The bright orange “adopt me” bandana and swoosh of her tail, Ellie, a golden lab, was adopted on Saturday after being in the shelter for most of her life. This canine friend will be a beloved household member of the Manuel family instead of being in the confined spaces of her cage.

Coppell High School for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (CHETA) club has collaborated with the Coppell Animal Services to bring awareness to the importance of adopting rather than buying from breeders. 

Senior Sharanya Swaminathan is the CHETA president and has put in various efforts to make this event possible. With her experience volunteering for Operation Kindness, she was able to pull this event together. 

“This club mostly focused on international issues related to animal abuse, such as promoting veganism. I wanted to go for something more local, so I contacted all the local animal rescues and got in contact with Coppell Animal Services, who was willing to work with us,” Swaminathan claims. 

Events such as this one help the shelter introduce their animals to a broader audience and likely increase their chances of getting adopted. The animals also get the opportunity to interact and build trust with humans. 

“We try our hardest to get these animals adopted, we always reach out to other shelters to see if they can take them in or get them adopted. But unfortunately, if the animal is sick beyond our help or is very aggressive and can not be handled whatsoever, we have to put them to sleep,” Coppell Animal Services supervisor Tanesha Riggins said.

According to the Humane Society of Texas, approximately 3.9 million dogs and 3.4 million cats are euthanized each year. Most of these animals are rehomed and abandoned mostly because of aggression, growing larger than expected, or health problems that the owners can not handle.

“One time I found four dogs crammed inside the smallest crate I’ve ever seen, they just left it outside our entrance. We don’t know how long they have been in it,” Riggins said. “We as officers always cover the mess that people make, it’s just a part of our job.” 

This is the first time the CHETA club has done an event.

 “Since this is the first time we have tried something new, we did this event on a smaller scale to see if there would be a good turn out. And I’m very happy that people are showing up. And I’m very proud of the group this year, they are really willing to put in the effort and pull this event together,” CHS teacher and CHETA sponsor Angela Barnes said. 

The club plans on having more events like these on a larger scale to help more animals in need.

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