The San Francisco SPCA was THE place to be Friday, May 29th! Our Dogs on the Catwalk cocktail party drew close to 2,000 guests who enjoyed delicious food, signature cocktails, and live music. Our staff and volunteers couldn’t have been happier seeing all the smiling faces mingling around our Mission Campus Adoption Center to kick-off Maddie’s Adopt-a-thon weekend (more on that later).
Crowds soon began to gather for one of the biggest draws of the night, a fashion show for pets and people! To start it up, gorgeous models hit the catwalk in celebrity designer, Claire Farwell’s vegan, red- carpet-ready looks and showcased Jill Milan’s Italian-made, cruelty free handbags. As beautiful as the human models were, let’s be honest, what everyone really came to see were our four legged friends! Local canine fashionistas strutted their stuff, sporting the latest looks from Scutte and Yap apparel for dogs. Wrapping up the show for the grand finale, the crowds went wild for our adorable, adoptable dogs as they basked in the runway spotlight. And yes, they stole the show!
During our Dogs on the Catwalk event, 23 animals were adopted by excited owners who whisked them off to their forever homes. Among those adopted were Tin Tin, one of our long-term pit bulls, and Opal, another sweet pittie girl. We want to thank the incredibly supportive and generous community of animal lovers who joined us for this fun and successful event!
Maddie’s Pet Adoption Days
On the morning of Saturday, May 30th, rescue groups from around the Bay Area started setting up their mobile adoption sites on Rescue Row, the official nickname for the street outside the SF SPCA. The street quickly filled up with hundreds of animals ready to find their forever homes during the annual Maddie’s Pet Adoption Days event!
Maddie’s Fund was founded in 1994 by Workday co-founder Dave Duffield and his partner Cheryl, in honor of their beloved miniature schnauzer, Maddie. Thanks to their generous grants, all participating shelters were able to waive adoption fees for the weekend. The SF SPCA set a personal record by adopting out 129 animals!
Maddie’s Pet Adoption Days has supported the adoptions of more than 30,000 homeless dogs and cats since the program’s inception in 2010. For each pet adopted during the event, Maddie’s Fund gives participating shelters a stipend from $200 to $2,500. This funding enables the shelters and rescue groups to save and treat even more animals throughout the year.
More on Adopt-a-thons
Every year, the SF SPCA marks its calendar with a handful of fee-waived adopt-a-thon weekends. Not only do these weekends offer a chance for community engagement, we also see a 350% spike in adoptions. This has put us on track to find homes for 5,000+ animals a year.
Although fee-waived adoptions have proven extremely successful, they remain controversial among some animal lovers. There is a concern that waiving fees devalues the pet or that animals will be adopted on impulse. However, multiple polls and surveys indicate that this is just not true.
Research from the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science shows that there is no relationship between the cost of adoption and the value of subsequent love or care given to an animal. A study from Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida found that 93% of dogs and 95% of cats were still in the homes 6-12 months after being adopted at no cost. And 94% of respondents reported having a “strong attachment” to their “free” pet.
Here at the SF SPCA, we do not relax adoption standards at our adopt-a-thons. Potential clients are interviewed by Client Care Associates, and are required to meet the same measures regardless of the fee they’re paying – or if they’re adopting for free. And we have not seen any statistically significant change in return rates.
Stay tuned for our upcoming SF SPCA events at facebook.com/SFSPCA and sfspca.org!
Krista Herman works in the San Francisco SPCA’s communications department. She’s an animal lover who often writes articles about advocacy, companion animal welfare, and adoption events.
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