When Kathy Butler and Scooby first locked eyes, Butler knew it was meant to be.
“He was small, but he was feisty,” Butler, 47, said.
From the moment she walked into Alachua County Animal Services’ shelter during a tour this summer, she fell in love with the golden yellow, 15-pound Shih Tzu and Chihuahua mix.
Butler would soon join families across the state who were drawn to the Gainesville shelter to adopt, thanks to its participation in the annual ASPCA Rachael Ray $100K Challenge, a three-month contest between shelters nationwide to find homes for as many pets as possible.
Alachua County Animal Services won second place in its division against nine other similarly sized shelters. The total prize of $20,000 will go toward supporting animal welfare, said the shelter’s director, Vernon Sawyer.
It was the first time the local shelter was invited to participate in the competition, and it was ready to up the ante.
“We did more than we’ve ever done before,” Sawyer said. “We were on pizza boxes even.”
Gator Domino’s put the shelter’s cry for adopters on its boxes, and sponsors, radio stations and fast-food restaurants, including Burger King and Sonic, helped spread the word.
Sawyer said people from every coast of Florida came in to adopt, from Miami Lakes to Tallahassee.
In total, 1,488 animals found homes between June and August, either through adoption or being returned to owners — 706 more than last summer.
“This was the largest event we’ve ever participated in,” Sawyer said. “Any time that we can save more animals by returning them to the owner or adopting them out to their forever homes, that’s what we are about.”
The shelter provides a temporary home for primarily dogs and cats. Smaller pets, such as hamsters, guinea pigs and ferrets, are sometimes available for adoption. The shelter ensures that pets fit into the family dynamic they are being adopted into.
When Butler brought her family back to the shelter to adopt Scooby, her husband, 103.7 the Gator radio personality JJ Thomas, and two kids — 10-year-old Brock and 13-year-old Kyli — were ready to welcome him.
Scooby, who was named after the alpha dog of cartoons, quickly learned to get along with the family’s two other pets: pug duo Moose and Baxter.
“It feels so rewarding that he’s here,” Kathy Butler said. “The best dogs come from animal shelters.”
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 10/10/2014]
