9 Lives for $9 cat adoption promotion
The 9 Lives for $9 national cat adoption event, which runs June 21-30, features cats over nine months of age with the reduced adoption fee of $9. In 2012, we held the inaugural event, and over 1,200 cats found loving homes. This year, there over 130 Best Friends' No More Homeless Pets Network partners participating coast to coast. We have supplied them with campaign marketing materials, along with national advertising opportunities, to make the promotion a rousing success.
The promo runs during what for most areas is kitten season. Shelters are filled to the brim with little ones. This promo helps our partners adopt out some of their sweet and deserving adult cats into homes, freeing up space and resources for kittens.
An extra boost from marketing grants
As a No More Homeless Pets Network partner, organizations are eligible for all kinds of support from Best Friends. For this particular promotion, Best Friends awarded 10 groups a $2,000 marketing grant to help them maximize their lifesaving.
No More Homeless Pets Network partner info
Jezebel the cat's time has come
Barbara Sprague of Safe Animal Shelter is thrilled to put the promotion to work and is especially excited about being one of the grant recipients. She says, "We are so excited for this event because not only are adult kitties often overlooked by adopters in the shelter, but it is kitten season. We have hundreds of requests to assist with the re-homing of unwanted litters each week."
Barbara is hoping Jezebel finds a forever home. She has been at the shelter for five years (she came with kittens, and all of them have been adopted). Of Jezebel, Barbara explains, "As a fearless mom, she defended her brood from wild animals and dogs, played with them and taught them to be perfect felines. Today, Jezebel still does not care for doggie friends, but is a fun, sweet girl who loves cat treats and the warm afternoon sun. It is Jezebel's time to find a great family." Barbara hopes the promotion will attract more adopters to their shelter so that Jezebel, and other longer-term feline residents, will have a better chance at finding a new home.
A soft place for Bones the kitty
Bones, one of the longer-term residents at Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society (MRFRS), a cage-free, cat-only rescue, is a hopeful being featured in their 9 Lives for $9 promo. This is the organization's first time taking part in one of our promotions, and they're really revved about the possibilities. "Bones came to us about two years ago as an emaciated, un-spayed stray with a broken, paralyzed tail," says Liz Pease of MRFRS. "As a result of her injuries, she has some issues. She is the sweetest, cuddliest girl, and we would love to find her a caring home that is willing to take on her special needs - which we are glad to help with for the rest of her life in terms of cost of any care she might need."
Tuxedo cat overlooked for too long
"By participating in (Best Friends') national campaigns, such as 9 Lives for $9, we have reached out to a broader audience, which has increased our adoptions," enthuses Laura Lillard of Community Animal Rescue and Adoption (CARA). "We are so grateful for the opportunity to partner with Best Friends."
CARA is thrilled that Poe, a cat born at the shelter three years ago, may finally be adopted. All of his littermates have long since gone home, but Poe has been overlooked, but he yearns for people of his own.
Then there's ShelIy, a cat who also exemplifies why this promotion is so important. "HELP Humane would love to be able to find her a home - she is a kitty whose owner passed away, and she has been so confused in the shelter," says Cyndi Dill of HELP Humane. "She's been declawed and is timid of other cats. We so want her to be able to find love and security again in a family."
More information
From special-needs cats to sweet fur kids who just keep getting overlooked, the 9 Lives for $9 promo is geared towards helping them all find homes. Adopt from a No More Homeless Pets Network partner near you.
The following is a list of the Network partner recipients of the $2,000 marketing grant from Best Friends:
- Blue Mountain Humane Society (Washington)
- Cat's Cradle (Virginia)
- Community Animal Rescue and Adoption Inc. (Mississippi)
- HELP Humane Society (Missouri)
- Humane Society of Memphis and Shelby County (Tennessee)
- Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society (Massachusetts)
- Safe Animal Shelter (Florida)
- Safe Haven Animal Sanctuary of Sussex County (Delaware)
- Second Chance for Homeless Pets (Utah)
- Upper Peninsula Animal Welfare Shelter (Michigan)
Upcoming pet adoption events around the country
Photos courtesy of Safe Animal Shelter, Blue Mountain Humane Society, Merrimack River Feline Rescue, and Community Animal Rescue and Adoption