Adopt a pet? PAWS Chicago hopes to find homes for 125 animals for the holidays

As temperatures likely dip below zero this weekend, the city’s largest no-kill shelter is hoping 125 of its animals will soon be in warm, forever homes just in time for the holiday.

PAWS Chicago’s annual Adopt-a-Thon kicked off Friday at its Lincoln Park shelter, with more than a dozen people lined up outside the center’s doors.

Inside, some of the animals were dressed in holiday outfits. Some zoomed around, playing with toys. Other animals were napping.

“Having a companion animal is so rewarding, and bringing that pet into your home, it’s life-changing,” said PAW’s Chief Program Officer Celene Mielcarek. “It gives you such joy, such unconditional love. And this is such a great time of year to do it. The holidays are a time a joy and festivity.”

The adoption center at 1997 N. Clybourn Ave. is open till midnight on Friday and between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The center accepts both appointments and walk-ins.

For 18 years, the center has hosted an adoption drive each December.

This year, there’s been an uptick in the number of animals in the care of the city’s Animal Care and Control. Mielcarek said it’s risen to around 50 intakes per day. PAWS frequently take animals from the city’s shelter to help them avoid euthanasia, she said.

“We can only rescue more animals if we have the community fostering and adopting, so that space clears up in our shelter for more,” she said.

Some of the people who came to PAWS adoption center on Friday were looking for a new pet. Others brought fosters they hoped to adopt.

The Rileys from Lincoln Park were the first family to adopt a pet: a cat named Sprinkle Belly the family had been fostering.

Five-year-old George Riley thought up the name. He said Sprinkle Belly is his favorite among the cats they have fostered.

“He’s so cuddly,” George Riley said.

Over 8 years, the Rileys have fostered 27 cats from PAWS. In that time, they have adopted two of them.

“We are big animal lovers and PAWS supporters,” Lori Riley said.

Her husband Phil Riley added: “We foster every now and then — and try very hard to give them back.”

Fostering helps give kittens a good start to life and acclimates them to being around people, Lori Riley said.

“There’s nothing like having a pet, nurturing them and building a family with them,” she said.

The shelter has overseen 5,000 adoptions this year, said Paige Krueger, a volunteer with PAWS for 10 years.

It was hard for Krueger to pick a favorite. Krueger said Ambrosia, a 2-month-old terrier mix, stood out. The doe-eyed puppy, who has five siblings all named after apple varieties, was wearing a red cape as her holiday outfit.

“We are seeing intake increase across the country. That means public shelters, like Chicago Animal Care and Control, are overpopulated,” Krueger said. “It’s so important that adopters come in, adopt these pets, and that’s really the only way we can save more lives.”