BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — Hundreds of animals now have a new home after a mega adoption event at the Hernando County Fairgrounds this weekend.

  • Hernando adoption event brought together several shelters
  • Hundreds of animals found homes over the past few days
  • All adoption fees waived, and animals were microchipped

Animal shelters in Hernando, Citrus, Polk, Pasco, and Hillsborough counties were there, along with the Humane Society of the Nature Coast

Lisa McCarthy stopped by the event Sunday looking for a cat.

“I lost a cat back in February to cancer, and my other female cat has been kind of roaming around crying, and so I knew I wanted a cat,” McCarthy said.

When she met Figaro, she knew she had found her match. 

“He was just so laid back and just melted into my arms, so I knew I had to have him,” she said.

Hers was just one of the hundreds of adoptions at the fairgrounds the past few days. There were over 500 animals from shelters across the Bay area, and almost three-quarters of them were adopted. 

“We’re up to 30 adoptions this weekend, which is absolutely amazing,” said Rachel Stever with Pasco County Animal Services.

“All six of our shelters are working together to bring in more of a crowd than we would all usually normally see,” she added. 

Cats were especially in demand. The Humane Society of the Nature Coast started out with more than 60 and was down to just a handful by Sunday afternoon. 

Best Friends Animal Society organized the event. 

“This event has been incredible," Best Friends Southeast Regional Specialist Emily Park said. "I think it exceeded all the expectations of everyone who was participating in it."

Because of this year's success, Park said the group is hoping to do more like this in the Bay area in the future.

Adoption fees were waived for everyone during the event. All adopted animals were spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped.