My Furry Valentine, our region’s largest pet adoption event, kicked off the weekend of February 11th, 2017 with about 800 animals looking for healthy, happy homes. At the end of the weekend, My Furry Valentine closed with 780 in-house adoptions.
To put that number in perspective; at the end of My Furry Valentine 2016, there were 575 in-house adoptions, but after pending applications from the event were approved, the total number of adoptions jumped to 813! This year, the total number of adoptions jumped to a whopping 850 and counting!
How did the amount of adoptions exceed the number of animals at the event? Before My Furry Valentine kicked off, there were 800 animals registered to attend. But many shelters and rescue groups ended up bringing whatever animals they had. For example, if a shelter received two litters of puppies two weeks before the event, all of a sudden there are 14 new animals that need homes as well. Additionally, if a shelter manages to find owners for all the animals it brings during the first day of the event, it will still show up on day two with more animals.
“About 60 percent of our adoptions take place on Saturday,” said Carolyn Evans, one of the My Furry Valentine event coordinators. “We notice that fewer adoptions take place on Sunday, possibly because people are afraid an animal they want won’t be around on day two. Unfortunately, this event could never run out of animals.” Regardless if attendees come on day one or day two, there are always new animals at My Furry Valentine looking for homes.
My Furry Valentine 2017 saw relatively the same number of visitors from 2016, at about 13,000-14,000 attendees. There were more adoptions this year, with more attendees serious about coming to find their new pet and start adoption applications.
“We always get visitors who come to My Furry Valentine from surrounding states, but this year we saw people from Minnesota, Maryland, and even Canada. Sharonville Convention Center is perfect for our attendees who come from all over because it’s right off all the major highways,” Carolyn said. “Our visitors like to be there because it’s a nice facility and easy parking. We also saw a big jump in our numbers when we moved here from the private facility we were using.”
Next year, My Furry Valentine is looking forward to beating 2017’s adoption numbers. If you’d like to get involved in planning My Furry Valentine 2018, please visit myfurryvalentine.com . Don’t forget to check out photos from the event on Facebook !
