Best Friends Animal Society partnered with Walmart for a great event to find homes for animals.  Different adoption events happened at Walmart across the country, and Walmart graciously paid for all of the adoption fees for the entire month of May. 

“It is the goal of Best Friends Animal Society to find homes for as many animals as possible,” Public Relations and Marketing Strategist Michelle Sathe said.  There is a sanctuary in Kanab, and Salt Lake has a life-saving center. There are life-saving centers in different locations across the country. Best Friends as a whole has been around since 1984. 

In Utah, 93% of the shelters are no-kill, with only four shelters left in the state that are not. The governor signed a no-kill proclamation in 2024. 

“The governor is very committed to getting the shelters to no-kill and we are so close with 93% of them being no-kill,” Sathe said. 

It is the goal of Best Friends to get every shelter across the country no-kill and part of that is having the adoption events and finding homes for the animals. Many animals get adopted at the Walmart adoption events, which means Best Friends can bring more into their center and get the animals adopted. 

Best Friends goes to different centers that are overwhelmed with dogs and cats in their center. Many of those pets go into foster homes so they can get adopted. 

“If Utah becomes no-kill this year they will be the first western state for the no-kill,” Sathe said. 

There are about 2,000 dogs and cats in Utah shelters that are being killed because they don’t have a safe place to call home. If five more people adopted a pet every day in Utah there would be no problem. “It is inevitable that the entire country will become no-kill, it’s just a matter of when. Part of what we are doing is adding that urgency and trying to make it happen as quickly as possible so animals aren’t losing their lives,” Salt Lake City Best Friend Animal Society Executive Director Amy Kohlbecker said,.  

“If 1 in 6 Americans would adopt a pet instead of purchasing one, then America would be no-kill,” Sathe said. 

There are 400,000 pets nationally that are killed currently because they don’t have a safe place to call home. With Walmart having over 200 million customers across the country, and by getting a fraction of that customer base to adopt other than purchase a pet, that is a game changer, and that is why Best Friends is so excited about the partnership with Walmart.  Walmart is committed to finding a home for every pet. Adopting a pet is very cost effective and humane. 

“There is a huge misconception that if a pet is in a shelter there is something wrong with them. That is not the case. The adopted pets are very good and cared for. They are fixed, micro-chipped and vaccinated, waiting for a home.” Kohlbecker said.

The pets are waiting for their next family and a nice comfy warm bed and a loving home. There are older trained pets and young puppies and kittens. A lot of the puppies and kittens come from foster homes. Another way to help is fostering.

“It is an easy way for people to support the mission by giving the foster animals a home for a couple of weeks, then get them to a pet adoption,” Sathe said. 

Go to bestfriends.org to find out more about adopting animals. λ