Anderson Humane to host animal adoption event Saturday in St. Charles

ST. CHARLES - The Anderson Humane animal shelter will partner with St. Charles Hardware to host an adoption event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at St. Charles Hardware, 3619 E. Main St., St. Charles.

Last November, the shelter hosted an adoption event at the same St. Charles location, and more than 100 people attended the event, said Chief Engagement Officer Jeff Robey.

He said that all but one of their animals had been adopted, and he expects a large turnout this weekend.

“We do about two a month right now. The one this Saturday will have about 10 to 15 animals,” he said.

The shelter has been ramping up adoption events over the past months because they couldn’t hold any during the COVID-19 lockdowns, Robey said.

“There was this perception out there that when the COVID lockdown started in 2020, there was this influx of people who were adopting animals because they were at home,” Robey said. “There was some of that, but it was not at the same level you would think.”

He noted that the shelter did hit a decrease just like others when the pandemic started.

“We actually did have a slight decline in adoptions from 2019, but that was largely due to the limitations that were in place,” he said. “The demand was there and people still wanted animals, but we had to shut down just like everyone else did, if we didn’t have those, we probably would have had another record year like we did in 2019.”