Super adoption success: More than 200 pets head home

Coral. James. Smudge. Turtle. These are just a few of the pets who are settling into loving new homes after the Best Friends Super Adoption in Northwest Arkansas. It’s the first time this huge pet adoption event has come to the region.

The event brought together 31 animal welfare organizations (19 shelters and 12 rescue groups) from Arkansas, Missouri, and even Alabama. Best Friends’ goal is for all shelters across the country to reach no-kill in 2025, and collaborating with our shelter and rescue partners to place pets in new homes is just one of the ways we work together toward that shared goal.

That work happens across the country every day, but the super adoption brings people and pets together for an unforgettable weekend.

Participating organizations gathered at the Best Friends Pet Resource Center in Bentonville with a unified mission: match up the cats and dogs in their care with new homes. Eager adopters came out in droves to meet and choose a dog or cat, and by the end of the weekend, more than 200 pets were headed home with families of their own. And the cherry on top? One hundred percent of all adoption fees were covered.

A super adoption is more than a pet adoption event — it's a festival of love and lifesaving.

“Super adoptions are a great way to rally community support by uniting animal lovers with animal welfare organizations from across Arkansas and beyond to help homeless pets find their loving homes,” says Michelle Logan, executive director of the Best Friends team in Northwest Arkansas.

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Emceed by community leaders and local media personalities, the two-day event featured food trucks, vendor booths, giveaways, demonstrations, and training advice from the NWA School for Dogs plus hundreds of adoptable pets to meet. Under the warm June sun, dogs and puppies stayed cool with fans and kiddie pools to splash in, while cats and kittens chilled in the AC inside the pet resource center.

After meeting their match, adopters left with swag bags filled with goodies from our sponsors, plus free Cat Dad and Dog Dad T-shirts for dads who adopted on Father's Day.

“Everybody here was so happy leaving with new pets,” says Linda DeBerry, communications strategist with Best Friends. “This is always one of the happiest places on Earth, but this weekend was extra special.”

An important part of super adoptions is collaboration among animal welfare organizations. Best Friends and several other groups took in many of the pets who weren’t adopted, so they didn’t have to return to a shelter.

The West Memphis Animal Shelter (WMAS) adopted out 12 of the dogs they brought to the event. But a black pup with white toes named Bonnet didn’t meet her match. The Best Friends team agreed to take in Bonnet, and she was adopted the very next day from the pet resource center.

“Could anything be greater?” says Kerry Facello, director at WMAS. “(I’m) so, so very thankful. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Besides Bonnet, Best Friends took in an additional 32 pets who are sure to be adopted soon.

[Hundreds of pets go home from L.A. super adoption]

Walmart and Blue Buffalo generously covered adoption fees for all Best Friends’ animals. Meanwhile, the Leonard & Robert Weintraub Family Foundation covered half of all adoption fees for the remaining organizations, which Best Friends matched dollar for dollar. That meant no one paid an adoption fee to take home their new best friend.

“Covering an adoption fee may inspire someone to take home a pet today,” says Michelle Kamen, a trustee of the foundation. “That’s what I wanted. I wanted the shelters to leave this event with empty kennels and empty vans because every animal that needed to be adopted was.”

Best Friends extends a big tail wag to presenting sponsor GoodPop for making this lifesaving event possible, as well as supporting sponsors Blue Buffalo, Purina, Rachael Ray Nutrish, "I and love and you," Mars Petcare, and Fresh Step.

Our goal at Best Friends is to support all animal shelters in the U.S. in reaching no-kill in 2025. No-kill means saving every dog and cat in a shelter who can be saved, accounting for community safety and good quality of life for pets. 

Shelter staff can’t do it alone. Saving animals in shelters is everyone’s responsibility, and it takes support and participation from the community. No-kill is possible when we work together thoughtfully, honestly, and collaboratively.