Those looking to bring home a furry friend will soon have a chance to do so free of charge, thanks to Cass County Animal Control.

Cass County Animal Control is partnering with Bissell Pet Foundation to host an Empty the Shelters event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Oct. 14 at the Cass County Animal Control Shelter, 323 M-62, Cassopolis. The Cass County shelter will be one of 75 shelters participating in the fall event.

The event will allow people to adopt dogs and cats for free, as the Bissell Pet Foundation will be covering the adoption costs that day, normally $30 per animal.

Animal Control Director Ronald Butts said the Empty the Shelter event can give animals that people have forgotten about a new lease on life.

“It gets the awareness out to promote pet adoptions from shelters and animal control agencies and pet protection groups to help cut down on the need for those agencies that spend resources trying to get those pets adopted,” Butts said. “It also gets people to shy away a bit from breeding facilities and the breeding groups. We really want to make adoption an option for everybody and for them to check us out first [before considering a breeder].”

The Oct. 14 event will mark the second time that Cass County Animal Control has partnered with the Bissell Pet Foundation. The two worked together in April to host an Empty the Shelters event, resulting in 29 pet adoptions in one day.

Butts called the April event “organized chaos” and said that people were lined up out the door before the shelter even opened to fill out pre-adoption forms.

In addition to adoptions on the day, due to the publicity from the event, Butts said the Cass County shelter adopted many more animals in the weeks following the event.

“This is something new we tried out this spring,” Butts said. “It was so good, and it went so well that we decided to partner with Bissell again [this] month.”

Cathy Bissell, the founder of Bissell Pet Foundation, feels just as strongly about the success and need for Empty the Shelter events as Butts.

“This event was created because we saw a need for people to choose adoption first,” Bissell said. “Our mission at the pet foundation is that we will do this until every pet has a home. We really want to see these pets find a loving home.”

The owner of adopted animals herself, Bissell started her foundation six years ago, not long after adopting her first animal.

Once she had adopted and come to love that dog, Bissell recognized the need to publicize adoption over buying dogs from breeders, which is what Empty the Shelter events aim to do.

“I was really disappointed after I adopted him that I had [never before] chosen adoption first. I couldn’t understand why someone would give up such an incredible dog,” Bissell said. “I could have kicked myself for not doing this sooner… I realized other people might not know how many amazing animals are waiting to be adopted.”

Both Bissell and Butts expressed that they had high hopes for the fall Empty the Shelters event, and hoped to see many animals find new homes.

“We wish [Cass County] lots of luck with their adoptions,” Bissell said. “We hope to have an impact in the state of Michigan.”