The T. Russell Reitz Animal Shelter of Manhattan held an adoption event over the weekend in celebration of the Super Bowl.
Those looking for a new addition to their family could choose from dogs to rabbits and hamsters. Volunteer Coordinator Hanna Shoemaker stated that excitement for the upcoming Super Bowl was one of the main influences on holding the adoption event.
“We have to support our team and plug into the community in a fun way. We are excited to have this opportunity to try to find our animals some homes,” she said.
As the afternoon passed, the shelter quickly filled up with excited members of the community looking for a new family member. Others were just just passing their time meeting new friends both human and canine at the shelter. One resident, Nicole, and her daughter Alana found a new member of their family in Evie, a husky pup from the shelter.
One of their previous dogs had recently passed away, so they wanted to find a new companion for their family. After spending time with Evie, they adopted her. Their adoption is one of many that occurred throughout the day.
While the event was a success over the weekend, shelter director Deb Watkins says they continue the adoption event, appropriately titled “Homeless pets need Mahomes.” The shelter has put nine new dogs on the adoption floor. All adult dogs and cats are available for a $50 adoption fee. The adoption event runs through Saturday.
On KMAN’s In Focus last week, “Ellie” was the featured pet for adoption. She was adopted but then came back to the shelter over the weekend since because the people who adopted her are moving to a place that doesn’t allow pets. Ellie remained up for adoption as of Monday morning.
Shoemaker stated just how important adoptions like this are animals currently housed in the shelter due to recent overcrowding.
“We are pretty full right now in both the front of house and back of house. We have alot of animals just waiting to get onto the adoption floor. We are really hoping to get a bunch of animals homes today so we can make some room on the adoption floor and take more animals in”.
The community support within the town of Manhattan has been instrumental to the success of the many adoption events held at the Animal Shelter. The use of social media has led to recent success as well.
“We love seeing people getting involved in the shelter. We love when we put out a message and people respond to it. We have really incredible community support,” Shoemaker said.
In addition to support from Manhattan, the Kansas State University Veterinarian School has also supported the shelter. All animals that come into the shelter are spayed and neutered and receive vaccinations.
“The K-State shelter medicine program has been coming in and doing all our veterinarian work for us. They are doing really really great work for us,” Shoemaker said.
With the success of this most recent adoption event and several others in the past, the T. Russell Reitz Animal Shelter will be holding several upcoming adoption events, including one for Valentine’s Day, later in February.
