photo by: Lawrence Humane Society

One of the families that adopted a pet during the 2022 Clear the Shelter Day at the Lawrence Humane Society poses for a picture with their new furry family member.

If all goes as planned this Saturday, the Lawrence Humane Society won’t have any animals left to adopt by the end of the day.

That’s because for the ninth year running, the Humane Society is participating in Clear the Shelter Day, part of a nationwide effort to match each animal in every participating shelter with a family in a single day. All adoption fees will be waived, and the shelter is aiming for a minimum of 75 dogs and 100 cats to be placed in a new home.

“You always have to have lofty goals, so our goal this year is 175,” Elina Alterman, the Humane Society’s director of development and communications, told the Journal-World Wednesday.

That’s an ambitious goal, Alterman said, because at least during the last three Clear the Shelter Days, the shelter hasn’t quite completely cleared out its population. But last year, it got close to this year’s goal — 159 animals were adopted, which Alterman said the Humane Society was thrilled about.

On top of that, Alterman said there’s a nationwide downward trend in dog adoptions that Lawrence hasn’t been immune to. It helps that the Humane Society takes even more steps besides waiving adoption fees to make finding a new furry friend cost-effective on Clear the Shelter Day. Every animal that’s adopted goes home spayed or neutered, fully vaccinated, dewormed and microchipped. They’ll also come with a collar, leash and starter bag of Hill’s Science Diet pet food.

On Saturday, Alterman said there will be a “huge variety” of dogs available for adoption, fitting for most every type of household. Some of them are already listed on the Humane Society’s website, but others are actually still trickling in. Those new — hopefully, short-term — residents will pop up on the website as they’re processed.

“Our team is working overtime right now trying to get animals in (for intake) and spayed or neutered,” Alterman said. “And they all go to foster homes. We could not do this event without our incredible foster community; our fosters have just been rock stars.”

photo by: Lawrence Humane Society

The Lawrence Humane Society staff poses for a picture featuring a whiteboard and poster board showing all 159 animals adopted during the 2022 Clear the Shelter Day.

But the best way to get a read on which animals might be a fit for your home, Alterman said, is to come to the shelter Saturday. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., or earlier if all of the shelter’s animals are adopted. Humane Society staff, including adoption counselors to help potential adopters assess animal behaviors or their compatibility with other pets in a home, will be working the shelter all day.

New foster animals will actually be coming to the adoption floor intermittently throughout the day, not all at once. That means that people who can’t make it to the Humane Society until later in the day shouldn’t worry about the “best” animals being adopted before they’re able to arrive, Alterman said — there will still be chances to find the right fit.

“Because we have animals in foster care, they will be coming back in waves,” Alterman said. “So as animals get adopted, we will be putting new animals on the adoption floor, and there’s a schedule for fosters to return their animals that day. There’s always going to be, throughout the entire day, an influx of more animals coming back to the shelter for this, so we encourage people to not be dissuaded or be discouraged from coming in the afternoon.”

And by extension, Alterman said that people who come by first thing in the morning but don’t end up finding the right fit are more than welcome to return later on as new potential pets arrive.

Clear the Shelter Day also happens to coincide with National Dog Day, and Alterman said there are other ways people who aren’t in a position to adopt a pet can help out the Humane Society. Three Scooter’s Coffee locations throughout Lawrence — at 4921 W. Sixth St., 2500 Iowa St. and 946 E. 23rd St. — are giving out pup cups and donating 10% of their proceeds Saturday to the shelter. And Lawrence Beer Co. will be hosting a dog food drive for the Humane Society’s pet pantry at both its east and west locations, with people 21 and older who donate a bag of dog food eligible for a half-price beer.

Alterman added that while Lawrence is a community of animal-lovers on the whole, sometimes the shelter hears concerns that animals won’t be placed in good homes because of the low barrier to entry on Clear the Shelter Day. But that’s not a theory that holds water, she said; through the shelter’s history of participation, there’s never been a spike in returns or animals that were previously adopted turning up later as strays as a result.

“We always try to assure people that we take the safety of the animals very seriously,” Alterman said. “… It’s not just a grab bag of animals. Everyone has to spend time with an adoption counselor, and there’s a contract that everyone signs … We kind of have the data to back up the fact that this is just a great way to get animals into homes.”