Clear The Shelters Day In Baltimore County: Where To Adopt

BALTIMORE 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 homes for animals that have been abandoned or surrendered. In Baltimore County, two organizations are taking part.

One of them is Baltimore County Animal Services in Baldwin, where adoption fees will be waived on Saturday for the occasion. The Baltimore Humane Society in Reisterstown is doing the same.

Tank, the cat pictured above, has been at the Baltimore County Animal Services shelter nearly five months. He was brought in March 23 with an injury, and now that he's healed, he hopes someone will want to bring him home.

The dog, Bam Bam, has been there since May 5. The fact that he does not like his kennel may be a factor. Here is what Bam Bam's profile says: "I'm going to be very up front here and let you know that I do not like my kennel. Sometimes people see me in there and judge me, but really they should meet me outside. I am SO. MUCH. FUN when I am outside. I like to run, play with toys and especially romp around along with the fence with the other dogs here."

People can meet Tank, Bam Bam and other animals up for adoption at the shelter from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 17, at Baltimore County Animal Services, 13800 Manor Road, Baldwin, MD 21013. See all the animals at the shelter in Baltimore County up for adoption.

Adoption fees will be waived at the shelter on Saturday, Aug. 17. All cats and dogs will be up-to-date on vaccinations, microchipped, have been spayed or neutered and are ready to go to their new homes, according to Baltimore County Animal Services.

The Baltimore Humane Society in Reisterstown is also participating in the Clear the Shelters event. It will be waiving adoption fees.

Visit the Baltimore Humane Society from noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 17, at 1601 Nicodemus Road, Reisterstown, MD 21136.

Clear the Shelters is sponsored by NBC- and Telemundo-owned stations, which are teaming with shelters 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 there are 3.3 million dogs and 3.2 million cats in shelters at any given time.

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.

— By Patch editors Beth Dalbey and Elizabeth Janney