From roughly late spring through early fall, kitten populations tend to overflow animal shelters’ capacities.
Humane societies with no-kill policies are increasingly addressing the influx with free feline adoptions during so-called kitten season.
Free Kitten Giveaways
And even where animal shelters do not have no-kill policies, local animal rescue groups have coalesced their own foster programs that place kittens in temporary homes until permanent ones are found – and foster parents who adopt can get fees waived.
For instance, the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has been offering two-for-one kitten adoptions all summer, with entirely free adoptions of all types of animals on August 19 and 20.In previous years, the shelter offered what it called Caturdays, meaning free adoptions of all cats on Saturdays.
To find out what’s available where you live, check out the directories on AnimalShelter.org, which provide listings of local facilities in different states and constituent municipalties, including links to individual facilities’ websites that typically state when adoption fees are waived. This information also appears on the website for ClearTheShelters.org.
Word of Meow
Another way you might obtain a free pet is simply through word of mouth. Apparently, this approach is quite popular: 46% of cat owners learned about their pets through word of mouth, according to the American Pet Products Association.
This is increasingly happening through postings on social media, which makes it easier than ever for people to find out about available pets without having to do as much footwork.
Placement through word of mouth has the benefit of not contributing to the volume of animals in shelters that often are already maxxed out.
In the meantime, as long as shelters are overflowing with animals, there will be opportunities for you to obtain free pets.
Jackie Cohen is an award winning financial journalist turned turned financial advisor obsessed with climate change risk, data and business. Jackie holds a B.A. Degree from Macalester College and an M.A. in English from Claremont Graduate University.