CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — For the month of October, the Gulf Coast Humane Society has been holding a trick-or-treat event where a $1 donation allows you to give a treat to an animal who is up for adoption.
This year is the first time the shelter has hosted the trick-or-treat event. The idea came from marketing coordinator Cierra Barela, who saw another shelter doing it with their animals.
“I really liked that they involved their animals during a holiday, it’s something that we can get more people in here,” she said.
Barela said she hoped tying in the shelter’s adoptions with the holiday would bring more people in. She said the trick-or-treat event has been popular, and people have even donated money just so every animal can get a treat.
“We’ve had a couple people come in specifically for this, we’ve also had a couple people call in,” she said. “Our Facebook posts and Instagram posts did pretty well on this. We’ve had a lot of people call in asking how many animals we have in the shelter right now, and they’ll make that donation.”
The treat bags have definitely caught the eyes of people looking at dogs at the shelter, like Briana Gonzales, who was at the shelter Wednesday looking to adopt.
“When I saw that, it immediately caught my attention, and it was cute to see the different dogs with the bags hanging from their kennels. It definitely brought attention to reading about the different dogs,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales knows how important it is to adopt animals, as she has a dog who is a rescue.
“I think adopting dogs is much better than buying dogs. When you adopt dogs, one, you’re saving a life, and you’re giving them a whole new life. There is a big difference from when they’re in here and when you rescue them, you see a big change in character,” she said.
Over the course of the month, the shelter has seen 102 animals adopted, as of Wednesday.
“It brings a lot of commotion and attention to us, so it helps us not only get donations in, but attracts a lot attention so we can have more animals go out, so we can bring more animals in. That’s really what it’s all about,” Barela said.
There are only a few more days to trick-or-treat at the Gulf Coast Humane Society; the event will continue through Halloween.
