Every animal at a Pennsylvania shelter was adopted before the holidays

Somebody dumped 10 small dogs on a covered bridge in Gettysburg, Pa., in early December.

“They were in terrible condition, with dental disease, ear infections and toenails grown into their feet,” said Abigail Avery, the director of the Adams County SPCA animal shelter in Gettysburg.

Shelter workers jumped into action, treating the dogs for various infections, cleaning them up and getting them spayed or neutered. Then they posted before-and-after photos on Facebook, and the pups were adopted right away.

Employees thought they could build on that momentum, and they set a goal to get the rest of the animals into homes before the holidays.

“Everyone rallied,” Avery said.

Somehow, they were able to pull it off: Ninety cats and dogs and a couple of ferrets were adopted in the weeks leading up to Christmas Eve. An additional 26 lost pets were reunited with their families, Avery said, noting that the shelter’s adoption total for the year was boosted to 598.

It was the first time in the shelter’s 47-year history that it was empty, except for a stray cat that showed up at the last minute.

“It’s incredible, especially since just two weeks before, our kennels were almost full,” Avery said. “Everything aligned perfectly for us this year.”

The story was covered by various news outlets, and animal-rescue workers across the country are calling Avery, wondering how her staff was successful at a time when shelters around the country are overflowing, she said.

Man taught himself to read, then set out to read 100 books in 2023

“There are so many good animals that need homes, but there simply aren’t enough people adopting,” Avery said.

Pet adoptions soared during the coronavirus pandemic, and animal shelters are struggling now because people began returning pets for reasons including economic uncertainty. An estimated 6.3 million cats and dogs enter U.S. shelters every year, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

“As anyone who has ever adopted a pet from a shelter knows, these are the best animals you’re going to get because all they want to do is love you,” Avery said.

She said one secret to getting the pets adopted was social media posts including details of how they were found, and a story for each animal from its point of view.

Advertisement

“It helps draw people in [to] want to help find them homes,” she said.

After his dog died, he adopted dozens of the oldest dogs he could find

Kelly Flavin says she was among those who saw the shelter’s Facebook posts.

Two weeks before Christmas, she spotted photos of a little dog named Winston, who had a broken jaw, and she fell in love.

“His sad little eyes got to me, and I knew I had to help him,” Flavin said. She and her husband, Larry Mahnken, took their dog Beatrice to the shelter to meet Winston, and the couple decided that the dogs would be a good match.

Another couple, Korey and Brian Strait, adopted Simon, one of the dogs dumped at the bridge in Gettysburg, after they saw the shelter’s post on Dec. 14.

“We went down to meet him and took him home that day,” said Korey Strait. “Simon was our present to each other this year, and we’re thrilled that all of the other dogs found homes, too.”

The Adams County SPCA was founded by Roy Thomas, who started taking dogs and cats in at his Gettysburg home in the early 1970s, then raised funds to build a shelter that opened in 1976, said his son Gary Thomas.

“My dad was a dog lover who had several gas stations in Gettysburg, and he always kept a dog at each one,” said Thomas, 73, noting that his father died in 2017.

“He took in as many animals as he could and convinced people to give them a second chance,” he added. “He had a soft heart, and I know he’d be delighted to know the shelter he started was emptied for the first time this year.”

Avery said the shelter has begun pulling animals from other Pennsylvania shelters to help relieve some of the stress of overcrowding in those facilities.

“While we’re celebrating our empty kennels, we know the work to save animals continues, and we want to help every one of them that we can,” she said, noting that the shelter has room for about 100 dogs and 50 cats.

“There’s a right home out there to match every animal, and we’re going to do our best to find it,” she added.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZLmqssSsq7KklWR%2FcX6SaGhrZ2JufKW7xmaYnaegqbawuoypnKemo665t63Nophmq5iaubWx0WapnquTqrJw