Rescue the Animals, SPCA has teamed up with Abilene Animal Shelter to find homes for animals.
Abilene Animal Shelter is offering a $20 discount during the month of February, and potentially during March, to anyone who adopts an animal from the shelter along with a $20 voucher for a mail-in-rebate to spay or neuter the adopted pet.
“Basically, what we’re doing is partnering with the city of Abilene in an effort to get animals adopted,” said Paul Washburn, president of Rescue the Animals, SPCA. “The city doesn’t have a budget to advertise for the shelters, so we use our funding to advertise and help get the word out for Abilene.”
Rescue the Animals, SPCA has conducted this sale in previous years and saw a positive outcome each time.
“The sales work extremely well,” Washburn said. “The number of adoptions has tripled since 2008 and the number of animals put to sleep has gone down tremendously.”
By partnering with local shelters, Rescue the Animals, SPCA is able to avoid euthanizing animals who are no longer able to stay in the pound.
“We’re slowly bringing about a change to how people view their animals,” Washburn said. “I think they’re realizing they need to find homes for their unwanted animals and do what’s best for the animals instead of taking them to the pound.”
The goal of this partnership is to encourage more people to adopt an animal locally before the animals are sent to the pound where their time is limited.
“February is a slower time for the shelter so we have this sale to generate foot traffic and get people in to adopt animals,” said Aaron Vannoy, animal services manager of Abilene Animal Shelter.
The shelter has partnered with Rescue the Animals, SPCA in hopes to increase the amount of adoptions within the community.
“Part of why this month is usually slow is economic,” Vannoy said. “It’s 4-6 weeks after Christmas so all the Christmas bills are coming in and the weather is unpredictable, so we’re doing whatever we can to get people to come in.”
Despite the drop in adoptions, this special offer has proven to increase the number of adoptions made.
“The price does drive some of our adoptions,” Vannoy said. “We’re just trying to save as many animals’ lives as we can.”
