Alachua County Animals Services (ACAS) is holding an emergency Adopt-A-Thon on Saturday, March 7, 2020, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Camp McConnell (210 S.E. 134th Avenue, Micanopy). This event is hosted by Shelter Medicine veterinary students with the University of Florida Student Chapter of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians. Adoption fees are waived during this event. Every adopted pet will receive a goodie bag plus a chance to win a grand prize.
Cynda Crawford, DVM, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor with the Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine says, "Alachua County Animal Services has successfully resolved a respiratory disease outbreak in their shelter dogs caused by the canine pneumovirus." Because of the number of dogs involved, ACAS had to use a temporary secondary shelter for housing infected dogs. The shelter is located at Camp McConnell in Micanopy, which is the site of the old YMCA youth camp.
The 40 dogs in this temporary shelter have been housed there for the past two months, walked multiple times daily by staff and volunteers, and are eager to move into loving homes. ACAS' main shelter, with only 105 built-in dog kennels, does not have the capacity to accept all the dogs from the temporary shelter and is looking for the pet-loving community's support to place them directly into their homes.
All adoptable dogs are examined, vaccinated, spayed or neutered, and microchipped before leaving Animal Services. Pet adopters must be 18 or older and show identification with proof of current address. If there are already pets in the home, the potential adopter must show proof that owned animals are current on rabies and County licenses.
For more information, contact Alachua County Animal Services at 352-264-6870.