On Friday, November 23, we hosted our eighth annual Cat Friday adoption event at the ASPCA Adoption Center in New York City. This year, we encouraged animal lovers and potential pet parents to skip the usual hustle and bustle of Black Friday and celebrate the biggest shopping day of the year with the greatest “savings” you could find in the Tri-State area—saving a life. As an additional incentive for Cat Friday, we offered a special “name your price,” adoption promotion for cat adopters. 

We are pleased to announce that 38 animals found loving homes on Cat Friday, with an additional 17 animals finding homes the following day. Among the animals who found homes was Charlotte, a three-month-old tabby cat who was adopted by Quishauna W. and her 6-year-old daughter Aniylah. The mother-daughter duo had recently moved from shelter housing into a permanent home just in time for the holidays. Quishauna wanted to share the joy of cat ownership with her daughter in their new apartment, and when she heard about Cat Friday she thought the timing was perfect to bring home a new kitten.

“I feel we can relate to these animals here,” Quishauna tells us. “We’re familiar with a situation of living in a small space with no love or family, so it was a good way to give back by adopting.” For the small family, we hope that Charlotte will make their new home feel complete. 

There was also Jason and Inkling, two five-month-old tabby cats adopted by Zaki A. and his nine-year-old nephew, Yousef. Zaki heard about Cat Friday earlier in the week from an Adoption Center staff member when he stopped by to see what kind of cats and kittens were available. Zaki tells us that he’s had many cats over the years and was looking for two to add to the family—one for him and one for Yousef. 

“It’s been a little quiet around the house since some of Yousef’s cousins moved out, and he was asking for a new friend,” Zaki says. “As a family, we decided the time was right to adopt two cats.” Jason is Yousef’s first cat, and he was very excited to get both kitties home. 

In addition to the heartwarming adoptions that took place on Cat Friday, we also saw an incredible turnout for volunteers. A total of 51 volunteers committed 198 hours on Cat Friday, and an additional 20 hours of volunteer time was logged in administrative preparation—it takes a village indeed! 

“Over the past eight years we have seen a tremendous turnout for this adoption promotion and this year was no different,” says Rena F. Lafaille, Director of Administration at the ASPCA Adoption Center. “Staff, volunteers and months of prep for this big day truly made this year a success, and we’re thankful to everyone, including our adopters, who opened up their hearts and homes to an animal in need this holiday season.”

We hope that the news of these adoptions and the work put in to find more animals homes will inspire people like you to continue your outstanding commitment to animals in need this holiday season and year-round. We are grateful for your help to find more animals new homes.