Dozens of animals find new homes through Humane Society Adopt-athon event

More than 27 pets have found new homes as Humane Society of Kitchener Waterloo & Stratford Perth wraps up an Adopt-athon weekend.

Between the two shelters in Kitchener and Stratford, the organization initially began the weekend with 63 adoptable animals.

Adam Stephens, director of marketing and community engagement at the humane society, said the event had been “fantastic” as it wrapped up on Sunday.

“We've managed to adopt 27 animals so far. Twelve cats, seven dogs,” Stephens told CTV News while speaking at the Kitchener shelter location. “Seeing the people and the families come in and talk about their current fur babies and meeting new fur babies to join their family has been wonderful.”

Although the humane society has held many adoption events in the past, this one was different. The humane society was chosen to take part in a global initiative known as the Mars Pet Adoption Weekend. Animal shelters in 11 countries were chosen to take part in the worldwide push to get animals adopted. The local humane society was one of three Canadian shelters that received a share of $25,000 from the PEDIGREE Foundation to cover dog adoption fees.

“They've taken care of the entire fee, which is wonderful because this helps further along that mandate [of] keeping animals and people together,” said Stephens.

People who successfully applied to adopt a dog from the humane society over the weekend, received the animal at no cost.

Despite the focus on dogs, many cats in Kitchener found their forever families after forming connections with people who walked through the doors planning to adopt dogs.

Hayley and Sam Holst have a family of two dogs, named Pig and Cow, as well as two guinea pigs. They added another member to the family by adopting a Great Dane they rescued.

“We rescued her from the side of the road, brought her [to the humane society], and now we get to adopt [her],” said Hayley. “It was really easy, honestly. You fill in an online application, you come in for a meet and greet, [we made] sure our current dogs are okay with her. Everything went well, so we're going home with her today.”

Although the event ended on Sunday, Stephens said anyone interested in adoption can still do so through the humane society.

“If the timing isn't quite right, by all means, check out our website, KWSPhumane.ca,” Stephens said. “We have all of our available dogs and cats that are up there on the website, and you can make an appointment with our adoption specialists.”