Humane Educational Society Two Day Event Gets Animals Home For The Holidays

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – Lily is an early Christmas gift for 4-year-old Sebastian Henderson.

A dog is what he wanted for Christmas, and he’s excited to take one home.

“I take it on walks and I buy him food and a spiky collar,” Henderson said.

Lily is one of around 20 animals adopted during the Hamilton County Humane Educational Society’s Home for the Holidays event Friday.

They’re hoping to get around 100 animals homes and free up some space at their open admissions shelter.

“We have about 100 animals in foster, currently, with another slightly over 300 here at our shelter, and so it’s really important to be able to get as many as these adopted,” Hamilton County Humane Educational Society Executive Director Bob Citrullo said.

The adoption price for Dogs is 24 dollars and for cats 12 dollars.

If not adopt, people can foster, which can have a big impact on the animals who don’t fare as well in a shelter environment.

“Some of them don’t do as well with others in the shelter.  It’s high stress.  It’s noisy they’re not used to it.  They probably came out of a home.  They need to get into another home just to calm them down and see them how they really are,” shelter volunteer Don Gallagher said.

“The foster parent is very important.  It allows them to give us vital information on about the animal’s behavior.  How they act, what they know, what they may have been taught while they’re with a foster parent..all of that preps for a really great adoption and that’s the goal,” Citrullo said.

The Home for the Holidays event continues on Saturday.

As for Henderson, it’s home he’ll be heading and this Christmas he’ll get to spend with a new member of the family.