LEWISTON — The Greater Androscoggin Humane Society met its 24-Hour Super Adoption Event goal.
And then some.
Between 6 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday, the local animal shelter found homes for 144 cats and dogs, plus a couple of rabbits.
“It was just great that our community came out and supported us for this important cause,” Development Director Donna Kincer said.
The shelter is now a step closer to winning the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ 100K Challenge, a national competition involving a select 50 animal shelters across the country to increase the number of cats and dogs adopted or returned to their owners. The Greater Androscoggin Humane Society won a spot in the 100K Challenge earlier this year when 5,300 voters supported its entry. It is the only competing shelter in Maine.
If the shelter returns or finds new homes for 974 cats and dogs between August and October — 300 more than it did during the same period last year — it will be eligible to win $300,000 in grants, including $25,000 for engaging the community, $20,000 for saving the most animals and $5,000 for saving the most animals in a month. A $100,000 grand prize will go to the shelter that saves the most cats and dogs overall.
Although the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society will give away pet ID tags and hold off-site adoption events and other promotions over the next three months, the 24-Hour Super Adoption Event was planned as the biggest push. Organizers had hoped to find homes for at least 100 animals.
They surpassed that goal by nearly 50 percent.
Puppypalooza turned out to be the busiest time of the 24-hour event, Kincer said. That’s when the shelter debuted more than 50 puppies up for adoption. The quietest time was between 3:30 and 6 a.m.. The lure of free coffeemakers wasn’t quite enough to draw people to adopt before dawn.
Although other animal shelters across the country have held similar 24-hour events, this was a first for Maine. The Greater Androscoggin Humane Society hopes to make it an annual event.
Despite the high number of adoptions during the event, the shelter still has small animals, cats, kittens and a couple of dogs available for adoption.
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