An animal shelter in Pennsylvania reached a milestone this Christmas season, celebrating one of the rare moments where less is more. The Adams county SPCA, which houses dogs, cats and other homeless, abandoned or lost animals, was empty for the first time in 47 years, according to a Facebook post from the shelter, reported by CNN.
The SPCA in Adams County, Pa. is “beyond excited” that the shelter is empty, particularly around the holidays. “Our community stepped up once again! This is the first time in 47 YEARS that the Adams County SPCA is empty let alone at Christmas time, it is a true miracle,” the shelter wrote in a Facebook post.
The shelter was nearly at capacity in early December before they were emptied out on Friday. CNN further reported, however, that the shelter later said it had one addition – a one cat that arrived as the good news was going out.
Every year, about 6.3 million animals enter shelters nationwide, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a non-profit that focuses on animal cruelty. It said that, within those shelters, more than 3 million animals are dogs and 3.2 million are cats.
The ASPCA reported that approximately 920,000 shelter animals are euthanized yearly, representing a decrease from the more than 2.5 million cats and dogs euthanized in shelters in 2011. “This decline can be partially explained by an increase in the percentage of animals adopted and an increase in the number of stray animals successfully returned to their owners,” the ASPCA said.
The shelter credits the accomplishment to the hardworking staff and volunteers who “have worked very hard to take care of the animals in our care and to make sure they got adopted to the right home.” With their help, the shelter has adopted out 598 animals and reunited 125 strays with their owners this year.
While the staff is celebrating their achievement today, staff members are already preparing to quickly get back to work. “We will be pulling animals from other shelters in PA next week in hopes of relieving some of their stress,” the shelter’s post reads. “Right now, we are going to enjoy this accomplishment!”
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