Sawyer peered through the holes of his kennel Saturday at his new family with what looked like a smile.
In just a few days, the 9-month-old domestic short-haired tabby cat would be home with his newly adopted parents, April and A.J. Sontag, of Bradford County.
Like Sawyer, 11 other cats and dogs found homes during the Alachua County Animal Services Spring Fling, a two-day pet adoption event held Friday and Saturday.
Although the Sontags weren’t expecting to find a cuddly companion as soon as they arrived, once they met Sawyer, they adopted him in a matter of minutes.
“We kept asking ourselves, ‘Are we sure we want to do this?’” A.J. Sontag, 70, said. “Then we realized we might be being a little selfish — Train, our other cat, needs a companion.”
The goal of the two-day event was to get as many animals into new homes as possible, said Hilary Hynes, Alachua County Animal Services public education program coordinator.
“We wanted to improve the stray cat adoption,” she said, “and of course, we never have an event without the option of adopting the dogs.”
Prices for adopting both cats and dogs varied. While some cats and dogs were adopted free of charge, the event adoption prices were $33 for cats and $45 for dogs. Since April 2, a total of 34 animals have been adopted from the shelter.
Hynes said because the shelter would like to see animals adopted daily, the event adoption prices will apply until April 10.
“We don’t want people to wait until an event,” she said. “We want people to check out the animals every day.”
Contact Sarah Kinonen at skinonen@alligator.org.
A.J. Sontag, 70, of Bradford County, peers in at Sawyer, his newly adopted 9-month-old domestic short-haired tabby cat, during Spring Fling, a two-day adoption event at Alachua County Animal Services.
