Black Friday Puppy Sale Left Adopters Disappointed In Middlesex County

SAYREVILLE, NJ— Black Friday is infamous for lines, from waiting to buy TVs, to check out, to sometimes waiting to even get into the store in the first place. But at Sammy’s Hope, a Middlesex County animal shelter, people were waiting in line for something different: pets.

Sammy’s Hope, in partnership with Zappo’s was running a "Pawlidayz" promotion, where for one weekend, all adoption fees would be waived. But much like a traditional Black Friday sale, many waiting in line left empty handed.

“Myself along with hundreds of people stood online at this shelter on Friday only to find out they only had 9 dogs! They were not providing adoptions,” Diane Murray-Clements, At-Large Councilwoman in the Township of Hillside, told Patch, “I stood in line for 45 minutes only to find out this information.”

David Gaier, Director of Marketing for Sammy’s Hope, told Patch that the shelter adopted out 11 dogs and 2 cats as part of the promotion, but size constraints and supply were not enough to meet the outsized demand.

“For this promotion, we did our very best to have as many animals available as possible, and sent teams of evaluators to the Newark and Liberty Humane shelters to take dogs from them in anticipation of the promotion,” Gaier told Patch. “That is our model - we are a rescue as well as a shelter, and we 'pull' animals from other shelters.”

The length of the line, pictures below, demonstrates how popular the promotion was, Gaier said.

I AM IN TEARS LOOK AT THE LINE OF PEOPLE WAITING OUTSIDE TO MEET OUR FURBABIES AT SAMMYS HOPE pic.twitter.com/y2EiJMrU15
— b side (@brahnaaa) November 26, 2016

“As for the line, I can only say that it showed how popular the promotion was, and also the kindness of families that are willing to adopt rather than shop at pet stores or breeders. And I think it's natural that when a $250 adoption fee is waived, there will be many more people interested in adopting, and that was the situation,” Gaier told Patch.

He added that shelters that took part in the promotion had wait times that exceeded three hours, putting Sammy’s Hope’s lines on the shorter side.

Some of the line was attributed to Sammy’s Hope’s relatively small size, something both Gaier and Murray-Clements mentioned.

“The adoption facility was letting in 4-5 people at a time. I’m not sure how big the facility was,” Murray-Clements said.

Gaier confirmed this, saying, “We are a relatively small shelter and for safety and fire code reasons we could only admit a limited number of families at one time.”

Once families got inside, many still could not take home a dog that day. First, adopters must have all family members present, provide a vet reference and bring other dogs if they currently have one, and have a rent agreement allowing dogs if they live in a rental.

Gaier said the time delay, among other policies, is their standard operating procedure, and is in place to protect the animals.

“Sammy's Hope rarely if ever does same-day adoptions and that has always been our policy,” Gaier said, pointing Patch towards the policies on their website. “This is because we almost always get personal and veterinarian references to help us ensure we are adopting out to responsible families. It is a good policy, especially for the animals.”

He also noted that Sammy’s Hope will only adopt out neutered, vaccinated pets, which can add an additional delay.

For those still hoping to adopt a pet through Sammy’s Hope, you can visit their website here. For Middlesex County adopters looking for a deal, Woodbridge Animal Group is offering 50% on all adoptions through the end of the year.

Image via Eduardo Marquetti, flickr.