(Evansville, IN – November 11, 2025): The Indiana Coalition of Animal Welfare Professionals alongside dozens of shelters and rescue organizations across the State of Indiana are coming together to once again recognize November 2025 as “Hoosier Adopt a Shelter Pet Month,” for the third year running! This initiative brings awareness to the public problem of pet homelessness and the crisis shelters and rescues are facing.
Indiana shelters and rescuers collaboratively call on the community to act now to adopt, foster, donate, and/or volunteer during Hoosier Adopt a Shelter Pet Month to help alleviate this crisis and reverse the monumental steps taken back in saving the lives of homeless pets.
The following organizations will be participating during their normal business hours with reduced adoption fees or incentives:
- Vanderburgh Humane Society (VHS) (www.vhslifesaver.org) and River Kitty Cat Café (www.riverkittycatcafe.org)
The VHS knows, “There’s no place like home,” offering FREE adoptions for all dogs, cats, kittens, and rabbits from November 10th-16th with a Wicked/Wizard of Oz theme. More than 300 animals are available at the VHS facility November 11th-15th, plus 29 cats & kittens are available at River Kitty Cat Café in Downtown Evansville November 10th-16th. Adopters will receive all the normal “perks”: pets are still spayed/neutered, up-to-date on vaccinations, microchipped, and receive a starter bag of food and pet health insurance discount!
- Evansville Animal Care & Control (https://www.evansvillegov.org/city/department/index.php?structureid=221)
Our community’s municipal shelter, Evansville Animal Care & Control, will be hosting their event November 17th-22nd. They announced more details will be coming soon on their Facebook page!
Shelters and rescue groups are still experiencing an overwhelming number of animals entering the system. A steady intake of animals coupled with the reduction in adoptions is being driven by inflation, rising costs of food and supplies, the lack of affordable pet inclusive housing, and scarcity of veterinary resources. (Plus, in the immediate short-term, uncertainty surrounding SNAP benefits.) As a result, shelters are overburdened, over their capacity for care, and healthy pets are being euthanized for space. This is dangerously reversing decades of work to save the lives of healthy, adoptable pets.
According to Shelter Animals Count (SAC), the most trusted and current source for animal sheltering data, alarming trends are emerging in which more dogs are entering the shelters than leaving, less are leaving with a live outcome, and shelter length of stay has tripled.
“The crisis shelters are facing does not originate within the shelters,” said Stephanie Filer, Executive Director of Shelter Animals Count. “Shelters need help now more than ever. This is a community problem that requires a community solution.”
Community problems require all stakeholders to collaborate and collectively solve for improved quality of life. Building humane communities where healthy, adoptable pets are not euthanized, but adopted into loving homes is the preference of our society. In this time of crisis, we need the community now more than ever to open their hearts and homes to a shelter pet in need so we can ensure we are on the pathway to preserving those humane communities across the State of Indiana.
Organizations’ adoption hours:
Vanderburgh Humane Society
400 Millner Industrial Drive, Evansville, IN 47710
Tuesday-Saturday 12-6 pm
Closed Sundays & Mondays
River Kitty Cat Café (VHS satellite location)
226 Main Street, Evansville, IN 47708
Monday-Friday 10 am -7 pm
Saturday 9 am – 7 pm
Sunday 11 am – 5 pm
Evansville Animal Care & Control
815 Uhlhorn Street, Evansville, IN 47715
Monday-Saturday 10 am – 5 pm
(Closed Tuesday, November 11th for Veteran’s Day)
