Columbus County Animal Shelter breaks record at annual event

WHITEVILLE, NC (WWAY) — The Columbus County Animal Shelter participated in ‘Clear the Shelters’ Saturday, a nationwide event that waives adoption fees in the hopes of finding homes for animals in need.

Volunteers began showing up at 6:30 a.m. to help prepare for what would be a record setting day for the shelter. The volunteers cleaned, walked dogs, showed off cats, sold baked goods, and helped potential owners decide on their newest family member. Attendees of the event came from as far away as Wilmington, Lumberton, and Pawley’s Island, South Carolina.

At the end of the day, 18 dogs and 9 cats had found new families, breaking the shelter’s previous record of 22 adoptions in one day set at the 2016 Clear the Shelters event. This year’s event, scheduled to end at noon, was extended until 2:30 p.m. due to larger than expected demand.

“All of the praise for this event goes to the volunteers,” said Columbus County Animal Control Director Joey Prince. “They did an incredible amount of work today and the event would not have been successful without them. We had a large contingent of volunteers here today, and we thank them for their hard work in saving these 27 lives. No way we could have done this alone.”

Staff and residents of Premier Living, a nursing home in Lake Waccamaw, made a huge donation of food and supplies. Residents of the Boys and Girls Home of Lake Waccamaw made and sold baked goods to help raise funds for the shelter.

Over 900 shelters nationwide participated in Saturday’s event. At last check, nearly 60,000 pets had been adopted.

133,030 pets have found homes since the event began in 2015.