LAKIN: It’s not too often that animal adoptions and eclipses are combined, but a local animal shelter has done just that. The Central New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or SPCA, is hosting a week long adoption event called ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart.’ Troy Waffner is the director of the CNY SPCA and says he hopes to see these animals find a home.
WAFFNER: This particular eclipse is a once in a lifetime for many people and, you know, it gives us a chance to kind of do the ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ for a week, promote it, get folks in here to see the animals, hopefully find their forever friend and, uh, gives them somebody, somebody to watch the eclipse with.
LAKIN: After seeing a spike in adoptions during COVID, the CNY SPCA now says they are seeing some animals return to the shelter. This adoption event has already led to several successful adoptions and they are only three days into this week long event. Waffner says with pandemic restrictions lifted, many people that adopted pets during COVID are now realizing that taking care of an animal does not fit into their lifestyle.
WAFFNER: What we’re seeing is a almost record number of people wanting to surrender animals but worse yet, we’re seeing a record number of stray animals which are really just people dumping animals at this point. They don’t know what else to do with them so they let them off on a backroad thinking they’ll be okay.
LAKIN: ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ is running through Monday so there’s still time to find these furry friends their forever home. Shayna Lakin, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — A local animal shelter is hosting a week long eclipse-themed adoption event. The CNY SPCA is celebrating the upcoming solar eclipse with their “Total Eclipse of the Heart” event to encourage the community to help find these furry friends their forever home.
Troy Waffner is the director of the CNY SPCA and he says these adoption events help more animals than just the ones already living in the shelter.
“What people have to remember is every animal that gets adopted, they save two lives. They’ve saved the one they’ve adopted and that makes room for another one,” Waffner said.
The CNY SPCA and other shelters across the country saw a spike in animal adoptions during the lockdowns of the coronavirus pandemic. Since restrictions have been lifted on travel and many people are returning to in-person jobs, the shelter has seen an increase in the number of animals that get returned. With about 80 dogs, 80 cats and other various creatures currently being cared for, the CNY SPCA does not have much room left for future animals.
“It’s keeping us at a very fine line between what our capacity is. That’s why we do these events where we just try to promote different gimmicks to get people into the shelter and get them looking at pets and having them really think about it and hopefully adopting pets,” Waffner said.
The “Total Eclipse of the Heart” event has already seen several successful adoptions. The event runs through Monday, the day of the solar eclipse, and Waffner hopes people will be able to find a furry friend to watch it with.
