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Animal Friends offering deals to boost adoptions, win $100K

Bradley Lindy and his mother, Jenna Lindy, hold Elana, a cat they are adopting. Animal Friends and 49 other shelters are offering special incentives during the month of September to encourage adoptions.

Contributed photo by David A. Moodie Bradley Lindy and his mother, Jenna Lindy, hold Elana, a cat they are adopting. Animal Friends and 49 other shelters are offering special incentives during the month of September to encourage adoptions.

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By Michael D. Pitman, Staff Writer Updated 3:20 PM Monday, September 27, 2010

HAMILTON — The Animal Friends Humane Society has stepped up its attempts to find homes for enough cats and dogs in order to win $100,000.

The animal shelter is one of 50 shelters nationwide participating in the inaugural “Save More Lives” from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

From August to October, the ASPCA is challenging the shelters to save at least 300 more animals than in the same time frame in 2009.

After the first month, the Animal Friends Humane Society, 1820 Princeton Road in Hamilton, is in 12th place. The leader is the Humane Society of Boulder Valley in Boulder, Colo.

“It’s awesome considering we’re a small shelter in Butler County, Ohio, competing against some quite large shelters across the nation,” said Animal Friends Humane Society Executive Director Meg Stephenson. “We’re quite thrilled being in 12th place and hope in a couple months ,we’ll be able to raise that level a few notches.”

The shelter has taken in more than 600 animals year-to-date than in the same time frame in 2009. Each year, the shelter takes in about 8,000 animals.

To meet the monthly challenge, “We need to do all the adoptions we’ve done in the past plus an additional 100 every month,” Stephenson said.

To keep its population fluid and be a contest contender, Stephenson said the shelter has had to conduct more promotions and deals on adoption fees.

A new promotion — which runs Sunday through Sept. 25 — is Adopt-a-Less-Adoptable Pet Week. The shelter will highlight senior (6-plus years) and predominantly black animals. Adoption fees will be waived on Sunday for these animals. “For some reason, the black dogs and cats tend to get overlooked and they tend to sit a lot longer,” Stephenson said.

The economy also is to blame, Stephenson said. Some people believe they can’t afford to keep their pets, she said.

And with all the discounts, Stephenson said they will feel the pinch on the bottom line.

“We’re trying to save more lives, we’re trying to do the best we can, but our operation costs remain steady,” she said.

ASPCA is holding the contest to raise awareness of the millions of adoptable animals around the country.

“In the United States, 60 percent of households have a cat or dog, yet 80 percent of these households did not adopt their pet from a shelter,” said ASPCA President and CEO Ed Sayres.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or mpitman@coxohio.com.