For basketball fans, March means slam dunks, buzzer beaters and brackets. For Alachua County Animal Services, it means waived adoption fees, or “Match Madness.”
Recently, the shelter has seen an increase in furry residents, taking in 94 dogs since March 4 with only 105 kennels available, according to a Facebook post by Alachua County.
“We have had more intakes, due to cases we are investigating and just a general surge,” said Julie Johnson, the director of animal resources for Alachua County Animal Services.
Regular adoption fees are $50 for dogs and $30 for cats. But when there are surges like this one, the shelter runs specials to make adoptions quicker and easier, Johnson said.
“It was supposed to be $50, but the day before was an adoption day I had just missed, so they waived the fee and gave him to me for free,” said Rhiannan Moreira, a 21-year-old UF nursing junior.
Moreira adopted a Staffordshire bull terrier named Auggie her freshman year of college from the Alachua County Animal Services.
“They were definitely super grateful because there were a lot of dogs,” she said. “But with me being 18 at the time, they were also super cautious because they see a lot of returns with younger people.”
With such high demand and limited space, the shelter is stretched as far as capacity and
follows through with risky situations like this one, Johnson said.
In 2024, officers at the shelter responded to 6,410 calls regarding surrendering animals, Johnson said. Alachua County Animal Services has only 10 officers responding to those calls.
Regardless, they get it done.
“We’re there when we get the call,” she said. “Whether it's 60 dogs or 10 dogs, we’re there to answer.”
The shelter receives some extra help during these periods of high call volumes from its 300-plus volunteers, most of whom are college students, Johnson said. They help out by cleaning the shelter and preparing the animals’ kennels.
“We’re very grateful to our volunteers,” she said. “They help us tremendously.”
Small shelters across Alachua County encounter these issues too. When space is limited, dogs are often chained to fences outside the shelters, said 21-year-old UF finance junior Channing Stall, who recently began fostering a mutt named Meatball.
“Meatball was one of them,” Stall said.
During cold fronts, larger shelters like Alachua County Animal Services or the Humane Society of North Central Florida take in those dogs, leaving less and less space.
It is unclear what shelter Meatball was chained outside of before he was transferred to the Humane Society of North Central Florida in January due to a cold front. There, Stall and her roommates began fostering him.
“We might have a lot of time right now to take care of him and love on him,” Stall said.
“But he really deserves that for the rest of his life.”
Meatball is just one of many animals looking for their forever home.
While adoption is the goal, fostering is always welcomed at Alachua County Animal Services, Johnson said. The shelter hopes initiatives like Match Madness will encourage more people to adopt.
“These animals are at the shelter through no fault of their own,” she said. “They are voiceless and they deserve to be in forever homes and not in a shelter.”
Elise Ballart is a second-year UF public relations student.
