A mega-adoption event for pets Saturday aimed to help with the issue of overcrowding at animal shelters in North Texas and beyond.
The event held at Globe Life Field in Arlington was hosted by the Humane Society of North Texas, which invited shelters to join their mission of finding forever homes for adoptable animals.
“When you work in animal welfare, you do stay connected. The goal of any shelter in the South is to move animals because we are at a crisis capacity right now. So, we unite. We connect. We talk to each other,” Cassie Davidson with the Humane Society of North Texas. “When this was all coming together, our directors just invited as many people as we could from as many states as we could. Anybody who wanted to participate, it was open to.”
The event on Saturday included nearly 20 shelters from three states: Texas, Oklahoma, and Georgia.
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Lifeline Animal Project is based in Atlanta. Meera Solomon was one of the representatives from the organization assisting at the event in Arlington this weekend.
“We are caring for over 1,000 animals in our community that are in need of homes. So, we love to be able to partner with other places, other organizations, to give our pets more opportunities that they don’t find right at home,” Solomon said.
The problem of overcrowding has been impacting shelters for months. It is primarily due to animals not being spayed or neutered, Davidson said.
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“We don’t have the inclement weather as the northern states do, so what we’re seeing is puppy season is earlier for us. It lasts longer than it does in the northern states,” she said. “When you are adopting an animal, whether it’s a dog, cat, or small animal…you are, in essence, saving two lives. You’re saving the life of the pet you’re adopting and you’re opening a kennel for an animal to come into our shelter.”
Tealise Golliday of Aubrey and her family adopted an 8-week-old puppy.
“I’m excited. I’m very excited,” Golliday said. “My son is 25, my daughter is 20. This will be good for me and my husband when they’re away.”
The Humane Society of North Texas offers numerous programs, including spaying and neutering.
NBC 5 and Telemundo 39's Clear the Shelters kicks off August 1.
