Empty The Shelters Offers Discounted Pet Adoptions Across America

Forbes

06-05-2025

A litter of puppies waits for potential adopters in an animal shelter. getty
If you've been thinking about adopting a shelter pet, there's no time like the present. In honor of May's National Pet Month, the nonprofit Bissell Pet Foundation's Empty the Shelters event is offering reduced adoption fees of $70 or less at over 380 animal shelters in 43 U.S. states from May 1-15 — with every dog or cat spayed or neutered, vaccinated and microchipped.
It's all because of a shelter dog named Bear.
Cathy Bissell, founder of Bissell Pet Foundation, didn't step foot into an animal shelter until her late 40s because she assumed it would be too sad.
'I was so nervous because I loved animals so much,' she says. 'I just didn't think my heart could handle seeing animals in the shelter.'
But while hosting a fundraiser for a local Michigan animal shelter, her veterinarian introduced her to a 'regal, well-behaved' black Labrador retriever named Bear. His former owners had surrendered the 6-year-old Lab to a shelter for digging in their backyard.
'He must have been bored,' she says.
A black Lab named Bear opened Cathy Bissell's eyes to the fact that wonderful pets are available in ... More animal shelters across America. Courtesy of Cathy Bissell
Bissell convinced her husband that they should adopt Bear, who proved to be such an exceptional pet that he opened her eyes to the fact that many 'incredible' animals are waiting in shelters for forever homes.
To help spread awareness and get people to consider adopting pets from animal shelters, Bissell Pet Foundation launched Empty the Shelters in 2016. It started small — just covering the bulk of adoption fees at a single shelter in Michigan to help get pets into homes — but it was so successful that other shelters started requesting help.
Now Empty the Shelters is a national event has helped over 324,000 pets get out of shelters and into permanent homes. Many are bonded pairs who must be adopted together, or dogs who had been in an animal shelter for months or even over a year, she notes.
'Bear changed my life and changed the life of many, many other pets because I had a mission to make people aware of how wonderful pets were that were in the shelter,' Bissell says. 'So that's what it's about: bringing awareness to these incredible animals that are waiting for a second chance at life.'
She notes there's an urgent need this year, as overcrowded shelters face financial constraints. Pets are being surrendered to shelters due to economic uncertainty — with some animal advocates concerned that tariffs will lead to an influx of pets into shelters — as well as a dearth of rental properties that allow pets and the rising costs of veterinary care. The Fostering Option
There's a particular need for both adopters and fosters during the warmer months of kitten season. getty
Potential adopters should consider whether they have the budget and time to bring home a pet, according to Bissell. For those who aren't ready, she notes that fostering is a terrific way to help shelters. (For instance, there's always a need for volunteers fostering kittens during the warmer months of kitten season.)
Empty the Shelters has a fostering component so that potential adopters can see how a dog or cat fits into their family. While it's possible to get an idea of a pet's personality while they're in a shelter, sometimes they blossom in a home environment. For the past several weeks, she's been fostering a bonded pair of Labs — Bo and KC — who were so stressed during their three months in a shelter that they barked incessantly.
'In the three weeks that they've been here, the de-stressing that has gone on has been phenomenal,' she says. 'They know how to sit. They know how to do everything. They're extremely well behaved, but the shelter life was difficult for them. These dogs were barking a lot because they were so stressed and they hardly bark now. They're perfect angels.'
Bissell grew so enamored with Bo and KC that she offered to pay their adoption fee from Michigan's Harbor Humane Society — which turned out to be just $25 each thanks to the Empty the Shelters discounted adoption fees. They're going to their new forever home today — a parting that will be bittersweet for Bissell but deeply rewarding.
Because pets can make such a positive impact on our lives, she hopes Americans will consider adopting or fostering shelter pets, or volunteering at shelters, which have jobs ranging from playing with cats and walking dogs to doing laundry or making enrichment toys.
Ultimately, pets bring companionship, exercise, fun personalities and unconditional love into our lives, Bissell says.
'We think that we're saving them, but they save us,' she says. 'Pets are just wonderful.'