Although Halloween may look different this year, local residents looking for a treat may find one in the form of a new companion.
Ingham County Animal Control & Shelter at Buhl St. is encouraging people to adopt with their “Howl-O-Ween” special, during which the shelter will adopt dogs out at half price.
“Earlier in the month, we weren’t full on dogs, but we could definitely tell we had more in the building than we wanted, and we wanted to make sure that we kept dogs getting out to good homes,” Kate Turner, Customer Service and Community Outreach manager for ICACS, said. “We really wanted to make sure that all the dogs had a good chance of finding a new home quickly, that’s why we dropped the prices to encourage adoption.”
Turner said that at full capacity, the shelter can hold 40-50 dogs, but they try to stay away from a number that high.
“When we started the special we had about 15-18 dogs on our adoption floor alone,” Turner said. “We just knew that if we didn’t get those adopted out, the dogs that we had in our stray holding area might not make it onto the adoption floor as quickly because we can only put up so many dogs at a time.”
According to Turner, Howl-O-Ween special has been successful so far. She said that ICACS currently has around five or six adoptable dogs at the shelter.
“We’re really hoping for a good couple of days to make sure that we get those dogs placed before any dogs come up on the floor next week,” Turner said.
The special began Oct. 16, and runs through Halloween. Adoption hours are 10:30am-4:30pm Monday through Saturday with extended hours until 5:30pm on Wednesdays.
Senior dogs are $25, adult dogs are $50, and puppies under 6 months are $75. The adoption fee includes a one year dog license, microchip, and current vaccinations. All dogs are neutered, and ICACS does a behavioral analysis on all animals before they go up for adoption, and will provide recommendations on the right housing and training needs for your pet.
For those that do not own their homes, ICACS recommend adopters to bring documentation of their landlord or leasing agency’s pet policy. More information can be found at www.ac.ingham.org, or by calling 517-676-8370.
“You’re going to get a great dog out of it with everything ready to go, and you can use whatever money that you save to spoil that dog just a little bit more,” Turner said.
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