PLANT CITY HOSTED THE ANNUAL MEGA DOG ADOPTION.
“We came out to adopt a dog for a good home,” Raphael Gonzalez said.
June 6 to June 8, the Mega Dog Adoption Festival took place in Plant City. “This is our third annual dog adoption here at the Strawberry Festival grounds,” Chelsea Waldek, Division Director for the Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center, commented. “It is a great time for us to come together as a community of county shelters to showcase how really amazing shelter dogs are, and to try to find them good homes. We are trying to get as many dogs adopted as we possibly can. Last year, we had 460ish adoptions. This year, we are hoping for 500. This is day one, and we are excited to be here for all three days.”
All of the dogs are from county shelters in Hillsborough, Pasco, Orange, Polk, Marion, Manatee, and Sumter. “Including cats, we have over 300 animals at our shelter,” Bryant Almeida, Public Relations Officer for Orange County Animal Services, said. “We brought 30 dogs, and throughout the event, we will refill the ones that got adopted, so we are shooting for anywhere between 60 and 100 dogs to be adopted. I love working with animals. I used to be a police officer in Orlando, but I find this job to be a lot more rewarding, because you get to see the physical change. Every single life that you save makes a huge difference.”
Currently, shelters across the country are overpopulated, and so are the ones in these seven counties. “There is a great selection of dogs,” Katherine Kinsey said. “I want to love on them, and I found one to bring home. I have seen her for several months at the Polk County shelter, and I saw her here today, and I said, ‘That’s it.’”
“I am here helping Orange County Animal Services get dogs adopted,” Janel Potts said. “I foster with my husband.”
This is central Florida’s largest annual adoption event, and it ran from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day to give people a lot of time to come by. All dog adoptions were free. “These are stray dogs that came from anywhere in Polk County,” Pam Waldron, who works for Polk County Animal Control, pointed out on Friday at 2:13 p.m. “We adopted out 20 so far today. Right now we have another 30. We will keep bringing more as the other ones leave.”
A steady stream of potential pet parents came through the doors of the Grimes Family Agricultural Center. Many were adults, and they had herds of children in tow.
“We came today because we have a pit mix at home who lost his brother about a year ago, so the kids wanted to get him a friend,” Amy Beattie said. “My daughter found it on Facebook and begged us to come up here. My husband and I came once already, and I had to bring the kids back to check this out.”
“We are looking to possibly add another member to our family, so we are looking for something very specific,” Lesley Monahan said. “Not a puppy, but a little bit of an older dog because they are harder to adopt out. Specifically, a mixed breed—bully breed, and white. I have adopted four dogs through the Pet Resource Center.”
The shelters set up cages to contain the dogs and separated areas where potential owners could sit and play to see if they meshed with a potential pet. Also on hand, was a booth with walls of toys and collars, and a caricature artist to draw the first portrait of owners and dogs.
“We actually came from Orlando,” Liz Rightler shared. “We recently got married, so we are looking for a new addition. I love dogs and we are ready to find our first one. They deserve a home.”
“We want to find a dog for the dog we already have—a golden doodle—a traveling companion,” Leslie Kimbel said.
The Mega Dog Adoption didn’t make the goal of 500, but adults and children left with smiles, and 334 dogs with wagging tails. “This is one of the most beneficial events we have here,” Nicole Robinson, Event Coordinator for the Strawberry Festival commented.
