March Madness ends Monday night when the NCAA men’s college basketball national champion will be crowned.
But it’s also a time to give some needy pets a royal treatment.
The Fort Worth Animal Shelter, for a second straight year, is holding its own March Madness. Between now and the end of the day Monday, they are reducing adoption fees to $20.18 in an effort to help get nearly 600 dogs and cats adopted. The fees are regularly $49 for dogs and $25 for cats.
Adoption fees include an initial medical exam, rabies vaccination, city license, micro-chip, and spay/neuter services.
“For the past two years, we found ourselves at or over-capacity at the shelter at this particular time of the year. Hosting a reduced-fee adoption event and combining it with basketball, it’s a winning promotion,” said Diane Covey, public information officer with the city of Fort Worth’s Code Compliance Department. “Capacity for us is approximately 600 kennels. Yes, I know, that’s a lot of pets waiting to be adopted.”
The Fort Worth Animal Shelter takes in more than 17,000 animals each year, said Jacque Lickteig, marketing coordinator for the Code Compliance Department.
“We do things like this to break into new markets, reach new people, let them know we have animals that need homes,” Lickteig said. “Our highest need is always large dogs. Many people want small dogs.”
As of earlier on Wednesday, the shelter has had 91 adoptions since the start of the March Madness promotion on March 23.
She also noted that one does not have to live in Fort Worth or Tarrant County – or even in the state of Texas – to adopt. She said recent rescue transports sent 15 animals to New Jersey and 20 to Washington state.
“Say you live in Florida or New Jersey and you see a pet we have. We will work with our partner agencies to get the pet transferred,” Lickteig said.
Lickteig said since March 17, the Shelter has had 176 pets adopted.
Score big with $20.18 adoption fees
The Fort Worth Animal Shelter is joining the excitement that annually surrounds March Madness.
The shelter is currently operating at full capacity, with nearly 600 dogs and cats waiting to be adopted, a release stated. Annually, the Fort Worth shelter takes in more than 17,000 animals that need homes.
In the hopes of getting some of the March Madness excitement flowing, adoption fees have been reduced to $20.18. The release explained that the adoption fees include an initial medical examination, rabies vaccination, city license, micro-chip and spay/neuter services.
The Fort Worth Animal Shelter cited three Fort Worth adoption locations:
— Chuck Silcox Animal Care & Adoption Center, 4900 Martin St. Friday-Sunday.
— PetSmart Adoption Center Hulen, 4800 S.W. Loop 820 (I-20 at Hulen).
— PetSmart Adoption Center Alliance, 2901 Texas Sage Trail (I-35W at Heritage Trace).