An urgent plea by a Calgary animal shelter has been answered by Albertans.
The Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society (AARCS) reached maximum capacity with 600 homeless cats and dogs last week after adoptions were sluggish.
As of Halloween morning, AARCS has received over 500 adoption applications, with 101 completed and 97 pending, as meet and greets are arranged with foster families and potential new owners.
“The phone was ringing off the hook and the emails poured in,” said Deanna Thompson, executive director of AARCS, in a statement.
“There was so much traffic to our website that it was timing out and eventually crashed,” she added. “It took a few hours to get it back up and running and we had to put extra adoptions staff on to get through the large number of applications and calls.”
Thompson said the response has been incredible.
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“We are so lucky to live in such a caring and compassionate community,” she said. “Many people came forward who weren’t able to adopt, but wanted to give back through donations of funds, dog and cat food, and much-needed supplies.”
AARCS said there are still more than 400 animals in its care, although many not quite ready for adoption just yet.
“We have a number of puppies that will soon be old enough for adoption, and more dogs and cats just waiting on their final medical clearance before going up for adoption,” Thompson said. “We are asking people to be patient as we process the many requests and to check back, as new adoptable animals are added daily.”
Thompson said the process can take longer because, unlike traditional shelters, AARCS animals are cared for by volunteer foster homes.
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