INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - Indianapolis Animal Care Services is hoping to attract a crowd to its south side shelter Friday night.
For the first time ever, the shelter is hosting after hours adoptions. It will remain open until 10 p.m.
Why? The city-run shelter is overflowing with dogs and cats - so many it hasn't been able to accept surrendered pets because of the lack of space.
While it's been offering "free" adoptions over the last several months, ACS Deputy Director Katie Trennepohl thought another nudge couldn't hurt.
"We're just trying to reduce barriers for people to come in and adopt," she said. "One thing we know is people struggle to get here after work or after the kids get out of school, so we want to make it easier for families to come in and find the perfect animal for them."
Yelana Fox was one of the many people who stopped by the shelter earlier looking for a new friend and was delighted to find a match in "Annie."
"We just adopted an 8-year-old cat and we want to give her a good rest of her time at home and I definitely will spoil her, I'm not going to lie," Fox laughed.
She also had her eyes on a feline friend for Annie, an orange tabby kitten. Fox said the free adoptions weren't a factor for her, but she hoped it would help other animals find homes just like her Annie did.