The Riverside County Animal Shelter is practically full all of the time. In almost every cage there's a pet that will either soon be adopted, or else euthanized.
"The math is always working against us. We always have far too many dogs and cats for the amount of homes that there are in Riverside County," said John Welsh, Riverside County Animal Services.
But Saturday, the math will be working in favor of them, and anyone who wants to adopt. Because instead of paying, for example, $105 to adopt a dog, at the Riverside County Animal Shelter, it'll be absolutely free.
They're calling it the "Mega Match-A-Thon" event. It's paid for, in part, by a grant from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).
"It's coming from donations from people all over the country, and we give back to shelters, and this is one way of doing that, and we're thrilled to be here in Riverside to see what they're doing," said Kate Pullen, ASPCA.
You don't need to pay for spaying or neutering. You don't need to pay for vaccinations. And you don't need to pay for micro-chipping.
"We expect a huge crowd on Saturday morning," said Welsh.
But there are limitations.
"You can't adopt, for example, a large dog if you live in an apartment where you don't know if the manager allows pets, so there's certain things that you need to be responsible for on your end so that way we know we're adopting to the right person," said Welsh.
Other shelters in Southern California aren't offering free adoptions, but there are discounts.
