Longview animal shelter celebrates Howl-O-Ween to increase adoptions - Longview News-Journal

---

Longview animal shelter celebrates Howl-O-Ween to increase adoptions - Longview News-Journal Posted: 24 Oct 2020 05:45 AM PDT Longview Animal Care and Adoption Center has transformed into a haunted shelter for Howl-O-Ween, complete with free-and low-cost adoptions and a virtual pet costume contest. Traditionally, the animal shelter holds a one-day Halloween carnival in which 200 to 300 people come out with costumed canines and to adopt animals, Animal Services Supervisor Chris Kemper said. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the shelter has gotten creative in how it promotes its animals. "This year, we decided that in lieu of the big, multi-person one-day event, we were going to do a full month of a Halloween spooktacular," he said. Activities have included free-and low-cost adoptions as well as a virtual Howl-O-Ween pet costume contest. "Last week, we partnered with Cablelynx, and Cablelynx sponsored all of our adoption fees for the entire week. We did 35 adoptions last week. It was fantastic," Kemper said. On Oct. 30 and 31, Toyota of Longview will be sponsoring all adoption fees for animals, he said. Leading up to that, the shelter has reduced its rates and is offering $13 adoptions for all animals, Kemper said. Additionally, the shelter is offering a virtual pet costume contest. Photos must be submitted by today to whigginbotham@longviewtexas.gov. Prizes have been given away throughout the month, and finalists will be announced during a Facebook Live event Oct. 31. The push during October is important, Kemper said, because it's a time when adoptions are typically lower but the shelter continues to take in the same number of animals. Coupled with the pandemic, Longview Animal Care and Adoption Center has had to find ways to continue to adopt animals while also making the public feel safe about coming inside the facility. The shelter has remained open throughout the pandemic, continuing to take animals in even as many businesses closed in March and April. "We also had to adopt animals out, because if we're taking them in, we have to get them out," Kemper said. In April and May, the shelter operated in a curbside-only method, he said. Drop-offs continue to be curbside so shelter staff can thoroughly clean an animal and check its health before bringing it into the shelter. As things began to open back up, the shelter allowed the public to come inside in a limited capacity with social distancing markers in place and hand sanitizing stations available. "We've also been using every other kennel in our adoption lobby, so that when people are looking at animals they're not shoulder-to-shoulder," Kemper said. "So, we spaced our animals out one kennel apart. That's taken a little away from our capacity, so we still are having to turn animals and get them out quickly. Because of that, we've had to be real creative with events and specials." The shelter has latched onto different themes as avenues to spur pet adoptions. For example, during the Discovery Channel's "Shark Week," the center decorated with an aquarium and shark theme while dressing its adoptable animals in shark costumes. For Halloween, the shelter is decorated with skeletons, bats and other items. A skeleton "doctor" greets guests at a hand sanitizing station immediately upon entering, and as guests walk through the facility to look at animals, they may find skeleton dogs in some of the empty kennels. "We've transformed our lobby into this haunted shelter trying to keep people coming and going, and to offer something unique that makes people want to walk through the door," Kemper said. "Our staff has worked so hard to make this happen and find creative ways to promote our animals." Throughout the pandemic, the shelter has maintained a 99% wide release rate for adopting animals, Kemper said. The shelter also has altered the way guests get to interact with animals before adoption. Traditionally, the shelter has specific rooms set aside for meet-and-greets, but during the pandemic, it has been using its outdoor space. "What we've found is that the dogs respond so much better when they get to go outside," Kemper said. "What we've discovered is that when you put a dog in a little room like this — and these rooms are great and they're pretty and you can see — but the dog is kind of cooped up. When they're taken outside to our yard areas, they get to move around and people can better see what the animal's true personality is. That's been wonderful with our animals, and it's really helped get them adopted." Kemper said that's a practice the shelter intends to continue post-pandemic. In addition to finding creative ways to get animals adopted, the shelter also has had to get creative with fundraising during the pandemic. The shelter has relied primarily on merchandise sales of T-shirts, face masks, caps, beanies and a 2021 calendar that it created. "Our nonprofit, which is Longview PAWS, puts the money forward to do all this merchandising," Kemper said. "So anything that anyone buys here in our gift shop goes back towards Longview PAWs, which means the money goes directly towards helping our animals."

You are subscribed to email updates from "aquarium supply store near me" - Google News. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States