GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — More than 12,600 homeless cats and dogs were adopted just in time for the holidays during BISSELL Pet Foundation’s Empty the Shelters – Holiday Hope event. As the nation’s largest funded adoption event, Empty the Shelters has helped nearly 57,000 pets find loving homes this year.

Empty the Shelters – Holiday Hope was hosted in 290 shelters in 43 states from Dec. 1 -11, 2022. BISSELL Pet Foundation sponsors adoption fees, so participating shelters can charge $50 or less per cat or dog. Nationwide, shelters are overburdened due to increased owner surrenders, longer stays for pets, and staffing shortages. BISSELL Pet Foundation’s goal was to take as many pets as possible from shelter kennels to the couches of loving homes before the holidays to create critical, lifesaving space.

Since the inception of this program in 2016, BISSELL Pet Foundation has helped find homes for more than 138,000 pets and counting. Held quarterly, Empty the Shelters is BISSELL Pet Foundation’s largest initiative and continues to grow to reach more shelters and save more lives each year.

“BISSELL Pet Foundation is thrilled to have helped thousands of pets find homes during a time when our nation’s shelters are struggling with higher rates of owner surrenders and longer stays for pets,” said Cathy Bissell, founder of BISSELL Pet Foundation. “It has been a challenging year of saving lives, and we are grateful for the adopters who brought hope to shelter pets this holiday season.”

Beyond adoptions, an additional 3,841 lives were touched during Empty the Shelters events across the country through pets transported in due to newly available kennel space, additional adoptions of pets not included in the reduced-fee event promotion and adoptions from the week before the event! Empty the Shelters – Holiday Hope 2022 impacted a total of 16,508 pets!

With 6,632 cats and 6,035 dogs adopted, each pet is its own perfect success story. However, here are a few heartwarming adoptions stories from across the country:

• Jedidiah, a black dog, was born at Humane Society of Pulaski County in Arkansas in January 2021. After nearly two years of waiting, Jedidiah was adopted by a wonderful family during “Empty the Shelters”, and now has a canine brother.
• Dove, a sweet but shy cat from Pendleton PAWS in Oregon, was often overlooked because she enjoyed sleeping most of the day. This long-time shelter resident finally caught the eye of her new family during “Empty the Shelters.”
• Jerry, a 10-year-old terrier mix who loves snuggling with stuffed animals, found his home just in time for the holidays after being adopted from Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League in Florida.
• Louisville Animal Metro Services in Kentucky had a heartwarming double adoption when a family couldn’t choose between two dogs they met during “Empty the Shelters.” Zeus, a pitbull mix who had been at the shelter for far too long, and Bruce, a heartworm-positive, senior lab, got to go home together!