It usually is a bad sign whenever a business is closed, but the Harrison County Animal Control Shelter in Indiana is most definitely an exception. In a historic and never-seen-before event since the shelter opened, there wasn’t a single animal to be found inside.
All of the animals were adopted out and no one got left behind.
Even though the shelter isn’t overly large, it’s exceptional that every animal they held was able to find a home. Not a single cat, dog or other four-footer was inside the shelter cages – it was all empty and peaceful.
For the first time in 13 years, the Harrison County Animal Shelter was completely silent, and that’s definitely a good thing.
A staff member of the shelter was excited to announce the wonderful news on social media.
“Such a wonderful month at the shelter!!! We are now empty! Everyone got adopted”
The message posted on Facebook has quickly gone viral with thousands of likes and shares – bringing even more attention to adoption pets and shelters.
“It’s a first for the shelter,” France Hardin said to Wave3, who works as the animal control warden in the shelter. “It’s a huge deal. Something that we are very proud of as a staff.”
“It’s a really a big shock more than anything, because I’ve been here going on six years and it’s never happened,” Office Manager Amber Brewer added. “Right now, us not having anything, is like…my mind blown.”
The joyful news was also posted on Reddit, where it was upvoted more than 90,000 times.
To make things even more impressive, the shelter was absolutely packed with animals waiting for a new home not too long ago. There’s room for 50 cats and 18 large dogs, and they recently just took in 25 new cats on a single day.
How exactly were they able to clear out the shelter, you might ask?
Surprisingly, the Harrison County Animal Control Shelter doesn’t have a dedicated website or advertisement budget, but they relied on word of mouth instead.
“We wanted to create an environment that was healthy for the animals and appealing to the public,” Franca told.
The shelter has an entire team to spread to word, and they regularly visit schools and animal events. They’re also quite active on social media and tend to give their adoption pets special names to grab the attention of (online) visitors. It appears Disney names, in particular, are quite popular.
“A lot of kids come in here and are like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s Elsa, I’ve got to have Elsa!'” Amber said.
They also count on the support of friends and family and ask people to share adoption posts across their network.
“We attribute our adoption success to the social media community,” Amber told The Dodo.
“Their posts on social media are instrumental in maximizing the visibility of every animal, from those available for adoption, to stray animals getting reunited with their families. They truly make a huge difference.”
The shelter staff also realizes that a lot of pups and kittens that are being brought in aren’t stray cats, but simply lost pets. By posting on social media, the shelter has successfully reunited dozens of four-footers with their loving owners.
It didn’t take long before animals started appearing in the shelter again, but the rescuers are motivated to continue doing what they do best.
Three stray kittens were taken into the shelter shortly afterward, and the staff was excited to find them a new home.
“It’s what we want to do,” Franca concluded. “We want to keep going.”
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