More than 33,000 homeless pets are euthanized each year in Greater Cincinnati alone.
But for Carolyn Evans,
My Furry Valentine founder and
PhoDographer pet photographer, there’s a potential silver lining.
“There are more than 30,000 people in the area who will bring an animal into their home each year but just aren’t adopting,” Evans says. “So if we can get some of those people to adopt instead of buying from a breeder, we wouldn’t be euthanizing these animals.”
Evans has volunteered with animal rescue groups for years and had the idea for My Furry Valentine upon realizing a collaborative effort was needed.
“I used to take photos of the shelter and rescue animals—death row dogs and cats—just one last-ditch effort to try to promote and save them,” Evans says. “But what was happening was I’d just get so many requests from people and there just wasn’t enough time in the day to help all of them, so I wanted to do something big where everyone would be involved.”
Now in its third year, My Furry Valentine will bring
adoptable animals from about 50 local
rescue groups and shelters together for a two-day event. More than 30 organizations participating from
satellite locations will join the mega-adoption event with a combined goal of finding homes for more than 550 animals.
Evans says she realizes not everyone wants to find a pet through adoption, but she hopes to make individuals aware of the many different groups involved in animal rescues throughout the area, in addition to the different types of opportunities there are to adopt or even foster an animal.
“People don’t realize that in Cincinnati alone, we have 60 to 80 different rescue groups out there saving animals that have adoption events all the time,” Evans says. “One day they’re at PetSmart, one day they’re at Petco—there’s no consistency. A lot of people just aren’t aware of these ways to find animals, so what My Furry Valentine is trying to do is open their eyes to all these opportunities.”
Do Good:
• Learn about the
event details and plan to attend My Furry Valentine February 15-16.
• Register to
volunteer at My Furry Valentine.
• Support My Furry Valentine by
spreading the word or making a
donation.
By Brittany York
Brittany York is a professor of English composition at the University of Cincinnati and a project manager for Charitable Words. She also edits the For Good section of SoapboxMedia.
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