As the upcoming school year may be a stressful time for families, PAWS & More Animal Shelter in Washington is offering an opportunity to bring a loving companion home while helping area students and schools in need.

The shelter is hosting their first ever “Adopt-A-Study-Buddy” event happening now through August 16th. Anyone who drops off school supplies at the shelter can adopt a cat or kitten at a half-off rate of $50. Shelter Director Amber Talbot says the number of stray animals they have collected has recently increased, with the facility being less than 80 animals away from their record capacity in 2019. Talbot hopes they can continue on the success of their kitten shower adoption events they hosted earlier this summer, “Studies show that when children read to animals the benefits are just tremendous. And through the school year we have lots of school children that come out and read to animals and different classes have come out and done that. So it can really help our kids get engaged again, getting back to school.”

The shelter will distribute donated supplies to local schools in need, and they are also collecting monetary donations online to purchase gift cards for students and teachers that need assistance getting equipped for the school year. For more information visit here.