{"id":252348,"date":"2026-04-30T11:47:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T11:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/252348\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T11:47:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T11:47:21","slug":"tampa-bay-shelter-celebrates-national-adopt-a-shelter-pet-day-with-adoption-specials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/252348\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa Bay shelter celebrates National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day with adoption specials"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" article <\/p>\n

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – As shelters across the country mark National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day Thursday, local shelters are offering adoption specials to help animals find permanent homes.<\/p>\n

Local perspective:<\/p>\n

Friends of Strays, a no-kill shelter in St. Petersburg, is offering an adoption special that runs Thursday through the weekend. The shelter is offering $25 off adoptions for adult cats and $50 off for adult dogs.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

The push for adoptions comes at a critical time for local animal welfare. Kennels across the Tampa Bay area have faced significant crowding in recent months, forcing some facilities to temporarily pause pet intake.<\/p>\n

Advice for Adopters <\/p>\n

Vets urge adopters to prioritize a patient transition, especially for those who already have pets at home.<\/p>\n

Dr. Sue Yee Lim, an assistant professor at Texas A&M University\u2019s College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, suggests if you have other pets, socialize the animals through closed doors initially.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

This allows pets to smell and talk to one another without the risk of physical injury, she said.<\/p>\n

What they’re saying:<\/p>\n

“Give them time to warm up to their new surroundings,” Lim said.<\/p>\n

She also noted that feeding pets while they are in a crate can help them associate the space with safety. For families with young children, experts emphasize the importance of understanding a pet’s temperament before finalizing an adoption.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

“Little children are sometimes very affectionate and want to give a big hug,” Lim said. “Depending on past trauma that the pet could have, they may take it as, ‘Are you attacking me?’ So, supervision initially would be important.”<\/p>\n

Pets from organizations like Friends of Strays come already spayed or neutered, vaccinated, microchipped and dewormed.<\/p>\n

Friends of Strays is open for adoptions from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday.<\/p>\n

The Source: Information in this story is from Friends of Strays Animal Shelter and Dr. Sue Yee Lim.<\/p>\n

Pets and Animals<\/a>St. Petersburg<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"article ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – As shelters across the country mark National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day Thursday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252349,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[47,115,8713,1157,202,204,203,199,201,200,628],"class_list":["post-252348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-fl","tag-news","tag-pets-animals","tag-pinellas","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}