/AnimalControl-Home, 586-469-5115.
• Detroit Animal Welfare Group, 51347 Gratiot Ave., Macomb, dawghous.com/adoptable-animals/.
• I Heart Dogs Rescue and Animal Haven, 22415 Groesbeck Hwy., Warren, iheartdogs.org/.
MOUNT PLEASANT
• Humane Animal Treatment Society, 1105 S. Isabella Road, Mt. Pleasant, hatsweb.org/, 989-775-0830.
OAKLAND COUNTY
• Do Only Good Animal Rescue, 1721 Hillcrest Drive, Rochester Hills, doonlygoodrescue.com/adoptable-dogs.
• Oakland County Animal Shelter and Pet Adoption Center, 1200 N. Telegraph, Bldg. 42 East, Pontiac, on Petfinder: bit.ly/2vpiHpQ, 248-858-1070.
• Almost Home Animal Rescue League, 25503 Clara Lane, Southfield, almosthomeanimals.org/adoptable-pets/, 248-200-2695.
If you’ve ever wanted to adopt a pet, here’s your chance to take home a dog or cat and earn a financial bonus, too.
The BISSELL Pet Foundation has organized an Empty the Shelters event May 5 in 13 states, including Michigan.
The Grand Rapids-based foundation has successfully placed nearly 10,000 cats and dogs in loving homes through nine free adoption events in the last 24 months, will pay all adoption fees at 66 shelters and rescue organizations around Michigan, several of them in the Detroit area. The nonprofit also will give each adopting family an AdoptBox filled with a 5-pound bag of pet food donated by Chicken Soup for the Soul Pet Food, treats, toys, wellness information and coupons, while supplies last.
“We are a small organization doing our best to give every pet a loving home,” Cathy Bissell, founder of BISSELL Pet Foundation, said in a press release. “Getting animals out of shelters and into homes is critical. Empty the Shelters does just that by encouraging people to choose adoption first.”
An estimated 2.7 million pets are euthanized each year nationwide because they don’t have homes. Only 23 percent of dogs and 31 percent of cats in family homes come from shelters. Bissell has found that waiving fees motivates quality adopters, with more than 6,000 pets adopted in Michigan alone in the last two years.
Surveys from previous Empty the Shelters events found 99.4 percent of adopters already have, or plan to, recommend adoption to family and friends; and 52 percent of adopters were first-time adopters.
“This event will give national attention to the importance of adoption,” Bissell said. “May 5 will be our largest Empty the Shelters event to date, and we expect it to have a significant impact beyond the states participating.”
Shelters and rescues taking part are required to partner with other animal welfare organizations to help fill the empty spaces once pets have been adopted.
The adopting families will be required to pay licensing fees, and standard adoption requirements apply. Adopters are encouraged to review those requirements prior to May 5.
The foundation also is asking for donations to fund adoption fees for homeless pets. To learn more about Empty the Shelters, visit bissellpetfoundation.org/empty-the-shelters/.
— Nicole M. Robertson