It is once again time to Clear the Shelters, thanks to a nationwide effort that began in North Texas with a partnership between NBC 5, Telemundo 39 and the City of Irving’s Animal Services Manager.
“This event is really personal to me because watching it go from a DFW event with 30 shelters the first year to a nationwide campaign that has saved over 400,000 animals gives me goosebumps just talking about it,” said Corey Price, of Irving, who spearheaded the original Clear the Shelters effort in 2014.
As opposed to a one-day event, Clear the Shelters in 2020 will be a weeklong affair, with adoption fees being waived from Monday, August 24 through Saturday, August 29. The change is an attempt to encourage social distancing during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Price is still heavily involved with coordinating the national Clear the Shelters effort and acknowledged that the pandemic made organizers at least consider canceling the event for 2020 before deciding to stay the course.
“The pandemic doesn’t mean the animals don’t need help,” Price said. “And so what it really became very quickly was, ‘How can we do it this year?’ as opposed to not doing it at all, but we did ask that question for a very brief period of time.”
Last year, more than 1,900 shelter/rescue organizations across the country partnered with NBC and Telemundo stations to Clear the Shelters. Since the program began six years ago, Clear the Shelters and loving pet owners like you have helped more than 400,000 pets find fur-ever homes.
