It’s hard to resist the allure of a cute puppy or kitten. Because of that, little bundles of joy find a home pretty quickly when they are made available for adoption at Chicago’s shelters and rescues. Many of the adult animals end up waiting a lot longer.
Wright-Way Rescue in Suburban Niles is hoping to change the fortunes of the adult cats and dogs in their care during their first adoption event of 2012 – The Name Your Own Adoption Fee Adult Pet Adopt-a-thon. All pets six months and older currently in Wright-Way’s care qualify for the program with a minimum adoption fee of $20.12. The event will be this Friday and Saturday.
“We wanted to give our adult pets a special day all to themselves. We are hoping this event helps educate people about the many benefits to adopting an adult dog or cat,” says Christy Anderson, founder of the rescue. “We currently have around 45 adult dogs and cats in our care. This number changes on a daily basis depending on surrenders and adoptions.”
Wright-Way Rescue saves animals from southern Illinois, Missouri and other Midwestern states that are dropped off at high kill shelters with little hope of adoption. The animals are vetted, spay-neutered and vaccinated before being transported to Chicago to find their new families. So many of the animals rescued are puppies and kittens. However, Anderson says adopters are missing out on something special when they skip adopting older pets for the cuddly youngsters.
“With an adult pet, you have a better idea of his or her personality – what you see is what you get,” says Anderson. “While all pets require training, adult pets are generally potty trained and tend to catch on to the rules more quickly because they’ve had previous training. They are also past the time-consuming puppy and kitten phase. They tend to be calmer than a puppy or kitten, making them ideal for people who don't have as much time to spend exercising.”
Finally, adult pets come up to date on all medical care. They will have all of their immunizations for the year, be altered, and often will come with a recent dental cleaning, according to Anderson. The Name Your Own Adoption Fee event will be on Friday, January 13 from 3 p.m. until 8 p.m. and on Saturday, January 14 from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Wright-Way Rescue at 7136 West Touhy in Niles.
In 2011, 2,855 animals were adopted through Wright-Way Rescue and an additional 147 were transferred to other no kill shelters resulting in 3,002 lives of cats and dogs saved during the year. Learn more about Wright-Way online, or follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
Do you volunteer or work for a shelter or rescue that has programs you'd like to promote? Do you work in a pet-releated business that has an interesting story to tell? If so, contact me at kathypetexam@gmail.com. Enjoy this article? Receive email alerts when new articles become available. Just click on the subscribe button above. You may also follow me on Twitter, Facebook or read my blog.
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