Home for the holidays (and forever)
Almost Home partners with Bissell Pet Foundation for free adoptions
-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert Bella, an adoptable cat at Almost Home, enjoys some chin scratches on Thursday afternoon. Bella and the other cats and dogs at the shelter are available for adoption with no fee from Dec. 1-16 as part of the Clear the Shelter adoption event sponsored by the Bissell Pet Foundation.
-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert <br> Almost Home Operations Manager Samantha Suoyer pets Bonnie, a cat available for adoption, during the Empty the Shelter event now through Dec. 16.
-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert <br> Lambeau, a boxer/husky mix, plays with a rope toy in the socialization room at Almost Home Humane Society on Thursday. Lambeau is friendly and loves to play, and has been at the shelter for over a year.
-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert <br> Momma, an American pit bull terrier, was found tied up to the mailbox at Almost Home about a year ago. She’s shy at first, but once she warms up to a person, she’s sweet and loving, shelter staff say.
-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert <br> Milo, a 9-year-old cat available for adoption at Almost Home, would prefer to be the only pet in his fur-ever home.
-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert <br> Martina, a tuxedo-patterned kitten, is available for adoption at Almost Home Humane Society.
-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert <br> Everly Suoyer, 5, holds Duchess, one of the adoptable cats at Almost Home Humane Society. Duchess has bonded with Lola, a black cat in the kennel next to hers.
-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert Bella, an adoptable cat at Almost Home, enjoys some chin scratches on Thursday afternoon. Bella and the other cats and dogs at the shelter are available for adoption with no fee from Dec. 1-16 as part of the Clear the Shelter adoption event sponsored by the Bissell Pet Foundation.
-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert <br> Almost Home Operations Manager Samantha Suoyer pets Bonnie, a cat available for adoption, during the Empty the Shelter event now through Dec. 16.
-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert <br> Lambeau, a boxer/husky mix, plays with a rope toy in the socialization room at Almost Home Humane Society on Thursday. Lambeau is friendly and loves to play, and has been at the shelter for over a year.
-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert <br> Momma, an American pit bull terrier, was found tied up to the mailbox at Almost Home about a year ago. She’s shy at first, but once she warms up to a person, she’s sweet and loving, shelter staff say.
-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert <br> Milo, a 9-year-old cat available for adoption at Almost Home, would prefer to be the only pet in his fur-ever home.
-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert <br> Martina, a tuxedo-patterned kitten, is available for adoption at Almost Home Humane Society.
-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert <br> Everly Suoyer, 5, holds Duchess, one of the adoptable cats at Almost Home Humane Society. Duchess has bonded with Lola, a black cat in the kennel next to hers.
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Every day, animal shelters hope to end their day with empty cages and kennels because all of their animals have found their "fur-ever" home. That's the goal, though it rarely -- if ever -- happens.
The Almost Home Humane Society of North Central Iowa is hoping to meet that goal of finding homes for the dozens of cats and dogs in the shelter during the first half of December. The shelter is participating in the Bissell Pet Foundation's Empty the Shelter Holiday Hope event starting today and continuing through Dec. 16. During that time, the Bissell Pet Foundation will cover the adoption fees for all animals in the shelter.
Almost Home is just one of two Iowa animal shelters who are participating in this Empty the Shelter event. The other is the Boone Area Humane Society.
"We're doing free adoptions because we need to get our animals out the door," said Almost Home Executive Director Paul Shane. "We have some animals who have been in our shelter for over two years now. We have over 75 cats and about 40 dogs and they need to find homes."
During the two-week adoption event, though the fees will be waived, prospective families will still need to apply to adopt an animal from the shelter. Applications can be submitted online at https://www.almosthomeiowa.org/adoption-application.
The shelter at 725 S. 32nd St. will be open extended hours during the adoption event. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, it will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. On Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays it will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The shelter is closed on Sundays and Mondays.
Information and photos of adoptable dogs and cats can be viewed on the shelter's website www.almosthomeiowa.org. Each pet has a profile page that shares their story and gives information about their personality, temperament and needs. Several of the animals have spent more than half their lives in the shelter and are eager to find their homes.
Bissell Pet Foundation's Empty the Shelter program is a competitive grant that the shelter had to apply for. This is the first time Almost Home has received the grant and participated in the adoption event, Shane said.
"We're excited about it," he said.
Truly emptying the shelter of all the animals is a lofty goal, but Shane has some extra motivation to see the shelter accomplish that goal.
"I really just want to clear out our entire shelter to give us a minute to breathe, to reassess finances and plans," he said.
Shane said he also wants to use the opportunity of an empty shelter to give it a good scrub.
"It's never been deep cleaned since it's been open because there's always been animals in there," he said.
The shelter's current facility opened in 2012.
"But it's never been deep cleaned because you can't deep clean a shelter because there's always animals there," Shane said. "But if we got it opened up for even a couple of weeks or a couple of weekends, we could bring in a high-pressure sprayer and just clean and sanitize every square inch of it and kind of start from ground zero."