Memphis Animal Shelter Hosts "Senior Prom" To Encourage People To Adopt Older Pets
Andrea Powell
Senior pets are constantly overlooked for younger ones at shelters. Staff and volunteers do their best to find ways to highlight these amazing pets and have come up with some creative ideas.
Memphis Animal Services has several senior dogs at their shelter and decided to host "Senior Prom" complete with a 90's theme and even had attendees vote for Prom King and Queen. The goals were to find homes for the highlighted senior dogs and to shine a light on all gray-faced companions.
The event was sponsored by Hollywood Feeds and all senior pet adoption fees were covered by "their Fairy Godparents".
Prior to the event, the shelter shared photos of the featured pets along with each dog's favorite slow dance song, what they're looking for in a prom date, and even their very own senior superlative.
The senior pets were dressed in their best attire hoping and waiting to meet loving families, but sadly all of them returned to the kennels without one application.
Marshall and Lulu were named Prom King and Queen, but they would trade their titles for a loving home. While the outcome was not what the shelter hoped for, they shared that event still achieved one of the goals which was to spread awareness.
"We are bummed to share that, despite everyone internally and externally LOVING this event, we did not achieve our primary goal of getting our highlighted pets adopted. We had zero adoptions of the highlighted senior pets during the Senior Prom event," wrote the shelter.
However, a couple of the dogs found a foster home.
On a more positive note, they shared, "All of the pets featured at Senior Prom will continue to have a sponsored adoption fee as long as they're with us, thanks to their Fairy Godparents."
They asked their supporters and fans for advice on ways to encourage more people to adopt seniors and suggest field trips or sleepovers. The staff and volunteers are committed to finding loving homes for all of the pets in their care.
Nashville Humane Association commented, "We absolutely loved all the content of this event! It was so fun to follow along! We know it’s hard not to be discouraged, but keep your heads up! Adoptions for the highlighted pets could still trickle in."
Check out all the adoptable pets here and don't forget to share!
