TAMPA, Fla. — The Humane Society of Tampa Bay is helping people find a new family member this Valentine's Day holiday.
"This Valentine’s Day, we have a really exciting deal going on. It’s all about love. We are going to be giving some love away," said Christine McLarty with the Humane Society of Tampa Bay.
The humane society said it will cover the adoption fees for a new animal of two people who "like" the Humane Society of Tampa on Instagram and then "tag" a friend in the comment section.
"These two people get to come in and choose, you can choose a cat, a dog, a gerbil, a rabbit, a hamster, you name it. It’s your choice of love and we know these animals will love you unconditionally," added McLarty.
Jason Woody, the President and CEO of the Lions Eye Institute for Transplant & Research, also wants to help the nonprofit for Valentine's Day. He started a GoFundMe page and will match up to $5,000 in donations.
Woody said he adopted both of his dogs from a shelter.
"They bring us so much joy and the opportunity to bring that into a loving family would be important to me," said Woody.
Woody wants to raise money to cover the adoption fees for up to 75 animals on Valentine's Day. Any additional money raised will go to the humane society so shelter employees may buy food, blankets and pay for medical bills.
Another way to help homeless animals in February is at the Bark in the Park event. The fundraising event is this Saturday, February 12 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Curtis Hixon Park. It is the shelter's second biggest event of the year to raise money for the animals.
The free event will have food, beer, music and you may bring your dogs. You may also check out adoptable dogs.
In 2021, the Humane Society of Tampa saved more than 13,000 animals.
"Valentine’s Day is a day to show love. Animals show us love unconditionally, all year round, so we just want to give back to the animals in need and give them some extra love," said McLarty.
