ASAP Rocks the Free Adoption Weekend – Record Breaking Adoptions!!
By the time ASAP closed its doors on Sunday afternoon, 74 cats and kittens had been adopted and would spend the night, not in a cage, but in a home with a loving family of their own.
With tongue in cheek humor, ASAP offered the Santa Barbara community the deal of the century—certified, pre-owned cats, $0 down, 0% financing and no payments! All makes, all models, absolutely free to qualified adopters. The goal of the publicity campaign was to draw attention to the overcrowding in our shelters and the tremendous need for responsible adopters to step forward and provide caring homes for these cats and kittens.
In the week leading up to the free adoption weekend, visitors to ASAP more than doubled, as did adoptions. People came to ASAP to complete their pre-adoption screening early and to meet the cats. And many of them bonded so strongly with a particular cat that they decided to adopt on the spot and pay the regular $65 adoption fee!
ASAP’s decision to hold this free adoption weekend was based on successful events by other highly reputable animal welfare organizations, as well as research conducted by the ASPCA. The concerns around whether people would not value or properly care for an animal they obtained for free are unfounded, and the quality of adopters during ASAP’s weekend free event was as excellent as always. All adopters went through ASAP’s standard adoption screening and counseling process. The majority of the adopters told ASAP volunteers they were not motivated by the “free” aspect of the event—instead they said that they had already been thinking about getting a cat or kitten and the publicity around the event inspired them to come participate. Some adopters had previously adopted a cat from ASAP and felt a strong commitment to help yet another homeless feline in need of love. Other adopters were motivated the newspaper articles and radio interviews when they learned about the overcrowding in the shelters.
As a result of this weekend event, 74 cats and kittens are homeless no more. Many of ASAP’s longest feline residents, some having waited over a year for their special adopter to appear, finally found their forever family. In anticipation of the event, ASAP took a transfer of 10 cats from the Santa Maria shelter and all now have a home of their own because of the extraordinary weekend at ASAP. It is anticipated that the adoptions attributed to this event will continue to climb this coming week as many more potential adopters will be visiting ASAP in the hopes of finding their perfect feline companion.
ASAP is proud to have partnered with Santa Barbara County Animal Services for this landmark event.
ASAP is located at 5473 Overpass Road in Goleta, CA. For more information, please call 805-683-3368 or visit www.asapcats.org.