Seventy-five pets at the County of Santa Clara Animal Shelter found new homes over the two-day Maddie’s Pet Adoption Days held May 31-June 1 at the San Martin facility on Murphy Avenue.
“For me, the goal isn’t numbers. The goal is to find homes for as many adoptable pets as possible,” said Animal Shelter Supervisor Jeremy Selbach, noting the local shelter had 145 total adoptable pets leading into the nation’s largest free adoption event.
All dog and cat adoptions were free to qualified adopters and, for each adoption, Santa Clara County received a stipend of $500-$2,000 from Maddie’s Fund, which will review the shelter’s statistics before issuing the funds.
According to Selbach, the shelter approved adoptions for 59 healthy cats and dogs, five senior pets, nine pets with medically treatable conditions and two senior pets with medically treatable conditions.
The Maddie’s Pet Adoption Days event includes more than 200 shelters and rescue groups in nine states. This year, more than 15,000 dogs and cats found homes over the weekend, making this the largest and most successful two-day free adoption event in U.S. history, according to Maddie’s Fund. In the Bay Area, 4,464 dogs and cats were adopted.
“As we near our goal of a no-kill nation by 2015, we are thrilled at the sheer number of people who visited all of the locations over the weekend,” said Maddie’s Fund president Rich Avanzino.
Inspired by one family’s love for a Miniature Schnauzer, Maddie’s Pet Adoption Days has found homes for more than 30,000 homeless dogs and cats since 2010.
“Each year, Cheryl and I see the spirit of Maddie at every adoption location we visit,” said Maddie’s Fund founder Dave Duffield. “It’s a tribute to her legacy and the power of one little dog to inspire a movement and bring communities together to find thousands of animals loving homes.”
