ROANOKE, Va. – The annual month-long Clear the Shelters campaign has come to a close, marking its most successful year yet.
WSLS had a record number of partner shelters in 2025 and a record number of animals that got adopted! Partner shelters reported nearly 1,000 pets adopted during the campaign.
During the Clear the Shelters campaign, WSLS 10 highlighted at least one adoptable pet every day with hopes of finding their forever homes — and the community showed up.
August is one of the busiest months for local animal shelters, often overcrowded and underfunded, relying on the dedication of staff and volunteers. That’s why 10 News is passionate about Clear the Shelters.
This year, the campaign partnered with 18 local shelters across Southwest Virginia. Each day we featured at least one adoptable pet, focusing on those who had been at shelters the longest or were in urgent need of a home.
15 of the 18 partner shelters reported adoption totals to WSLS, totaling 985 adoptions during the campaign. WSLS 10 featured 57 pets on air and online plus a group of 47 guinea pigs and birds that were an emergency intake at Angels of Assisi. Of those featured, 20 were adopted, 27 guinea pigs found homes, two dogs were transferred to other shelters, and one adoption is pending.
Some of our favorite success stories:
Penn, a shelter dog who spent 391 days at Pittsylvania Pet Center was featured on WSLS 10 during Clear the Shelters and successfully found a home!
Another success is All Purpose Flower, a 10-year-old dog who spent almost a year at Franklin County Humane Society. Her new owners from Blacksburg said they fell in love with her after seeing her on TV.
The successes extended beyond dogs and cats. After seeing a feature on the Roanoke Valley Horse Rescue and their adoptable horses, a couple adopted horses Gabby and Savannah.
Several partner shelters called this the most successful Clear the Shelters campaign they have been part of.
Thank you for adopting, donating and sharing these pet stories. Without our viewers, and the dedication of hard work of volunteers and staff at our partner shelters, adoptions like these wouldn’t be possible.
There are still many more pets who need homes.
To see more adoptable pets we have featured that still need a home, click here.
Help 10 News share their story!
Even if you can’t adopt, you can help.
Share each pet on social media and help spread the word! You may not be looking for another pet, but someone out there is still searching.
You can also donate to local shelters. Most accept monetary online donations, have Amazon wish lists or accept donations in person.
Find out how, and what each of 10 News Clear the Shelters partner shelter needs:
The Data
According to Shelter Animals Count data, approximately 5.8 million companion animals entered U.S. animal shelters nationwide in 2024. Of those, approximately 2.9 million are dogs and 2.9 million are cats.
In 2024, community intakes for dogs and cats totaled 1.4% fewer than in 2023, representing 83,000 fewer animals. Intakes are evenly split between dogs and cats, with both contributing to the overall decline. However, dog intakes saw a more significant decrease compared to cats.
Intakes have declined by 11% (735,000 animals) since 2019. This larger gap suggests a shift in community dynamics.
In 2024, total adoptions for dogs and cats reached 4,192,443 (2M dogs and 2M cats), a slight 0.4% increase (17,153 more adoptions) from 2023 but still 5.6% lower than 2019, with over 250,000 fewer animals finding homes since then.
Dog Adoptions
Shelter Animals Count data shows however, dog adoptions continued to decline, dropping 1% (nearly 22,000 fewer adoptions) from 2023 and 13% (308,000 fewer adoptions) since 2019.
Cat Adoptions
Conversely, Shelter Animals Count data shows cat adoptions grew 2% (nearly 39,000 more adoptions) over 2023 and surpassed 2019 levels by 3% (57,000 additional adoptions), with peak growth during summer months.
This highlights the ongoing challenge of declining dog adoption numbers while building on gains in cat adoptions.
You can find 10 News’ 2022, 2023 and 2024 Clear The Shelters story here.