Employees with Cass County Animal Control are teaming up with the Bissell Pet Foundation to help find local dogs and cats their fur-ever homes this weekend.

The shelter is hosting its first ever “Empty the Shelter” event from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, at its building at 323 M-62 N., Cassopolis. The Bissell Foundation will pick up the tab for all adoption fees that morning, with visitors being able to take home whichever cat or dog they chose following a brief background check.

The shelter plans to place 16 dogs and around 40 cats eligible for adoption
Saturday — around 90 percent of its total population, said Director Ron Butts. The eligible animals are all spayed or neutered, and the dogs have received their rabies shots, the director added.   

The shelter recently connected with the Bissell Pet Foundation, based out of Grand Rapids, to organize the adoption drive, Butts said.

“It’s a big push to get some unwanted pets placed in a good, loving home,” he said.

The foundation has sponsored other “Empty the Shelter” events at shelters across country in the past five years, with a 96 percent success rate for adoptions, Butts added.

People will have a chance to meet the shelter’s animals during Saturday’s event, with a small space set aside for adopters to play with the cat or dog they are interested in taking home. The shelter staff will also let people take any dogs outside to walk around with, weather permitting, Butts said.

Once they have their hearts set on the animal they wish to adopt, visitors will be asked to fill out an adoption form. Following a brief background check by shelter staff, people will be able to take their new family member home with them, Butts said.

The Bissell Foundation will also have several adoption boxes — containing pet treats, coupons, dishes and cleaning products — at the shelter Saturday. Supplies are limited and will be offered on a first-come first-serve basis, Butts said.

“This is our first time trying this, so we cannot expect 100 percent success but we would love to see the building get as cleared out as possible,” he said. “We have some really nice dogs and cats here.”

For more information people may call the shelter at (269) 445-3701.