Maricopa County Animal Care and Control Hosts Sponsored Adoption Event for Homeless Pet Crisis

Maricopa County Animal Care and Control Hosts Sponsored Adoption Event for Homeless Pet Crisis

People thinking about adding a furry friend to their home are urged to come down to the Maricopa County Animal Care and Control (MCACC) shelters now. With a busy summer of thunderstorms, the financial impacts of COVID-19 and the growth of our population, our shelters are beyond full.

Today through Sunday Aug. 22, the Bissell Pet Foundation is will cover the cost for you to adopt a shelter pet. Your pet will go home spayed/neutered, microchipped, and vaccinated, and adult dogs will get their Maricopa County license tag – all at no cost to you. Visit maricopa.gov/214/adopt to preview available pets, and reserve your appointment to meet, greet and take home a new best friend!

“The lovable animals in our facilities need your help. If you think your family can offer a loving, stable, forever home to a dog or cat, now is the time to act,” said MCACC Director Robyn Jaynes, DVM. “This summer has been difficult, and we are bursting at the seams with adoptable animals, and our limited space is full.”

Here are some ways to help make a difference in the life of these deserving animals:  

• Adopt – When you adopt, you not only save the life of the pet you’ve chosen to add to your family, you make it possible for the next homeless pet to come into our shelter to wait for their family. You are saving two lives.
• Foster – Fostering a pet in your home not only offers love and companionship to a deserving animal, it allows us to essentially expand our shelter space by offering the freed up kennel space for another pet who urgently needs food, shelter and medical care. Visit www.maricopa.gov/296/Foster to learn more and see pets available for fostering – especially  large dog over 30 lbs.
• Help Lost Pets Find Their Way Back Home – If you find a friendly, lost pet, file a found report at maricopa.gov/162/Lost-Found-Pet and have the pet scanned for a microchip at a local veterinarian’s office. We ask that you hold the pet for at least 48 hours and try to locate its owners without coming to the shelter. Most pets are found in close proximity to the home so if the pet keeping the pet close can help improve getting the pet home quickly. 

Shelters across the country are in crisis with overcrowding prompting a national call-to-action, #HelpOurShelters. Seasonally high intakes, short-staffing, decreases in shelter veterinarians, and slowing adoptions, are factors that are pushing animal shelters to beyond their intended capacity are creating stresses on the system designed to care for abandoned and lost animals. MCACC is joining in this effort alongside national animal welfare organizations in support of the country’s municipal shelters  to get the word out that adoption and fostering are especially critical at this moment.

To adopt, foster, volunteer, or donate, please visit Maricopa.gov/pets.

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Background

For the past several years, MCACC has been able to maintain a live release rate of 95% or higher through innovation, programming, and partnerships. To learn more about MCACC, to adopt, foster, volunteer, or donate, please visit Maricopa.gov/pets.