Gerald the golden furred dog smiled for a photo with his new owner on Saturday at the Marshall Pet Adoption Center as the Friends of Marshall Animals hosted their special $20 pet adoption weekend.
The adoption event for dogs and cats in need continues from noon to 2 pm at Petsense in Marshall. The adoption event is made possible by a partnership between FOM and the Best Friends Animal Society in honor of this weekend’s National Adoption Weekend.
“We’ve only had one dog adopted all weekend so far and one foster to adopt dog,” FOMA Volunteer Lori Childress-Stickley said Saturday at MPAC. “We have more than 50 dogs, plus the ones currently in foster homes, and about 40 cats and kittens needing homes. The kennels are full here at the shelter.”
Normally it costs new pet owners $70 to adopt a dog and $60 to adopt a cat, but that fee has been reduced to $20 for either dogs or cats this weekend. The adopted animals will also come with a free voucher for the owner to take the animal to get spayed or neutered at a local veterinarian’s office.
“We are in dire need of foster volunteers willing to take animals into their homes until we can find a home for them or get them on a transport headed up north,” Childress-Stickley said. “We are also in dire need of people to adopt these dogs and cats and give them the ‘furever’ homes they deserve. We just ask that people come give them a chance. An animal will usually act completely differently once you get them out of the shelter environment and into a home, and these dogs and cats can be really good pets for people. We also have a lot of large dogs right now and we just ask that people give them a chance.”
In addition to the needed foster volunteers and new pet owners seeking to adopt an animal, Childress-Stickley said MPAC is in great need of volunteers to come up to the shelter and volunteer an hour or two of their time, either walking dogs, playing with the cats or answering the phones at the front desk.
With only three employees, there is only so much they can do and if they have to go out on an animal control call, they have to lock the doors at MPAC because there will be no one here to answer phones and man the front desk, Childress-Stickley said. “There is just so much that volunteers could come up here and do and really make a difference.”
Those not looking to adopt or foster, or unable to volunteer their time, can also help the animals by donating to FOM, which covers the food and medical costs of all the foster animals.
“We have a Dog Wash fundraiser event coming up from 10 am to noon on July 30, here at MPAC and those funds will go to FOMA for the foster program,” she said. “For $20, people can bring their dogs up here for a wash and for $5 they can get a nail trim and help out FOM at the same time. Cafe Mojo will be here offering pup cups for purchase and other refreshments.”
Next up, MPAC will celebrate its one year anniversary with a special adoption event on Aug. 6, Childress-Stickley said.
“We’re going to celebrate the first year of the new MPAC facility by hosting a special adoption event,” Childress-Stickley said. “We are also celebrating Shark Week beginning this Sunday and running through July 30. In celebration of Shark Week, we’ve taken photos of our dogs that are in foster and up for adoption dressed as sharks and we will be posting those on our website and Facebook page for people to see.”
Childress-Stickley said they’ve been disappointed by the lack of adoptions so far during this special $20 adoption weekend but she hopes people will come out to Petsense in Marshall from noon to 2 pm today and take home a new companion.
Petsense is located at 190 East End Blvd. S. in Marshall.
To view the Shark Week celebration this coming week by FOM, visit their Facebook page at For more information, community members can go to the group’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/friendsofMA.
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