Five year old Cinnamon is currently available for adoption at the Chenango SPCA. Now through July 31 the Chenango SPCA will be participating in the Bissell Foundation Empty the Shelters event, featuring $25 adoption fees for cats and $50 for dogs. Adoptable animals and adoption applications can be found on their website, ChenangoSPCA.org. (Photo from the Chenango SPCA Facebook page)

CHENANGO COUNTY — The Chenango SPCA has participated in the long-running Bissell Foundation Empty the Shelters event since its inception in 2011. The adoption special will run from July 11 until July 31, and reduces the adoption fee of dogs to $50 and cats to $25.

"They are responding to a current crisis in all the shelters. We’re all overloaded significantly," said Chenango SPCA Executive Director Annette Clarke. "So they do this several times a year, but they put this one in specifically because everybody’s in kind of crisis mode right now with an overflow of animals."

Currently, the Chenango SPCA has 160 cats and 21 dogs in their care, with 96 cats and 13 dogs currently available for adoption. Clarke explained the Bissell Foundation contributes a portion of the adoption fee to help make adopting a pet more affordable, which will hopefully get more animals out of the shelter and into loving homes.

"They will pay $50 for a dog and $20 for a cat that has been adopted. Normally we charge $155 for a dog, so we are taking a loss by doing it this way, but it’s getting more animals out the door which is what our goal is - to get as many adopted as possible," she said. "The same way with the fee for the cats. The idea is that with a lower fee, more people will adopt; and the Bissell Foundation is helping us by helping to make up some of the difference."

Clarke encourages those who are interested in adopting to fill out an application and get pre-approved to streamline the process. Adoption applications can be found at ChenangoSPCA.org. From there, adopters can visit the shelter to meet the animals and select which furry friend they'd like to take home.

"It still means that if your animal that you have chosen has not been spayed or neutered, that has to happen first. So you might not get to take the animal home that day, but you will get the animal that you’ve chosen. It’s just New York State law that they have to be spayed or neutered before they leave us," she explained. "Once you take the animal home, it’ll have all its shots. It’ll be up to date on its vaccines, it will have been microchipped, and of course it will have been spayed or neutered. So it’s really a good deal for $25 for a cat and $50 for a dog with all of that."

The Chenango SPCA also reserves the right to omit some animals from the special, such as kittens who aren't quite old enough to be adopted yet.

"It typically means ones that we may feel have other needs, or that they aren’t ready, like we’ll have animals that come in that are not up for adoption because it hasn’t met the seven day hold on them that we have to do," said Clarke. "Or that they’re puppies and they’re not old enough, or kittens and they’re not old enough to be spayed or neutered, and if they’re not old enough to be spayed or neutered then they can’t be part of the program, so it doesn't fall under the Bissell Empty the Shelter."

"However, because this is going on for so long, some of that will just fix itself sort of in the course of those three weeks. Because say a kitten is only six weeks old and it needs to be eight: Well during that three-week period, it will mature enough that it may be able to be in it," she added.

The Chenango SPCA has been participating in the Bissell Foundation Empty the Shelters event since it began in 2011. In that time, the adoption special has helped with the adoption of over 96,000 pets.

"We typically participate whenever they put one in. It’s a great event and we encourage people that if they don’t want to adopt an animal and they want to donate to something besides us, to either donate to the Bissell Foundation or buy Bissell products," said Clarke. "That all helps this foundation do what it does, and what it has done. If you go to their site, it’s an amazing job of what Cathy Bissell has done with promoting adoptions of animals."

Empty the Shelters adoptions are available during the Chenango SPCA's normal hours of operation: noon to 4:30 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays; and noon to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays. The Chenango SPCA is located at 6160 County Road 32 in Norwich. Masks are required inside the facility.

Also coming up in July is the Chenango SPCA's monthly garage sale from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 23. Those interested in donating used items to the garage sale can drop off items at the shelter during their hours of operation.

"We ask that you bring them when we're open and talk to a front desk person, because there are certain things we won’t take," Clarke explained. "We just want people to come in, get a front desk person, and they’ll go right out with you and they’ll take a look and help you load it into the garage. So it doesn’t take long."

"We don’t take large furniture, we don’t take exercise equipment, we don’t take VHS tapes," she continued. "We don’t take encyclopedias and magazines. We don’t take clothes, and a lot of people don’t realize that. We don’t have the wherewithal to put that out. So we want to just take a look at what you’re bringing and say yes to this, no to that. We’re not too picky, it’s just that we want things that we’re not going to have to get rid of on the other end."

On Saturday, August 6, the Paws and Pints fundraiser will return to Hidden Springs Brewhouse for the second year. The event, sponsored by Hidden Springs and Oliver's Campers, will run from 1 to 7 p.m., with magician Ryan Bliss entertaining visitors from 2 to 4 p.m. and the Sundown Band performing from 4 to 7 p.m.

"We’ll have a few games. There will be cornhole, and maybe a few other games for the kids. I’m working on an idea of maybe some kind of kids’ activity," said Clarke. "Come and enjoy the day, the music. There will be food trucks there, certainly beer. It’s just kind of a fun, relaxing day."

Clarke encourages local animal lovers to attend the events and support the Chenango SPCA. Those looking to adopt a cat or dog can take a look at the 100-plus pets available for adoption.

"We have a lot of animals and we hope that they will think about coming and adopting from us. We have something for everyone. There’s all different kinds," Clarke said. "With so many animals, we’d like to get our numbers down if we can, and we can use people’s help. I’m going to be sending out another appeal shortly because when you have this many animals, it takes more to care for them."

More information on the Chenango SPCA, their adoptable animals, and upcoming events can be found at ChenangoSPCA.org or on the Chenango SPCA Facebook page.