Thinking about pet adoption? Check out the pawsitively inspiring mission of the SPCA of Westchester, which will be featured in NBC’s “Clear the Shelters” television program this Saturday evening.
Hosted by the Today Show’s Natalie Morales, “Clear the Shelters” shares some of the most inspiring stories of rescue and adoption around the country, and the SPCA of Westchester will be featured as they travel down south rescue dogs from high-kill shelters in North Carolina. The rescued dogs would have otherwise been euthanized due to a lack of space—this problem persists in shelters nationwide that do not share the same no-kill policy that the SPCA has.
You may have heard about NBC’s “Clear the Shelters” initiative before. They sponsored a nationwide adoption day on August 15, in which over 400 animal shelters across the country participated and nearly 20,000 pets found new families. The initiative also examines how social media can be an effective tool in spreading the word and gaining support for pet adoption. The tag #cleartheshelters has been established so users can join the conversation about the initiative and pet rescue in general.
The SPCA has a long-standing history in Westchester (and by long-standing, we mean 132 years). The shelter was founded in 1883 by Mary Dusenbury. Dusenbury saw the need to build a safe home for relentlessly overworked and abused horses. The current campus still resides on the original plot of land where the organization was founded, making it one of the oldest landholders in Briarcliff Manor, according to their official webpage. The SPCA is differentiated from other local shelters because it is the only humane society in Westchester County that is empowered to enforce animal cruelty laws. In addition to their Cruelty Investigation and Intervention program, the Society offers many programs for pets and their owners, such as low-cost veterinary care, pet therapy, and a program that allows pets to stay at the SPCA campus while their owners seek refuge from abusive households, among many more.
“We are so grateful for the amount of visibility NBC has brought to the ‘Clear the Shelters’ initiative and for advancing our animal welfare mission by leaps and bounds.” Shannon Laukhuf, the SPCA’s Executive Director told the Bedford-Katonah Patch. “Millions of viewers learned of the advantages of opening their hearts and homes to shelter animals in need of a second chance.”
Don’t miss the SPCA of Westchester on NBC this Saturday evening, August 22 at 7 p.m.
Here’s video of a special NBC did on the shelter’s effort earlier this month:
