Looking for a pet? Kansas Humane Society is offering a special price for dogs, kittens
The Kansas Humane Society is overflowing with more than 200 animals in their care, and wants to find them new homes. So, adoption fees, including vaccination, microchipping, and spay/neutering, will be $25 for all adult dogs and kittens from May 1-15.
The event called “Empty the Shelters” is sponsored by the BISSELL Pet Foundation every year. It teams up with over 350 shelters across the country to provide affordable pet adoptions. Since the inaugural event in 2016, over 140,000 animals have found a home.
Adult cats and long-stay dogs will also be available for adoption. New owners can name their price for those animals.
During the first quarter of 2023, the society took in 2,591 animals – the highest intake it has seen in over a decade. Already, 2,616 pets have been adopted this year, but animals keep coming in to fill the shelter.
“We had to halt spay and neutering services during COVID,” said Jordan Bani-Younes, the director of marketing and communications. “We are seeing the effect right now.”
The number of stray animals increased without spay/neutering services acting as population control. In addition, the number of pets being surrendered by their owners has increased as prices for pet essentials rise. According to CNN, items like dog food and non-clump cat litter saw double-digit average unit price increases in 2022.
The Kansas Humane Society has also seen a growing number of owners that don’t have time to spend with their pet after going back to work in person.
On Tuesday, there were 31 cats and 85 dogs available for adoption, after 26 pets were adopted Monday. Bani-Younes said there has been a good turnout for Empty the Shelter so far, but he is looking forward to getting more people in the door as word about the event spreads.
“We all just want to help as many animals as we can,” Bani-Younes said.
Adopting a pet isn’t an option for everyone, but there are other ways to help. For example, fostering is an option for animal lovers to welcome a new pet into their home without committing to an adoption.
Anyone 18 or older is eligible to adopt and can visit the Kansas Humane Society to meet the animals. A page on their website has a list of all the pets up for adoption.