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BARC kicks off Adopt-A-Shelter Cat month with $5 cat adoption fee during the month of June

(06/12/2011)

BARC, the City of Houston's animal shelter and adoption center, has launched a special cat adoption pricing campaign during the month of June, which is Adopt-a-Shelter Cat month. BARC reduced the adoption fee for cats and kittens to $5 for the entire month, $70 off the normal adoption fee!

BARC is constantly fighting the intake at its facility, located at 3200 Carr Street, by finding new foster or adopting homes for as many animals as possible. BARC has outplaced more animals than ever before due to the shelter's recent investments in additional Marketing and Outreach positions, redesigned website, social media presence, and partnership with rescue organizations. However, like at many other shelters across the nation, visitors to BARC often leave with dogs, not cats. The situation is made more urgent during the summer months, when the shelter intakes a large number of cats and kittens. BARC took in 612 animals during the week of May 26 through June 2; the shelter has 550 enclosures. 255 of the intakes were kittens or mature cats.

"We really get battered from both sides with regard to cats. Because many cat owners still think it's acceptable to keep their pet as an 'outside cat' and don't sterilize the animal, there is a massive amount of reproduction going on that could be avoided, which means there is a massive amount of cat and kitten intake at BARC that could be avoided. Combine that with the fact that fewer people adopt or foster cats from any shelter - and BARC is no exception - and that creates a pretty urgent situation for us. We've got some creative plans that have begun to make a difference, such as Trap-Neuter-Return to begin to make a dent in the feral population, and our new Foster Food Pantry. We are also going to be rolling out some more out-of-the box initiatives before summer is out, but we're still left with the immediate overcrowding this weekend. Myhope is that more Houstonians make the decision to just come to BARC, no need to make a commitment to adopt before coming. Just come meet some of our friends. Have a hotdog or hamburger prepared by Friends of BARC. Most of the time, the BARC magic takes care of itself when people decide to visit us," said BARC General Manager Dave Atencio.

BARC pets available for adoption may be viewed here. For locations and hours of BARC offsite adoption events, click here. BARC relies on many great partnerships with animal rescue organizations, retailers and donors. BARC will be circulating promotional flyers such as the one below during June to add a creative, fun twist to cat adoptions and to market the special pricing

It's easy to support BARC animals without making a trip to the facility, and all financial support is tax-deductible. To donate to BARC online via the Houston BARC Foundation, click here.

The simplest, but most powerful thing you can do to help the BARC Houston shelter, and pets throughout our community, is to talk to your friends, neighbors, and family about caring for pets responsibly. We encourage everyone to visit the new www.houstonbarc.com.

( 回首頁 Houston eWIND )

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