No Pets Left Behind at Joplin Adopt-a-thon

Last weekend’s Adopt-a-thon for unclaimed four-legged survivors of last month’s tornado in Joplin, Mo., was a huge success.

The ASPCA and Joplin Humane Society report that 745 dogs and cats found furever homes during the two-day event.

“We are truly humbled by the amazing generosity of our fellow animal lovers and volunteers and, most of all, the hard work and compassion of our colleagues at the Joplin Humane Society,” wrote the ASPCA on its website.

More than 5,700 potential pet parents from 24 states looked for new furever friends at the event. The Joplin Humane Society waived adoption fees for new pet parents, and announced it will continue to waive the fees through July 9.

“I was able to go and adopt two dogs today!” a commenter named Megan wrote on the ASPCA website. “I was so happy to be able to help these animals have a new wonderful home. I lost one of my dogs to the tornado, and having the chance to give these two wonderful dogs a new life and chance to have a family and a home helped to ease the pain of my loss.”

The event’s organizers were thrilled to surpass their original goal of finding new homes for 600 pets.

“Thanks to the generosity of these wonderful people, the animals left homeless by last month’s tornado are sleeping in new beds tonight,” Joplin native Tim Rickey, the senior director of field investigations for the ASPCA, told Parade.com. “We are completely floored by the amazing outpouring of support.”

The ASPCA website will soon be posting stories by people who adopted pets at the event. i Love Dogs would also love to hear from those of you who brought home a new dog (or two) from the Adopt-a-thon. We’ll post your stories in our new rescue tales feature, and send you and your new furry friends a fun goodie bag!

PHOTO: Jocelyn Augustino

Laura Goldman

Laura Goldman is senior social media writer for i Love Dogs, Inc. She does love dogs. And elephants and turtles. Along with writing about the loves of her life, Laura likes to play with her two pound pups and tell anyone who’ll listen just how awesome Pit Bulls are.