Clear The Shelters Day: Help Dogs, Cats Find Homes Near Dedham

DEDHAM, MA — Hundreds of animal shelters across the country are participating in Clear the Shelters pet adoption events on Saturday, Aug. 17, to help find loving homes for animals that have been abandoned or surrendered to shelters. In Dedham, the Animal Rescue League of Boston isn't an official participant but said they support it and encourage people to come out and adopt regardless.

Among the dogs and cats the shelter the Animal Rescue League hopes to find a new home for are Captain Barbosa and Sassy.

Captain Barbosa is a three-year old bulldog mix. He was given up when his owner went on military deployment. Captain Barbosa lived with two adults and learned to get along with a cat, Mike Defina, the communications director for the shelter said.

"Captain is an all-around good boy," Defina said. "You won't notice at first, but he is missing one of his back feet. It doesn't bother him one bit! Captain is a strong boy, and at 65 pounds, needs a confident hand on his leash. He's a great candidate for some training classes. Bond with the big guy and learn some positive training techniques at the same time!"

Sassy, the nine-year-old tortie, lives up to her name. Defina described her personality as vivacious and said she loves lounging on her perch, long naps, and dinner. He had some fun and gave Sassy her own voice.

"My daily exercise includes playing with my kitty toys and running to my food bowl," Defina said as if he were Sassy. "I am selectively affectionate, and in the shelter, they call this high arousal."

Clear the Shelters is sponsored by NBC- and Telemundo-owned stations, which are teaming up with shelters nationwide in the pet adoption drive. Since 2015, more than 250,000 pets have found forever homes as a result of the effort.

The ASPCA — or American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals — estimates that in addition to 3.3 million dogs in shelters at any given time, there are 3.2 million cats.

About 1.5 million of them — 670,000 dogs and 860,000 cats — are euthanized before they can be adopted, though the ASPCA says those numbers are declining, in large part because a greater percentage of them are adopted. About 1.6 million dogs and 1.6 million cats are adopted every year.

The ASPCA also says that about 620,000 dogs and 90,000 cats that enter shelters every year are strays that are eventually returned to their owners.

Adopting a pet has multiple benefits. Some of them include:

1. You'll save an animal's life. The Humane Society of the United States says the number of animals that are put down every year could be reduced even more if more people adopted pets.

2. Most pets in shelters are already house-trained and used to living with families. The Humane Society says most pets end up in shelters "because of a human problem like a move or a divroce, not because they did anything wrong."

3. You'll save money. Often, the costs of spay/neuter surgeries and first vaccinations, and in some cases, microchipping, are included in the adoption fee. That alone will save upfront costs, but breeders can charge much more than the cost of adoption.

4. You'll help fight puppy mills. If you buy a dog at a pet store, flea market, or from an online seller, chances are you're unwittingly supporting puppy mills, factory-style breeding facilities where dogs often live in squalid conditions, don't get adequate medical care, and can have health and behavior problems as a result.

5. You'll help break the cycle of companion-animal overpopulation. There aren't enough homes for all the pets that are born every year, and adopting from a shelter helps weaken the pet overpopulation cycle.

6. Adoption helps more than just one animal. When you provide a shelter animal a home, you'll be making room for other unwanted pets. Also, the adoption fee helps shelters provide better care for the animals they take in.

7. You can get an adult pet. Puppies and kittens are bouncing balls of energy given to biting, clawing and chewing. Many adult dogs in shelters already know basic commands like "sit" and "stay," and cats are litter-trained. The personality of the adult pet also shines through, and you'll know what kind of pet you're getting.

8. Shelters offer a lifetime of resources. When you adopt, shelter employees who work with pets every day will provide resources on many different issues.

9. You're supporting a valuable community charity. Shelters are nonprofit groups that help improve community life and reduce pet overpopulation with a requirement that all animals be spayed or neutered. That reduces the chances that more unwanted animals will be born.

10. You'll feel great and you'll encourage others to adopt. Pets give unconditional love, and research shows them to be psychologically, emotionally and physically beneficial to their companions. Caring for an animal provides a sense of purpose and can lessen feelings of loneliness. When someone asks you where you got your pet, tell them "at the shelter." That may encourage others to do the same.