On Saturday, February 11, 2012, flexi USA, Inc. hosted Cincinnati, Ohio’s first ever Super Adoption Event. More than 60 local shelters, rescues and animal advocate groups rallied together for this one-day event and it was officially declared “Pet Adoption Day in the City of Cincinnati” by Mayor Mark Mallory.
“My Furry Valentine filled a great need in our community,” said Carolyn Evans, event organizer and Cincinnati’s very own award-winning PhoDographer. “While the shelters and rescues have adoptable animals year round and participate in various adoption events throughout the year, nothing has ever been done on such a large scale in our area.”
The main event sponsors were flexi, Alcott and PhoDographer, and additional support came pouring in from local businesses. The super adoption event also caught the attention of IAMS/Eukanuba who made a generous $25,000 food donation to the Cincinnati Pet Food Pantry.
More than 300 adoptable pets and 1,700 people gathered at flexi’s distribution facility in West Chester, Ohio for the main event. Adopters walked a red carpet with their new pets and each one went home with goody bags overflowing with toys, treats, pet food and other pet products from supporting event sponsors like PetSafe,Lupine, Petstages and Furminator. In total, more than $75,000 in donated gifts and prizes were awarded to adopters and visitors.
There were 40 additional participating adoption locations throughout the Greater Cincinnati area. By the end of the day, 100 animals from the main event and 166 animals from participating locations had found their forever home. Many adoption processes also started at the event, resulting in almost 100 more adoptions for a total of nearly 300!
“We finalized our first adoption just minutes after the doors were opened. Groups were calling in reinforcements during the day to have volunteers bring additional animals when they realized they were going to run out,” Evans said. “Shelters that had doubled-up on kennel space for years went back to empty kennels… something that they had never experienced before.”
