Macy's
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the city's SPCA has done this for 22 years, sending shoppers home with more than 4,000 new pets from the Macy's windows (317 just last year!). Starting in late November and running through January 3, homeless pets fill six store windows from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, with SPCA staff on hand at all times to answer questions and screen potential adopters.
While they tend to bring the same animals back each day until they're adopted, according to the Chronicle, the shelter has a 97 percent adoption rate, so most of these animals will find happy homes whether they're adopted from the store windows or not. Most of the animals in the windows are cats, though small dogs are brought in as well. Large dogs simply don't fit.
When the Chronicle went behind the scenes at one of the adoption days at Macy's, they found that adoptable animals are described in three ways: "Cherry Blossoms" are animals that are a bit too shy for the windows. "Class Clowns" are a little rough-and-tumble, but could work. "All-Stars" are just what they sound like -- perfect for opportunities like this.
Want to know how you can lend a paw? Check out the SF/SPCA's Web site for more information.
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