For the first time ever, animal shelters and rescue organizations across the country are coming together with their communities to get long stay pets into adoptive homes during the Get ‘em Home Challenge! Nearly 250 organizations from 44 states are participating in this 3-month-long contest (shout-out to Texas and California, the states with the most registrations!).

“Pets with long shelter stays of 30 days or more are some of the most at-risk due to the stress of confinement and the effect it can have on pets’ immune systems and behavior,” says Foster Program Consultant Kelly Duer. “It’s thrilling to see so many organizations participating and looking for innovative ways to find homes for these pets.”

Pets can have long shelter stays due to medical or behavioral issues, but most long stay dogs and cats have simply been overlooked by adopters. Some pets have trouble showing who they really are inside the shelter. For this reason, a major strategy promoted by the Get ‘em Home Challenge is foster care. In homes, foster caregivers can get to know pets’ personalities and help convey this information to potential adopters.

Whether or not your organization is participating in the Challenge, we hope you’ll take advantage of the great new resources we’ve created to help you get ‘em home! You can learn new things during our interactive Huddles and share ideas, ask questions and win additional prizes in the Get ‘em Home Challenge group on Maddie’s Pet Forum.

Additionally, from October 1 through December 31, long stay pets are taking over our Instagram account! Follow us and like, comment and re-post to help put them in front of a wider audience. Use the hashtag #GetEmHome2018 and your long-timer could be re-posted for a signal boost!

“We hope to find placement for a few of our harder to place or simply overlooked adoption candidates,” says Kristen Solano, Community Programs Manager at the Gloucester-Mathews Humane Society. “The Get ’em Home challenge is our opportunity to head to the drawing board and come up with something new.”