Starting next week, you can adopt a new, furry best friend completely free of charge. Contra Costa County Animal Services (CCAS) is hosting free dog adoptions for all spayed and neutered dogs starting Wednesday until June 30.
Dog adoptions will be taking place at both of the animal services offices, located in Martinez and Pinole during their open hours. The free adoptions are coming out of a necessity for the shelters, which are operating at full capacity and are suffering from near-constant overcrowding. Currently, there are about 200 dogs that need a home.
Steve Burdo, the community and media relations coordinator of CCAS, believes there will be a significant turn out for the week. The department previously held a free adoption promotion in January, where 76 dogs were adopted in just two days.
“Right now, we’re at capacity and need help to facilitate more adoptions,” Burdo said. "But we generally see a high number of adoptions and are expecting this to work."
The animal service department is pushing many initiatives to boost pet adoptions before July 4, a week that shelters tend to receive the most stray and lost animals. He suspects the influx of incoming may have to do with the loud noises stemming from fireworks displays, which potentially scare strays out of hiding and causes animals to leave their homes.
In addition to their weekly Sunday adoption events, the department is partnering with NBC Bay Area as well as other shelters around the area for “Clear the Shelter Day" on July 23.
Burdo, as well as the rest of the workers at animal services are hoping that all the pets will go home to loving owners.
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"If anybody has been on the fence, now would be the time to come down and adopt," Burdo said. "Owning a pet significantly increases the quality of life, with companionship being the biggest benefit."
