Mark Your Calendar for Clear the Shelters Adoption Drive 2023

The dog days of summer are here, and as the temperature rises so are the spirits of shelters dogs and cats across the country as they get ready to find their forever someone to love during the this year’s 2023 Clear the Shelters campaign!

When is the Clear the Shelters in 2023?

From August 1-31, 2023 thousands of animal shelters across the U.S. and Puerto Rico will take part in the Clear the Shelters initiative. This event, held in partnership with NBC-owned TV stations and the Telemundo Station Group, features low-cost and fee-waived pet adoptions.

Celebrating its 9th year in 2023, every dog, cat, kitten, puppy or other companion animal adopted during Clear the Shelters will add to more than 800,000 fur babies who have already found their forever family thanks to the annual adoption drive.

@ClearTheShelter, NBCUniversal Local’s annual pet adoption and donation campaign, is back this August!

Visit https://t.co/fWYlhgguRp to learn more. pic.twitter.com/F8lSFJRasO

— NBCUniversal Local Public Relations (@NBCULocalPR) June 23, 2022

2023 Hill’s Pet Campaign for Clear the Shelters

To help raise awareness about pet adoption, Hill’s Pet Nutrition has enlisted actress Joey King, who recently adopted her dog, Fable, from a shelter while filming a new project. King will join Hill’s during the month-long campaign to volunteer her time at a local shelter and lend her voice to helping pets find new homes.

“I found my heart when I rescued Fable, and now I’m honored to join forces with Hill’s Pet Nutrition as part of the Clear The Shelters campaign, helping give back and find loving homes for these beautiful animals. Join us in making a difference in their lives,” said King.

How to Adopt During the Clear The Shelters Event

If you are unable to adopt, or simply want to help enrich the lives of dogs and cats in need, donations to a particular participating shelter or rescue can be sent to fundraising partners Greater Good Charities.

“I am a huge animal lover and can tell you from personal experience that when you open your heart and home to a rescue animal, your pet will thank you every single day of its life. It’s the most beautiful and purest form of unconditional love you can ever have.”

Kelly Clarkson, previous spokesperson

Virtual Pet Adoptions

Virtual pet adoptions are also returning for the 2023 campaign through partner WeRescue.

The WeRescue app enabled users to locate adoptable pets in their area, submit their adoption applications, and ask questions directly to shelters.

Potential pet parents can find a participating shelter in their area on a Clear the Shelters’ online map. Simply click on the dots which indicate the location of a shelter that is taking part in the event to find out that facility’s address, phone number, hours of operation and website address.

As an added treat, you can also follow the number of pets who find homes on the day in real time thanks to a counter.

Sharing on Social Media

For more information including participating animal shelters and rescues, along with details on local events, visit ClearTheShelters.com and the Spanish-language site DesocuparlosAlbergues.com.

Follow the effort on Twitter @ClearTheShelter, and on social media using #ClearTheShelters and #DesocuparLosAlbergues.  

Helping Adoptable Pets with Photography

To help remove barriers and drive more consideration of pet adoption, Hill’s Pet Nutrition commissioned a survey of 1,500 pet owners and found a simple but impactful way to help shelters find homes for pets faster through photography.

The study found that 95% of pet adopters considered photos important to the adoption process and seven in 10 considered adopting a pet specifically because of the photo. (On a personal note, I’d say the shelter photograph definitely drew our attention to Barli; Isla’s listing had no photo but I went to check her out anyway!)

When asked what kind of pet photos they find most appealing, respondents said they prefer:

• Being able to see the pet’s full body versus a close up of their face (90.4% compared to 9.6%)
• Pets looking at the camera versus not looking at the camera (83.8% compared to 16.2%)
• Pets who appear to be smiling versus a frowning or with a neutral expression (63.8% compared to 36.3%)

Peer-reviewed data from the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science showed that a dog with a quality photo is typically adopted in two weeks, compared to 43 days for a pet with a poor photo.

To support these findings, Hill’s Pet Nutrition has teamed up with award-winning photographer and advocate, Sophie Gamand, to encourage people to volunteer at local shelters and, among other things, use their own smartphones to take higher quality intake photos to help shelter pets put their best paw forward and get adopted.

“Photography is a powerful tool that helps create emotional connections between adoptable animals and would-be pet parents,” said Gamand. “My desire is to show how approachable, transformative and easy it can be to volunteer at a shelter and how lifesaving good photos can be.”

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