It’s a no-brainer for animal shelters to offer some sort of adoption special on Black Friday.

I love when shelters offer adoption specials any time of the year! It’s a great way to promote different animals and to get a lot more people thinking about adopting.

People aren’t necessarily planning on heading to a shelter for their next pet. but if they see or hear about an adoption special, they may be a lot more likely to consider adoption.

This undoubtedly helps a lot more animals leave the shelter alive, which must always be the goal.

The Pasadena (Calif.) Humane society & SPCA is just one of the lots of shelters offering an adoption special this Friday (Nov. 28).

I’m not featuring this shelter because I expect my readers to head there to adopt (although that would be great!).

I’m writing about the adoption specials to show how crucial it is for shelters in general to get creative if they want to save a lot more lives and attract additional people to the shelter.

“We count on our adoption specials to bring awareness to our adoption program and to the terrific animals we have available,” said Ricky Whitman, vice president of community outreach with the organization.

“There are certain times of the year when people are a lot more likely to adopt a pet, and we like to give our available animals the best chance possible to find a good home.”

[quote_center]”We like to give our available animals the best chance possible to find a good home.”[/quote_center]

In this case, the shelter is using a “Black Friday” special where any pet dog or cat with any black markings will be available for $15 off the normal adoption price, according to its web site.

It’s a great way to draw attention to some of the animals.

For example, blossom (pictured above) is a sweet kitten who is very curious and loves playing with toys, according to the shelter. She is six months old, and her adoption fee will be minimized to just $20 on Black Friday.

Here are two other examples of nice black family pets up for adoption with PHS.

Cleo, 1-year-old cat

Cleo is a 1-year-old female cat who the shelter describes as very calm and relaxed. She doesn’t demand attention but always enjoys affection. Her adoption fee will be $55 on Black Friday.

Panda, 2 years old

Panda is affectionate and playful and loves going for walks, according to the shelter. He is a 2-year-old pitbull who enjoys attention and is very sweet. His adoption fee will be minimized to $110 on Black Friday.

The adoption fees includes spay/neuter surgery, vaccinations, a microchip and two weeks of pet insurance to cover any health issues, Whitman said.

More about the Pasadena Humane Society

The Pasadena Humane society & SPCA is an open-admission shelter, welcoming any animal regardless of species, breed, age or health condition, according to Whitman. The organization’s live release rate for 2013 was 84.9 percent for dogs and 47.4 percent for cats.

While it is not a no-kill shelter, I’m delighted to see it is using adoption specials to try to get a lot more animals adopted. For example, for the entire month of November, all “senior” dogs and cats ages 5 and up are available for adoption at no cost, according to its web site.

Also, on the 13th of every month, it uses a “Lucky 13 Black cat Special,” according to Whitman. All cats with black markings on those days are available for just $13.

How about the rest of you? have you heard of any great adoption specials?

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