If you’ve been thinking about adding a four-legged roommate to your household, listen up.
The Humane Rescue Alliance in D.C. is getting a little too crowded. While they are adopting out an average of about 115 animals a week, the incoming number of animals has recently been over twice that — 250 a week.
“The math just isn’t working out for us at this moment in time,” said Ashley Valm, the alliance’s director of adoptions.
“ … We’re an open access shelter. We never turn away an animal in need. We are going to provide housing and shelter and services any way we can — even at this time when we are really filling up all of our available space.”
So it’s calling on the community to step up and help give those critters the forever home they all deserve. That means adopting one, of course, or fostering one while they wait to be adopted.
The high number of incoming pets is something that Valm said is common in the summer.
“Adoptions I think are low, just because people are going on vacation, getting ready for school, whatever,” she said. “It’s just not really a time, necessarily, that a lot of people are interested in adopting, and intake is just always high in the summer.”
But she said the high influx of animals this summer has not been due to owners surrendering their pets, in part because the alliance’s programs are helping owners keep them.
Finding a new roommate is as simple as going to 71 Oglethorpe St. NW from noon to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays.
“It’s a pretty quick process to just have a quick chat about the animal, sign a contract, pay an adoption fee and then you’re out of here with your animal,” Valm said.
And it’s currently running a promotion for dogs weighing over 30 pounds: Adopters set their own adoption fee.
More information on adopting can be found on the alliance’s website. You can also find more information online about fostering an animal, as well as volunteering for the alliance.
“We try to make it as quick and easy as possible,” she said.
