Massachusetts

Clear the Shelters: Hundreds of Pets Adopted in New England

NBC and Telemundo stations across the country are teaming up with animal shelters nationwide on Aug. 17 for the fifth annual Clear the Shelters campaign

Hundreds of people across New England came out Saturday to adopt dogs, cats and more animals that need loving homes in the latest Clear the Shelters drive.

NBC10 Boston, Telemundo Boston and necn once again took part in the nationwide pet adoption campaign, now in its fifth year, finding homes for more than 300 dogs, cats, rabbits and guinea pigs at 54 participating local animal shelters and rescues.

Two facilities even managed to clear entire species.

One of them was the New Hampshire Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which had all nine of its adoptable dogs finding new homes within the first few hours ⁠— the first time the shelter had all its dogs cleared.

Kelley Howard, of Hampton, found a new dog named Tucker there. She said she's been waiting a long time for this day.

"We were looking at another dog earlier and he was already going home with another family. I wanted to take them all but you can't," she said.

Chandler Solsky, of Rochester, took home 5-year-old mix-breed Irie.

"I fell in love right away. We came a couple of days ago and we saw her and we had to come back and get her," she said.

All the cats available at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Angell Animal Medical Center were adopted Saturday, too.

"He does have a little personality! He's a little feisty," said Julissa Almendarez, who took home a cat named Safari.

Mike Sproul was one of the first in the door at Northeast Animal Shelter in Salem, Massachusetts, Saturday morning. He was on a mission to find an orange cat for his children, who have already named their future cat Cheeto.

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Holding a furry candidate already named James Pearl Jones, Sproul said he chose adoption because he believes it's important these loving animals have a nice home.

"To give a pet a better home should be everybody's dream, and what they should do. Just due to the fact that everybody needs a good environment," he said.

More than 15,000 pets have found new homes in New England since the debut of Clear the Shelters in 2015. For more information about the stations' pet adoption campaign, click here.

Many facilities across the country waived adoption fees for Clear the Shelters, including some of the participating organizations in New England. As of Saturday afternoon, more than 70,000 animals went home from over 1,000 shelters nationwide this year.

The campaign runs for a month and crescendoes with Saturday's event.

Every year, 6.5 million animals end up in shelters nationwide — and only 3.2 million are adopted, according to the ASPCA.

Follow along on Twitter @ClearTheShelter and on social media using the hashtags #ClearTheShelters and #DesocuparLosAlbergues.

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