FARMINGTON — The line was long on Black Friday at the Franklin County Animal Shelter for the start of a special four-day pet adoption promotion.

Potential pet owners started lining up early, some waiting more than two and three hours for the noon opening. Cars filled the parking lot, and an overflow of cars parked along Route 43.

Thanks to Zappos.com and the Best Friends Animal Society, kitten, cat and dog adoptions from Black Friday to Cyber Monday, Nov. 27-30, are free, said Heidi Jordan, shelter manager. The shelter is open from noon to 5 p.m. all four days including Sunday.

“The crowd is at the Franklin County Animal Shelter,” Jordan said shortly before the doors opened. “You should see the people in our parking lot. It is something.”

The shelter joined others across the nation to participate in the Best Friends Animal Society’s promotion. The Farmington shelter is the only one in the state participating, so some animals from other shelters will also be available, according to the shelter’s website.

Dakota Barry of Farmington and his daughter, Ava, arrived shortly after the noon opening with the hope of getting a larger dog, maybe a Lab, he said. Barry expected to wait for a while as the first 30 in line were admitted and given time to make selections.

For Deelight Zitzelberger, the fact that the shelter event was associated with the Best Friends organization meant a lot. The Best Friends Animal Society is exclusively dedicated to ending the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters. 

The organization has shipped countless dogs from its Los Angeles location to various shelters across the country to help them find homes, she said. The Zitzelbergers adopted a Best Friends dog at a previous event.

One black dog could hardly sit still for a photo with his new owner, Samantha Burns of Starks. The one-year-old, Bowie, was heading for his new home, Runamuk Farm. Burns said she had looked at the animals online and had hoped she could get Bowie. She arrived at 9:30 a.m. and was one of the first to enter the shelter after it opened.

abryant@sunmediagroup.net