Mountain America Pays Humane Society of Utah Adoption Fees to Help 111 Animals Find Homes

Individuals adopted 68 large dogs during three-day special adoption event; local animal shelters experiencing record-high surrenders

MURRAY, Utah—During the first weekend in February, Mountain America Credit Union paid all the dog adoption fees for the Humane Society of Utah’s Murray location. As a result, 68 surrendered canines found their forever homes.

“For the past year, we’ve had community members come to us with the need to surrender their pets due to the record-high inflation and the housing crisis,” said Shannon Egan, Humane Society of Utah corporate giving and communications director. “They don’t know if they can afford their rent or mortgage.”

Egan shared that pet owners recently dropped off nearly 60 dogs at the shelter just the week before the adoption event. She says the unexpected canine overflow resulted in them being at total capacity with less shelter space which, in turn, limits their location’s ability to accept dogs from surrounding animal rescue centers. When Mountain America’s vice president of corporate sponsorships, Brittani Forbush, learned about the Humane Society of Utah’s need, she and her team stepped in to extend a helping hand.

“We created a special adoption event to waive dog adoption fees to remove the financial barrier that prevents pets from being placed into their forever homes,” said Forbush. “We’re grateful to the community and their willingness to open their hearts to these dogs and provide loving homes.”

The waived-fee event began Friday, February 3, and ended Sunday, February 5, 2023.

“We’ve been waiting for the right opportunity,” said Alan Bischoff, a credit union member from Orem. Bischoff explained that his family decided to visit the Murray animal shelter on the special adoption event’s first day after receiving an email from Mountain America with an invitation to visit the adoption center. “We hope to find a dog that we can take home and love.”

When the event ended, families and individuals adopted 68 dogs and 111 animals in total. In addition to the special adoption event, for more than five years, Mountain America Credit Union has partnered with the Humane Society of Utah to support its life-saving mission with a Pet of the Week program and an annual “Fall in Love Adoption Special” event that waives adoption fees every Thanksgiving weekend.

“We’re thankful to Mountain America for their ongoing support and to the public for coming out and helping so many of our pets find new homes with loving owners,” said Egan. “For anyone that has the financial means and the time, we encourage them to open their hearts and their home to a pet.”

To see what pets are currently available for adoption, visit the Humane Society of Utah’s website here.