Transcript
Jonah Weintraub: You would normally need an appointment and application to bring home one of these furry friends from the CNY SPCA, but not this week. From April 1st until 8th, the shelter is holding the total eclipse of the heart event, which is an open door occasion to adopt with ease. SPCA director Troy Waffner says the promotion is a silly way to do important work.
Troy Waffner: There’s a gimmick ending in total eclipse of the heart and tying it with our animals, but there’s also a serious end of it. You know, this is really a huge business bringing a lot of people to Central New York. Syracuse is one of the epicenters of seeing this, the this eclipse. And and, you know, we might as well take advantage of it and get people people in and hook them up with some animals.
Weintraub: Even though this event lasts for just one week, there’s a need for adopters 365 days of the year, and that’s especially the case in Central New York.
Waffner: There is almost a pandemic in just the number of animals that that that are out on the streets right now. I mean, last year, we took in 600 stray dogs, and that’s just our shelter. It’s not including Humane CNY and the other shelters. So we use every opportunity we can to really highlight the animals we have and highlight adoption and really try to get the animals back out of the shelter and into homes.
Weintraub: And bringing those animals into homes doesn’t just help the ones currently in the shelter.
Waffner: When you adopt an animal from here, you’re really saving 2 animals’ lives. Because if we can open up kennel space, it allowed us us to bring animals in. And believe me, there are there’s a list of animals waiting to come into our shelter and other shelters just because of the the the sheer number that are out in the street right now.
Weintraub: Jonah Weintraub, NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – Plenty of local businesses are set to take advantage of the upcoming total solar eclipse that is set to bring plenty of attention to Syracuse. But that doesn’t mean non-profits can’t capitalize on the opportunity either. At the CNY SPCA, the eclipse is an excuse to put together a new promotion: “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”
The event stretches from April 1 to April 8 and is a prime opportunity for the shelter to encourage adoption. Usually, anyone looking to adopt a pet would have to fill out an application and book an appointment. For this event, however, all potential adopters are able to drop in between 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Troy Waffner, the director of CNY SPCA, says the event – while lighthearted in theme – is a huge chance for the shelter to provide its animals with forever homes.
“There’s the gimmick end of it: ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ and tying it in with our animals,” said Waffner. “But there’s also a serious end to it. This is really a huge business bringing a lot of people to Central New York. Syracuse is one of the epicenters for seeing this eclipse, and you might as well take advantage of it and get people in and hook them up with some animals.”
The event expediting the adoption process also helps out the shelter, because there is a serious stray problem in Central New York that has lasted all-year long.
“There’s almost a pandemic in just the number of animals that are out on the streets right now,” stated Waffner. “Last year we took in 600 stray dogs and that’s just our shelter – that’s not including Humane CNY and the other shelters – so we use every opportunity we can to highlight the animals we have and really try to get them out of this shelter and into homes.”
There’s another layer to adoption as well: when one animal finds a new home, another shelter space becomes available for animals on the street.
“When you adopt an animal from here, you’re really saving two animals’ lives, said Waffner. “Because if we can open up kennel space, it allows us to bring animals in, and believe me, there’s a list of animals waiting to come into our shelter and other shelters.”
Waffner added that similar events to “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” such as February’s “Max the Love,” see between 12 to 15 animals adopted a day.