If you’re in the market for a new companion, there’s an event that could help you get closer to finding one.

Gwinnett Animal Shelter is hosting Shelter Pets Rock Saturday, June 12.

“For those about to adopt, we salute you! Enjoy activities, entertainment, and more. Adoption fees waived on all cool cats and devoted dogs. We microchip, spay/neuter, and vaccinate all cats and dogs,” the flyer read.

Animal shelters around the state are filling quickly.

Dekalb County Animal Services has launched a promotion to help empty its packed shelter. A $20 adoption fee is available for all dogs over 20 pounds. The fee includes spaying and neutering, vaccinations and microchips among other things.

Although puppies and kittens are born year-round, shelters often see an increase in animals in the spring and summer. This can also continue into the fall. For open-admission animal shelters, it means they’re often filled to capacity.

“In the U.S., puppies and kittens are born at a rate of 10 to 1 over human babies. It is possible for female cats to go into heat several times a year. They even can become pregnant while they are still nursing a litter of kittens. This means they often give birth to multiple litters a year,” Phil Snyder, former executive director of Englewood, Florida’s Suncoast Humane Society wrote on the nonprofit’s blog.

“Over a six-year period, an unaltered female dog, her mate, and their offspring can be responsible for the birth of 67,000 puppies. Over the same six-year period, one unaltered female cat, her mate, and their subsequent offspring can produce more than 66,000 kittens. Where do they all end up?”

Shelter Pets Rock

11 a.m.- 4 p.m.

Saturday, June 12

Bill Atkinson Animal Welfare Center: 884 Winder Highway, NE, Lawrenceville

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