Clear The Shelters Day In Harford County: Where To Adopt

HARFORD COUNTY, MD — Hundreds of animal shelters across the country are participating in Clear the Shelters pet adoption events on Saturday, Aug. 17, to help find loving homes for animals that have been abandoned or surrendered. In Harford County, two organizations are taking part.

One is the Humane Society of Harford County in Fallston, where more than 3,500 animals enter each year, according to Shelter Operations Director Cat Kelly.

"We’re very excited to join shelters all across the country to find homes for thousands of pets this Saturday," Kelly said in a statement. "We want all of our animals to wake up on Sunday morning in their new forever homes!"

Among the dogs the Humane Society of Harford County hopes to find a home for is Ghost. He has been at the shelter on Connolly Road since April 17. He's little more than five years old and likes to nap. Shelter officials said he is looking for a spot on your couch where he can snuggle up or on your porch where he can sunbathe.

People can meet Ghost and the other dogs up for adoption at the shelter from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 17, at the Humane Society of Harford County (HSHC) at 2208 Connolly Road, Fallston. See all the animals at the shelter in Harford County up for adoption.

"Last year 36 animals from our shelter were placed into adoptive homes," HSHC Executive Director Jen Swanson said in a statement. "Many more people came back to adopt in the days following Clear the Shelters, and even if they didn’t adopt, Clear the Shelters helped to increase foot traffic through the shelter and raise awareness about the importance of pet adoption."

Adoption fees will be waived at the shelter on Saturday, Aug. 17. If an animal is not spayed or neutered, there will be a $50 deposit that will be refunded within 60 days upon completion of the procedure. All animals adopted from HSHC are vaccinated for distemper (DHPP for dogs and FVRCP for cats), rabies (if age-appropriate) and canine kennel cough; have canine heartworm test for dogs and FeLV (feline leukemia) and FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus) testing for cats; dewormer; flea and tick preventative; microchip; free sample of Hill’s Science Diet food and general exam.

The Abingdon PetSmart is also holding a Clear the Shelter event: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 17, at 412 Constant Friendship Boulevard. This is in partnership with Best Friends in Harford County, which reports the adoption fee includes spay/neuter, FeLV and FIV combo tests, up-to-date rabies and distemper vaccinations, deworming, flea preventative and microchip with free lifetime registration.

Clear the Shelters is sponsored by NBC- and Telemundo-owned stations, which are teaming with the Humane Society of Harford County and others nationwide in the pet adoption drive. Since 2015, more than 250,000 pets have found forever homes as a result of the effort.

It’s not just dogs that are filling up shelters. The ASPCA — or American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals — estimates that in addition to 3.3 million dogs in shelters at any given time, there are 3.2 million cats.

About 1.5 million of them — 670,000 dogs and 860,000 cats — are euthanized before they can be adopted, though the ASPCA says those numbers are declining, in large part because a greater percentage of them are adopted. About 1.6 million dogs and 1.6 million cats are adopted every year.

The ASPCA also says that about 620,000 dogs and 90,000 cats that enter shelters every year are strays that are eventually returned to their owners.

Adopting a pet has multiple benefits. Here are some:

1. You’ll save an animal’s life. The Humane Society of the United States says the number of animals that are put down every year could be reduced even more if more people adopted pets.

2. Most pets in shelters are already house-trained and used to living with families. The Humane Society says most pets end up in shelters “because of a human problem like a move or a divorce, not because they did anything wrong.”

3. You’ll help fight puppy mills. If you buy a dog at a pet store, flea market or online seller, chances are you’re unwittingly supporting puppy mills, factory-style breeding facilities where dogs often live in squalid conditions, don’t get adequate medical care, and can have health and behavior problems as a result.

5. You’ll help break the cycle of companion-animal overpopulation. There aren’t enough homes for all the pets that are born every year, and adopting from a shelter helps weaken the pet overpopulation cycle.

6. Adoption helps more than just one animal. When you provide a shelter animal a home, you’ll be making room for other unwanted pets. Also, the adoption fee helps shelters provide better care for the animals they take in.

7. Shelters offer a lifetime of resources. When you adopt, shelter employees who work with pets every day will provide resources on many different issues.

8. You’re supporting a valuable community charity. Shelters are nonprofit groups that help improve community life and reduce pet overpopulation with a requirement that all animals be spayed or neutered. That reduces the chances that more unwanted animals will be born.

9. Pets give unconditional love, and research shows them to be psychologically, emotionally and physically beneficial to their companions. Caring for an animal provides a sense of purpose and can lessen feelings of loneliness. When someone asks you where you got your pet, tell them “at the shelter.” That may encourage others to do the same.