Clear The Shelters Sets Record, Helps Over 161K Pets Find New Homes

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Press release: NBCUniversal Local

NBCUniversal Local recently announced its 2022 Clear The Shelters nationwide pet adoption and donation campaign (August 1 to 31) helped more than 161,500 pets, and counting, find new homes – the highest single-year adoption total in the initiative’s eight-year history. Since its 2015 inception, Clear The Shelters has resulted in more than 860,000 pet adoptions.

In addition, more than $540,000 has been donated to participating animal shelters and rescues as part of this year’s Clear The Shelters fundraising effort, which continues through September. The total raised includes $100,000 committed through Amazon’s ‘Stream It Forward’ initiative in partnership with Hill’s Pet Nutrition. Donations can be made through September 30 on the Clear The Shelter’s fundraising website.

As part of NBCUniversal Local’s 2022 Clear The Shelters campaign, a campaign-record 170 NBC and Telemundo owned and affiliated stations across the U.S. and Puerto Rico partnered with animal shelters and rescues in their communities to promote pet adoption and raise needed funds. Nearly 1,400 animal shelters and rescues covering all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Guam participated in this year’s campaign.

“We’re honored to announce the tremendous impact this year’s Clear The Shelters made in helping pets find new homes, supporting shelters and rescues in need and generating awareness for animal welfare issues,” said Meredith McGinn, NBCUniversal Local’s EVP of diginets and original production and Clear The Shelters leader. “This is a community-driven initiative that’s success relies on the support of our employees, campa partners, affiliate stations and sponsors. We thank them and everyone who welcomed pets into their homes or generously donated to shelters and rescues this year.”

The 2022 Clear The Shelters reached more than 7.3 million people on social media, and mentions of Clear The Shelters/Desocupar Los Albergues on social media earned nearly 300,000 interactions. On NBCUniversal Local’s digital platforms, Clear The Shelters content received nearly 500,000 unique visitors, and more than five million people were reached on external platforms, excluding social media.

Actor Amir Arison, best known for NBC’s acclaimed drama The Blacklist, joined the 2022 campaign as spokesperson and host of the Clear The Shelters special that began airing on NBC stations and COZI TV on August 26. Telemundo presented the Desocupar Los Albergues special on August 27, which was led by Elva Saray of Acceso Total and Carlos Adyan from En Casa Con Telemundo.

For the third consecutive year, Clear The Shelters featured online donations through partners Greater Good Charities, a global nonprofit, and The Animal Rescue Site, the fundraising host that covers all transaction fees so that 100 percent of donations go to shelters and rescues. Virtual pet adoptions also returned for the 2022 campaign through WeRescue, a four-time Clear The Shelters partner.

Hill’s Pet Nutrition, a global leader in science-based pet nutrition, was a national sponsor for the fifth consecutive campaign. Joining Clear The Shelters this year as a national sponsor was global animal health company Zoetis, the maker of both Simparica Trio and Apoquel. The Dodo, the leading animal and pet brand, served as an exclusive media partner for the sixth campaign.

To celebrate the start and finish of this year’s monthlong campaign, NBCUniversal Local, Greater Good Charities, The Animal Rescue Site and Hill’s Pet Nutrition partnered to conduct lifesaving airlifts on August 2 and August 30. In total, nearly 300 at-risk dogs and cats were transported from overcrowded shelters in the Southeast to the shelters in the Northeast, where they were made available for adoption.