Saturday was California Adopt-a-Pet Day and for the first time, Woods Humane Society and the San Luis Obispo County Animal Service Division joined.
On Saturday, Shahrad Teimouri and his family were on a mission to find a new dog since their last dog passed away eight months ago.
Ultimately, they adopted a dog named Skip.
“Skip just seems like a really good family dog and he was trainable. We asked him to sit and he sat. We gave him treats and I just felt like he was the right one,” Teimouri said.
Another family drove three and a half hours to adopt.
“We’re adopting Clark who is a four-year-old puppy and we're so excited to bring her home,” Sanya Mann, who adopted a dog, said.
Mann didn't realize it was California Adopt-a-Pet Day but they had been planning an adoption for months.
“It was a nice surprise we weren't expecting to get a puppy so quickly we weren't expecting it to happen on a free adoption day so it's kind of been the icing on the cake,” Mann continued.
Woods Humane Society and the County Animal Service Division are just a few of the 150 organizations participating across California; offering fee waived adoptions on June 1st.
This event works to help decrease the overload of animals in the shelters. It’s a problem that’s been happening in San Luis Obispo County for a while.
“Woods has been in Slo County for 69 years and for 69 years we've noticed an overpopulation of homeless or unwanted pets,” Emily L’heureux, Woods Humane Society CEO said.
“Over the last year or two we've been seeing shelter populations increase locally as well as around the state,” Eric Anderson, San Luis Obispo County Animal Services manager said.
The funds for California Adopt-a-Pet Day are from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) to cover the cost of adoptions at shelters.
The goal is to help find homes for as many pets as possible.
“We found a wonderful new family companion,” Teimouri said.
A volunteer with county animal services tells KSBY 16 dogs were adopted from their shelter on Saturday.
Woods Humane Society tells KSBY that 56 pets were adopted on Saturday.
