Looking for a pet? A group of Middle Tennessee volunteers raised money to help waive fees

Looking for a new family pet? It might be a good time to visit the Williamson County Animal Center.

The facility will be waiving adoption fees for the first 50 people approved for a pet through July 13 in what is being called the “Clear the Halls with Love from Vols” adoption event.

Over the past several months, shelters and animal rescues around Tennessee and beyond are not able to keep pace with the level of intakes they’ve received, officials said, noting that locally, for the Williamson County facility, the trend is largely because of a significant drop in the number of adoptions compared to previous years.

The Williamson County Animal Center has only had three more animal intakes through May 2024, according to Director Ondrea Johnson, but the director said there have been 130 less adoptions this year than there were for 2023.

The impact is being felt more with dogs than cats, she said.

"For the last several months, we have regularly had more adoptable dogs than kennels in our adoption area,” Johnson said. “So, we have been opening areas of the shelter to the public that typically only have dogs that are not yet available.”

The situation with the dogs has led to the shelter seeing puppies grow up into adults, something that's rarely happened in the past, Johnson said.

In response, the center's volunteers stepped up to take action. Lead by volunteer and dog-walker Jennifer Biggs, the group rallied to raise the funds to pay for the 50 adoptions offered through the adoption event.

“As a volunteer, we get to know and love on these dogs like they are our own,” Biggs said. “It’s heartbreaking to see such wonderful animals who have so much to give stay here too long.”

Biggs is one of more than 200 volunteers who have already donated more than 11,000 hours of time this year to walk dogs and run playgroups as well as socialize cats at the shelter.

Discounts from the adoption event will apply to puppies, adult dogs and cats only. Kittens are not eligible. In addition to waived fees, there will be special activities along with local animal-related vendors onsite for guests to enjoy for the duration of the adoption event.

On Friday, the center will feature several kid-themed activities, including “touch-a-truck” opportunities from 10 a.m. until noon plus face painting, sidewalk chalk and chances to meet puppies and dogs all day.

The center can be found at 1006 Grigsby Hayes Court in Franklin and is open from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday.