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Mark Johnson of Arlington Animal Services holds Dougie, a seven-month-old dog, and a sign during the MEGA Adoption Event, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, at Amon G. Carter Jr. Exhibits Hall in Fort Worth. The event featured dogs, cats, and other small furry pets, sponsored by the Humane Society of North Texas.<\/p>\n
Chitose Suzuki\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Rooms in the\u00a0Amon G. Carter Jr. Exhibits Hall in Fort Worth<\/a> on Saturday and Sunday were filled with various dogs wagging their tails and cats meowing in curiosity as they awaited a few cuddles and pets from their possible future family.<\/p>\n The Humane Society of North Texas hosted a two-day adoption event this weekend to address shelter overcapacity and help find permanent homes for about 1,000 animals.<\/p>\n As of Sunday morning, more than 600 animals had been adopted during the weekend-long event hosted at the exhibit hall in Fort Worth, said Cassie Davidson, a spokeswoman for the Humane Society of North Texas.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n For the ninth annual event, over 30 shelters brought about a 1,000 cats, dogs, hamsters and other small animals under one roof in hopes to get them into permanent homes, Davidson said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe adopted 560 yesterday,” Davidson said. \u201cLast year we adopted 761, so we want to beat that.\u201d<\/p>\n This summer, Fort Worth Animal Care and Control and Dallas Animal Services have spent months\u00a0operating beyond capacity<\/a>. According to the Dallas Animal Services website<\/a>, its dog kennel is at critical overflow with 473 dogs in 388 kennels. The cat kennel space is getting tight as well, with 59 cats in only 101 kennels.<\/p>\n People look around during the MEGA Adoption Event, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, at Amon G. Carter Jr. Exhibits Hall in Fort Worth. The event featured dogs, cats, and other small furry pets, sponsored by the Humane Society of North Texas.<\/p>\n Chitose Suzuki\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n The adoption event is always hosted toward the end of summer when most shelters are at full capacity, and people are adopting less, Davidson said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s right after July 4th when a lot of pets are historically just getting out and ending up in shelters, so we always plan this in August,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Adoptions were $25 or less on Saturday, but all adoptions were free Sunday. The animals also come spayed or neutered, microchipped and with age-appropriate vaccinations. Interested pet owners who attended the event got to choose their new lovable friend and take them home the same day with all the needed supplies.<\/p>\n Also, booths throughout the exhibit hall gave away pet beds, food, litter and toys.<\/p>\n Michael Baez said he attended the event intent on finding a dog to match the hyper energy of his 8-year-old son, Giovanni.<\/p>\n \u201cHe needs a friend,\u201d his father said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The family already has pets, but ended up adopting a 10-month-old Doberman Pinscher mix specifically for Giovanni.<\/p>\n \u201cHe kind of connected with the dog,\u201d Baez said. \u201cHe had three choices that he connected with, but this was the one. He likes to cuddle, it’s just something that he really loves.\u201d<\/p>\n Giovanni Baez, 8, of Fort Worth plays with a dog whom he has just adopted, as his father Michael\u00a0Baez looks on during the MEGA Adoption Event, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, at Amon G. Carter Jr. Exhibits Hall in Fort Worth. The event featured dogs, cats, and other small furry pets, sponsored by the Humane Society of North Texas.<\/p>\n Chitose Suzuki\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n While they aren\u2019t set on a name for the dog yet, Giovanni looks forward to playing around with the puppy and watching YouTube videos in bed with him.<\/p>\n Christi Smallwood, 58 , showed up at the exhibit with her best friend, Stephanie Wilson. Smallwood said she was looking for a companion after going through a recent loss of a loved one.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI lost my son at the end of last year, he was 35,\u201d she said. \u201cI just really needed something to cuddle, and I’ve been wanting one a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n Smallwood first went to the adoption event on Saturday, saw a dog she wanted, and decided to come back the next day to adopt them. However, when she returned Sunday morning, she learned the dog had already found a home.<\/p>\n Determined to take home a new pet, she said a small, well-behaved Black Mouth Cur puppy named Todd caught her eye. It also helped that Todd was right next to a puppy that was perfect for her best friend. Each of the women left with a new puppy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re best friends, so we wanted a sibling match,\u201d Smallwood said. \u201cWe found these, and I told her it was meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Stephanie Wilson of Fort Worth shows her dog Max whom she has just adopted during the MEGA Adoption Event, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, at Amon G. Carter Jr. Exhibits Hall in Fort Worth. The event featured dogs, cats, and other small furry pets, sponsored by the Humane Society of North Texas.<\/p>\n Chitose Suzuki\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Choosing to adopt an animal rather than buying one was a motive for 23-year-old\u2019s \u00a0Presley Maddux and Jackson Wilson.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI’ve only ever adopted animals, and the ones that I didn’t adopt, I literally found on the street,\u201d Maddux said. \u201cI think it’s important to adopt and not to shop, there’s too many strays out there.\u201d<\/p>\n The two had previously adopted their 2-year-old cat from the Humane Society when living in Oklahoma. They were now looking for a companion kitten, Maddux said. They were stuck between two kittens, but Maddux said her heart was stolen by a small kitten named Pancake.<\/p>\n \u201cMy childhood cat was a black and white little cat, like a tuxedo cat, so I’m kind of drawn towards them,\u201d Maddux said. \u201cI like little pancakes.\u201d<\/p>\n For those who missed the event, many of the animals that didn\u2019t find their forever families still have the chance to, as they\u2019ll be returned to local shelters for adoption.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Jackson Wilson of Fort Worth pats Pancake, a cat, as his girlfriend Presley Maddux holds him during the MEGA Adoption Event, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, at Amon G. Carter Jr. Exhibits Hall in Fort Worth. The event featured dogs, cats, and other small furry pets, sponsored by the Humane Society of North Texas.<\/p>\n Chitose Suzuki\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mark Johnson of Arlington Animal Services holds Dougie, a seven-month-old dog, and a sign during the MEGA Adoption…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28,125664,88643],"class_list":["post-408444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-tp-cute-animals","tag-tp-fort-worth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
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