February 08, 2023
It's Super Bowl week, and the countdown to the big showdown between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs has the area buzzing with anticipation.
Several companies and organizations are wagering, creating new products and offering deals to celebrate the NFC champion Birds, including a Camden County animal shelter.
Homeward Bound Pet Adoption Center in Gloucester Township, New Jersey is offering $7 pet adoptions from now through Sunday, Feb. 12. The shelter is honoring Eagle outside linebacker Haason Reddick, a Camden native, by setting the adoption fees at the same price as his jersey number.
"There are dozens of dogs and cats at the shelter who are in desperate need of finding a forever home," Commissioner Jon Young, liaison to the animal shelter, said. "This is a wonderful opportunity to not only celebrate our football team making it to the Super Bowl again but to open your hearts and your homes to a new pet in need. So please, consider coming down to the shelter this week and making an addition of unconditional love to your family."
The money from adoptions helps keep the animals in safe care. Young said that people should still consider donating $7 to the center if they can't adopt a pet. Adoptions normally run around $100-$300, depending on the dog's size and age.
The center is open Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.
In 2022, Homeward Bound took in over 5,000 dogs, a 40% increase from the year before. As a result, they need space and are urging people to come to adopt dogs like Reddick, a mutt named after the all-pro Eagle who went to Temple University before being drafted to the NFL in 2017.
Overcrowded animal shelters were a nationwide issue last year, USA Today reported. As the rate of adoptions has decreased, intake has increased, stressing short-staffed centers. Research from animal welfare groups has shown that the main reason pet owners relinquish their furry friends to shelters is a lack of affordable, pet-friendly housing options.
Last summer, Philadelphia-area shelters lowered prices to encourage more people to adopt pets amid inflation and rising prices, two other factors in the ongoing crisis.
