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Clear the Shelters totals: 1,431 pet adoptions across central NC

Over 1,400 animals found loving homes in North Carolina during Saturday's Clear the Shelters event.

Posted Updated

By
Gerald Owens, WRAL anchor/reporter,
and
Jessica Patrick, WRAL digital journalist
RALEIGH, N.C. — Over 1,400 animals found loving homes in North Carolina during Saturday's Clear the Shelters event.

A tally of adoptions showed a total of 1,431 animals were adopted during the event. Five of the 12 participating shelters were completely emptied, including Johnston County Animal Services, Safe Haven for Cats in Cary, the Animal Protection Society of Durham, and the Franklin and Wake County shelters. Cumberland County Animal Services found homes for all adoptable dogs, according to a release.

Officials said Moore County struggled with adoptions this year due to a feline virus outbreak that hit Friday, the day before Clear the Shelters. The Vance County Animal Shelter also had quite a few animals left, although adoptions picked up later in the day.

"The other shelters thankfully did fine and, while we had fewer adoptable animals available this year, the adoption rate at each participating shelter was still higher than normal," said Loretta Harper-Arnold from Capitol Broadcasting Company and WRAL-TV, a proud partner of the event.

Families take home new pets

"I'm going to name her Renee Wright," said Constance Wright about her new cat. She and her granddaughter, Sanai Rouse, were out early at the Animal Protection Society of Durham.

"We wanted to be first in line to get first dibs on the kitten that she wants," Wright said.

"I'm feeling amazed," Sanai Rouse said about her cat. "This cat is so cute. She's black."

Adoption fees were waived, and, in many cases, so were the spay and neuter fees. A calling brought the Slaytons to Cumberland County animal control.

"Hey, we're the Slaytons and today is my birthday," they said. "We wanted to come out and save a life and find a forever friend."

The Wake County Animal Center emptied its shelter for the first time, adopting all of its animals more than three hours earlier than last year.

"Normally, we're still adopting out animals out to 6 p.m.," said Dr. Jennifer Federico with Wake County Animal Center. "So when we looked at our watches and it was 2:30, we were sending volunteers home that just got here because there were no animals to advocate for."

The shelter are empty for now, until they fill up again.

"Even if it's just 48 hours of breathing room, to clean, to deep clean, to get kennels in, to do what we need to do, it's still a great feeling," Federico said.

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