To give as many four-legged friends as possible a "forever home," the Mesquite Animal Shelter is waiving all adoption fees for a special event on September 7. The shelter, participating in the national Clear the Shelters campaign, is taking more aggressive steps to ensure that each dog and cat currently housed within its walls finds a loving family.
The free adoption day is part of a larger effort, as August will see reduced fees to $10 for any animal in the shelter, aiming to preface the shelter-clearing event with an entire month where barriers to adoption are significantly lowered, according to the City of Mesquite. "Clear the Shelters is an important initiative that shines a light on the need to find forever homes for shelter pets," Hugo Espinoza, Animal Services Manager, said. “It has been very successful in Mesquite in the past. We truly hope to help find every animal in the shelter a new family on Sept. 7."
All pets adopted through this initiative will come sterilized, vaccinated, and microchipped, making it an opportune time for potential pet owners to welcome a new member into their family. These efforts by the Mesquite Animal Shelter are not happening in isolation; they're part of a larger, nationwide adoption effort co-hosted by NBCUniversal Local and Telemundo known as Clear the Shelters, which has been running since 2015.
For those not in the position to adopt, the shelter encourages donations, either monetary or items from their Amazon Wish List, accessible through their website. Last year, Clear the Shelters facilitated the adoption of over 157,000 pets and raised upwards of $575,000 — a combined effort from more than 1,400 shelters and rescue groups from across the country, the campaign has made possible new beginnings for more than 1 million pets since its inception.
