Hundreds of Irma “refugees” available at Mega Pet Adoption Event

Jacksonville, FL — It’s the 12th time that animal rescue groups from around the area are coming together for a large-scale pet adoption event, but this one has a special meaning.

“We’ve got a lot of pets that are- I guess you could use the word ‘refugees’ from Hurricane Irma,” says First Coast No More Homeless Pets Founder and CEO Rick DuCharme.

DuCharme says they’re starting the weekend event with about 600 dogs and 300 cats, and at least half of the dogs are from shelters in Southwest Florida.

“Shelters there got really, really full of animals that came in right before, during, and after the storm,” he says.

Among the shelters that have sent up animals is the Hillsborough County Pet Resource Center, and DuCharme says groups from that far away generally aren’t involved in this event. They’re also seeing a strong presence from Gainesville because of crowding there.

Even among the local shelters, though, are Irma animals. We've previously told you a network of rescue groups activated to save dozens of dogs and cats after two shelters in Clay County flooded. Some organizations continued to funnel animals through- both taking in from hard hit areas and sending out to other regions that have space.

The Mega Pet Adoption Event takes place Friday through Sunday, from 10am to 6pm at the Jacksonville Fairgrounds. The $20 adoption fee covers the pet’s microchip, spay/neutering, vaccination, and city licensing fee- if you live in Duval County. Active and retired military can adopt for free, courtesy of Doc Tony, and many of the individual animal rescue groups may run their own specials.

“We hope to empty out the whole Fairgrounds this weekend, which will empty out not only the shelters in Northeast Florida, btu a lot of the shelters in Southwest Florida as well,” DuCharme says.

The sponsor of the event- Petco- will be giving out coupons, and FCNMHP- as the organizer for the event- says animals also get a free visit to their clinic.

DuCharme says more than 15,000 pets have been saved through this event, since it started.