The Pearl River County SPCA animal shelter is “absolutely overwhelmed” with pets that need a forever home. On average, the shelter rescues 3,500 pets a year. With people now returning to working at their offices or on-site, the shelter has seen a decrease in adoptions since people are no longer working from home. The shelter is running low on places to house the large number of pets, so to solve this issue Maria Diamond said the shelter is running an adoption special. All pets that are currently spayed, neutered and ready to be adopted are being offered at half price. This includes adult dogs, cats and kittens. Currently the shelter houses over 100 cats and dogs that qualify for the sale. On average shelter staff receive 10 to 12 surrenders a day. The surrendered pets are either strays or pets the owner can no longer care for. The pets that currently qualify are cats aged 8 weeks to 6-years-old and dogs ranging from ages 1 to 2.

“We have wonderful pets here and we want to save as many as possible,” said Diamond.

Cats are adopted more often during March through October and in the first three weeks the shelter has adopted out more than 60 cats; yet they still have more animals to be adopted.

“It is intense work and care,” said Shelter Manager Elizabeth Treadaway.

Since the sale began, staff say that no pets have been euthanized. Staff at the shelter are continuing to work toward becoming a “no kill shelter,” said Diamond. She said the staff plan to keep this adoption sale going until most of the animals find homes.

Some of the pets up for adoption include Willo, who is a domestic shorthaired cat who is 1-years-old. There is also Scorpio, a 1-year-old male terrier mix, with brindle white fur. His friend Peanut is a 2-year-old retriever Labrador mix, with yellow fur. All of these loving, energetic pets are ready for a new home.