Hawaii Public Radio: Empty the Shelters

Hawaiʻi’s four Humane Societies will participate in the nation’s largest adoption event next month.

The nonprofit BISSELL Pet Foundation will award grants to the Humane Society to reduce the adoption fee for cats and dogs.

It’s a part of their “Empty the Shelters” event with over 350 shelters participating nationwide. Hawaiʻi’s Humane Societies have been participating since 2020, but this is the first year all four shelters will take part.

The adoption fee for a kitten or a puppy is typically $100 or more. All participating cats and dogs will be available for $50 or less during the event.

“Shelters across the country have really found this to be a critical tool to finding homes for pets. Shelters are overcrowded,” Brittany Schlacter with the Bissell Pet Foundation said.

“Right now more than ever, we need to get pets into homes and we host ‘Empty the Shelters’ events quarterly. And we see that during these quarterly events, about 1,000 pets are adopted each day. And since we started this program in 2016, we’ve had nearly 140,000 pets go to loving homes,” Schlacter said.

Adoption fees will be reduced for cats and dogs at all of the Humane Society shelters from May 1 to 15.

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