On Friday, July 6th our 3rd annual Kittypalooza adoption event kicked off!
This feline-focused, 3-day adoption event is held with the goal of helping GTHS manage the high volume of cats and kittens that come through the shelter during the spring and summer months.
Our GTHS team of staff and volunteers were hard at work for weeks and weeks leading up to Kittypalooza, setting out to promote the event, completing hours upon hours of administrative prep work, and ensuring our cats and kittens were happy and healthy and ready to find their purrrfect homes.
Although we have run this event the past 2 years as well, we had high hopes for Kittypalooza as being one for the record books this year.
Leading up to the event we had roughly 40 kittens in foster care that would be arriving prior to Kittypalooza, in addition to those cats and kittens already in the shelter ready for adoption. Our Adoption Supervisor at the GTHS, Ayrlea Manchester, had stated that “we are hoping to empty the shelter over this weekend event. It’s an ambitious goal, but it would make a significant impact to the lives of these cats and kittens, so we are aiming high.”
To attract potential adopters from the Georgian Triangle area and beyond, the GTHS dropped adoption prices to record lows for this year’s Kittypalooza. All cats and kittens had an adoption fee of only $25, with our senior kitties adoptable by donation. Each adoption fee includes the spay/neuter surgery, up-to-date vaccinations, parasite treatment, and a microchip.
“Each year between 1300 and 1500 animals enter the GTHS animal shelter program. Kittypalooza is a huge undertaking that can really make an impact throughout the rest of ‘kitten season’. The event takes the participation of over 40 volunteers, collaboration from our veterinary partners and support from our community businesses in order to be a success.” stated Sonya Reichel, Executive Director for the GTHS. “We are so grateful to our pet-loving community for coming out and welcoming homeless cats and kittens into their homes. It is certainly a win-win-win!”
The weather seemed to be on our side for Kittypalooza this year, as the 30+ degree temperatures finally let up to some cooler, more comfortable weather, and good thing!! As our team was busily buzzing around the shelter the morning on July 6th, doing final Kittypalooza preparations, eager adopters were already lining up at the door! We saw a line of smiling faces beginning to form at our front door at 9am in anticipation of our 12pm open! Excited children and adults alike, stood anxiously waiting, carriers in hand, to find their new furry friend.
That 9am line up was just a glimpse at the success that Day 1 would be! In the brief 4-hour period that we were open for Kittypalooza on Friday, we sent 40 of our lucky cats and kittens into loving new homes! By Day 2, there were no sign of adoptions slowing down, as again a line started forming at our front door hours before open. Within an hour of opening our doors on Saturday, we had emptied our entire kitten room! A success certainly worth celebrating! By the end of the day on Saturday, we could not believe our eyes. Not only did we have an empty kitten room, but our gigantic main cat room had only 5, yes 5, cats left! After the first 2 days of non-stop adoptions, our team was tired but smiling as we were SO close to our goal of emptying the shelter!! We moved into Day 3 of our adoption event at a bit of a slower pace, but still considered it a huge success as we managed to find a purrrfect home for our long-term senior resident cat, as well as sending our 2 senior FIV+ cats into a loving home together! By the end of our 2018 Kittypalooza, we had found homes for 61 of our 63 adoptable kitties. That translates into 97% of our available felines leaving the shelter to start their new lives with their new families!!
We could not be happier with the results our of 3rd annual Kittypalooza adoption event.
It truly was an incredible weekend and we feel so fortunate to be part of such a wonderful community full of animal lovers and adopters.
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