‘Black Tie and Tails’ event to repeat yearly

Lucy Carter visits a colony of mostly black cats at PAWS & More. The animals tend to spend longer in shelters before being adopted than felines of different colors. (Kalen McCain/The Union)

A PAWS volunteer holds up a cat in a bow tie at a backdrop the shelter set up for its "Black Tails and Ties" event over the weekend. Organizers declared the promotion a success, with 22 cats adopted between Friday and Sunday. (Photo submitted)

Many cats wore bow ties for the "Black Tails and Ties" event at PAWS over the weekend. Adoption fees for black or black and white cats were waived for the event. (Kalen McCain/The Union)

Some cats preferred to turn their bow ties around for an unconventional look. (Kalen McCain/The Union)

WASHINGTON — PAWS & More held a “Black ties and tails” event over the weekend, waiving adoption fees on all black and white cats. Shelter Director Amber Talbot said the animals had lower adoption rates than those with other colors.

“In studies across the nation, black animals just sit in shelters longer and are overlooked,” she said. “They’re very in need, and need some special featuring. So we wanted to make this event about those guys that need to be promoted the most. And we have a lot of them.”

Ashley Stover, one of the shelter staff who pitched the idea for the event, said that trend held true locally.

“We realized that we had a ton of black and white cats,” she said. “I thought it was fancy, kind of elegant, the colors match … so we thought a special event to showcase them would be a good idea.”

Talbot said waiving the adoption fees offered pets and people a win-win.

“When we can reduce barriers to adoption, it definitely is very successful,” she said. “People can spend those funds on vet care or do pet supplies. It just helps reduce barriers and (gets) these pets into homes … people are walking into our doorway wanting to help, and the more we can allow them to do that, the better off we all are.”

Talbot declared the event a success after it ended on Sunday with 22 adoptions tallied. The shelter plans to do it again every year moving forward.

“It’s such a fun way to promote the overlooked population in shelters,” she said. “We had such success, a lot of people really enjoyed the idea, and we had a lot of positive feedback on social media … every year we find ourselves trying to find ways to get these animals promoted, get people to see them, get them in the door, and this event really did that.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com