For the entire month of July, bringing home a feline friend will be a little bit easier.
Sixteen shelters in Maryland, including ones in Westminster and Reisterstown, are taking part in the Maryland 2,000 Saving Lives Across Maryland adoption event, which waives adoption fees for all cats the whole month.
This event was bred from the annual Baltimore 500: A Race to Save Lives, according to the Maryland SPCA website.
"Over the past eight years, the Baltimore Animal Welfare Alliance's annual Baltimore 500: A Race to Save Lives adoption event has found homes for almost 6,000 cats and kittens in the Baltimore area during the month of June," according to the website.
"This year, BAWA members, Baltimore Humane Society, Baltimore County Animal Services, BARCS [Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter] and the Maryland SPCA have taken their efforts statewide by inviting other shelters to participate in the first-ever Maryland 2,000 Saving Lives Across Maryland adoption event."
:quality(70)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tronc.s3.amazonaws.com/public/AQ5RCORXKRFXBJ6B4AURBLN4UI.jpg)
:quality(70)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tronc.s3.amazonaws.com/public/32D6JWRNNRDSVMSEZIO4UUK2XU.jpg)
:quality(70)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tronc.s3.amazonaws.com/public/5OVX3TO7QBEJXICCURV5XEDIPQ.jpg)
:quality(70)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tronc.s3.amazonaws.com/public/HU62VKZHLBFURDPM6IH6VCBGDM.jpg)
:quality(70)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-tronc.s3.amazonaws.com/public/Q5SD27BQ3VBBZEF7CZGUPC4ICU.jpg)
The event runs through July 31 in the hopes of finding homes for at least 2,000 cats and kittens throughout the state, according to the website.
The Humane Society of Carroll County is participating in the event, according to Executive Director Charles Brown.
"We are in the height of kitten season," Brown said of the reason this event takes place in July.
From about mid-May until fall, shelters across the country are inundated with kittens.
"This is a way to stimulate some adoptions when most shelters need it the most," Brown said.
While the adoption fees have been waived, someone who comes in to adopt still has to fill out all of the regular paperwork, he said.
The Baltimore Humane Society in Reisterstown is also involved in this month's event. Executive Director Christine DeCorse said all of the shelters are full of cats and kittens, and so they decided to expand the concept from the Baltimore area to the entire state.
"It's something that we're really excited about," she said. "We love that we've upped our goal this year to 2,000."
With this event taking place, DeCorse said it's a good time to get the message out about the low-cost spay and neuter programs some of the shelters have. The Baltimore Humane Society has one, she said.
DeCorse said they're always trying to get the message out about spaying and neutering animals for people who may not have a lot of money but have pets, because the shelters are always full.
Brown said in Carroll, they're always trying to do events along the same lines of the Maryland 2,000 to try to save as many animals as possible.
For the Fourth of July, he added, they'll have free adoptions all day for those in who are police officers, firefighters, military service members, first responders and the like.
"Anything to generate some excitement, some buzz," he said. "It comes down to saving lives."
emily.chappell@carrollcountytimes.com
410-857-7862
Participating shelters
•Maryland SPCA
•Humane Society of Carroll County
•Baltimore County Animal Services
•Baltimore Humane Society
•Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter
•Animal Welfare League of Queen Anne's County
•Anne Arundel County Animal Control
•Caroline County Humane Society
•Cecil County Animal Services
Carroll County Daily Headlines
•City of College Park Animal Control
•Frederick County Division of Animal Control and Pet Adoption
•Howard County Animal Control and Adoption Center
•Humane Society of Harford County
•Humane Society of Washington County
•Talbot Humane Society
•Tri-County Animal Shelter