The Ingham County Animal Shelter hopes today will be the day you take home a furry friend.
The shelter is packed with dogs right now, and workers are pulling out all the stops to find homes for them.
The Fourth of July holiday has a lot to do with the overcrowding.
Animals terrified by the boom of fireworks will bolt, so Animal Control picks up a lot of runaways.
Also, people surrender or set their dogs free if they can't watch them while they go on vacation.
It's a situation that caused the shelter to be at full capacity this week.
That's why dog adoption fees have been cut in half - meaning you could get a spayed and neutered dog that has been fully checked out by the vet for around $50 in some cases.
The shelter's director tells me reduced adoption fees had the place busy. At last check, 6 cats and 11 dogs were adopted Wednesday.
But, the shelter has taken in more animals, so the half price deal on dogs will continue today.
"We never turn animals away if you bring an animal here and you know you are from the county, we will accept it, so that's not an option," says director John Dinon, "and euthanizing for space legally is an option, but ethically it is not, so we are doing everything we can to find homes for animals."
The shelter, located right next to the sheriff's office in Mason, does a thorough background check on anyone looking to adopt.
The goal is to get to below 80% capacity to ease the strain on the shelter. No animals have been euthanized for space in over three years.
The shelter is open today from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
