ASPCA Selects New Mission: Orange Finalists

The ASPCA will partner with three new cities to encourage adoptions of homeless cats and dogs.

A year after it launched a campaign to increase pet adoptions and decrease euthanasia of adoptable cats and other pets, the ASPCA selected three communities to compete as finalists to join its Mission: Orange program. Animal welfare agencies in Cleveland, Oklahoma City, and Buncombe County, N.C., will work with the ASPCA over the next year to educate residents about spaying and neutering their pets and to encourage adoptions of homeless cats and dogs.

“These selections, respectively, represent the birthplace of the most duplicated spay/neuter clinic program in the country, a city whose government is investing in progressive programs, and a state capital organization that serves as a model for other organizations,” said Ed Sayres, ASPCA president and CEO. “These communities have demonstrated that they are more than ready for the challenges that lie ahead and to make a difference in the lives of companion animals.”

Over the next year, animal shelters and other agencies in these communities will create and implement programs designed to help those animals most at risk: homeless cats and dogs in shelters. At the end of the year, one of the communities will be invited to apply to become a Mission: Orange target community.

Mission: Orange was launched in 2007 in several communities throughout the United States: Philadelphia; Austin, Texas; Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss.; Spokane, Wash.; and Tampa, Fla. The goal is to achieve a “save rate” of 75 percent or above for unwanted pets entering animal shelters.

For more information about Mission: Orange, visit the ASPCA website.