Bissell Pet Foundation Empty The Shelters Adoption Event
May 8, 2026
The BISSELL Pet Foundation, founded in 2011 by Cathy Bissell, is a national animal welfare organization dedicated to ending pet homelessness. It supports shelters through adoption programs, the Fix the Future spay & neuter initiative, vaccinations, microchipping, and crisis/disaster response. The foundation has helped over 375,000 pets since 2016.
Empty the Shelters is the largest funded adoption event in the United States and was designed to help homeless pets find loving families by making adoption more affordable for prospective pet adopters. This is achieved by supporting shelters with a partial reimbursement of the adoption fee for each pet adopted during an Empty the Shelter event. LC4 is proud to be one of the 910 participating shelters across the US and Canada.
The Empty the Shelters adoption event runs from May 1st to the 17th with all adoptable dogs over 5 months of age having a sponsored adoption fee. A $25 Lucas County dog license must be purchased at the time of adoption. All of the dogs adopted are spayed/neutered, have a registered microchip, and are current on vaccinations, flea & tick prevention, and Heartworm prevention.
