Laura Fulda remembers the first time the SPCA came into contact with an orange male cat named Frito.

He was left in the box on the shelter’s doorstep with a note that read ‘please help, I can’t take care of my cat anymore.’ Frito had caught his tail in a car door and needed medical help. After part of his tail was amputated, a flea bath and a month long recovery in the shelter’s hospital, Frito was adopted.

“It was just a great happy ending to see an animal who came in broke and needed medical care leave our organization and find a loving home,” said Fulda, SPCA’s Director of Marketing and Development. “That is what our organization is all about and that’s why we’re here.”

Every pet adopted from the shelter helps to make room for a new pet to be rescued, Fulda says. On Saturday June 13, the SPCA hosted its 5th annual adopt-a-thon, in order to help more community members become involved in the adoption process.

The organization helps people with their pets in a variety of ways including adoptions, a full service veterinary clinic that offers affordable vet care and surgeries, low cost spay/neuter centers, education programs, dog training classes and community outreach programs.

The East Bay SPCA is a nonprofit organization with locations in Dublin and Oakland that is committed to the welfare of cats and dogs in the communities, says the East Bay SPCA website. They strive to eliminate animal cruelty, neglect and overpopulation by providing programs and education that supports people and companion animals. The organization has been the safety net for animals in the East Bay for 139 years, the SPCA says.

“When you adopt a pet from any animal shelter or rescue group, you not only save the life of the pet you’re adopting, you are creating space for another animal to be brought in and adopted by another loving family,” said Allison Lindquist, East Bay SPCA President and CEO.

The event was hosted in Oakland at Jack London Square from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and featured 350 Animals from 40 different Bay Area shelters. Attendees with pets were invited to come and talk with dog behavior experts, watch dog training demonstrations and browse a dozen local animal supply venders selling everything from organic pet food to specialty pet accessories, the SPCA said.

SPCA’s goal was to get 150 or more animals adopted, however the organization faced challenges of holding their event on a Saturday, because in past years they have held it on a Sunday, the same day as the local farmer’s market.

“In the past we’ve probably had more people, but this year I think it’s great because we have people who are really interested in adopting and coming down,” said Fulda. “It’s just a great day to have an event like this and be able to bring together all the different rescue groups from the East Bay and peninsula and provide for the public one beautiful venue where they can come and see a variety of animals for adoption in one place.”

The SPCA prides themselves on hosting the adoption event for free to the public as well as the participating groups.

“Many of these small rescue groups don’t really have a lot of venues to go out and have their animals adopted at public places,” Fulda explains, “And they don’t have the money to advertise so it benefits them to be able to come to a place like this and set up.”

The agencies use the money given from private donations and adoptions to help find another animal a loving home.

“We’ve put a lot of time and effort into each animal,” Fulda said. “Some of them had surgeries that have cost several thousands of dollars, others have been with us for several months, so all of that time and care goes into each animal and the adoption fee helps to cover it.”

The adoption process is different for each group. For most groups the interested adopter will have to fill out a survey or information form and then go through an interview process. The goal of each group is to make sure their animal is going to a loving home and to review with the adopter that adopting a pet will be a lifelong commitment.

“We don’t want someone who just falls in love with a kitten or puppy not to think it through, because that’s why animals end up in shelters in the first place,” Fulda said. “If you get a kitten, it could be a 20 year commitment.”

The SPCA receives their animals from municipal shelters in the East Bay who don’t have the funds, staff, or resources to care for the animals for a long period of time. They also take in stray animals. Over all, the shelter takes in about 3,400 animals a year and had nearly 3000 animals adopted out last year.

As the community continues to grow, the shelter is experiencing the need for greater and improved services for people and their pets. They are working on building a new full service veterinary clinic at their Oakland Campus on 8323 Baldwin Street.

The clinic is currently undergoing a $9 million renovation building project, and when finished will provide a space for children’s camps, more dog training programs and a new veterinarian clinic that will be opening in August, said Fulda.

To find out more about the renovation project and the SPCA’s adoption services, you can go to their website at www.eastbayspca.org.

Other groups participating in the Adopt-A-Thon were: Antioch Animal Services, Bay Area Poodle Rescue, Berkeley Animal Services, Contra Costa Humane Society and Rabbit Rescue, Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter, Golden Gate Greyhound Adoption, California Pit-Bull Rescue and many more.