Animal lovers, mark Aug. 19 on your calendar for the fourth Clear the Shelters adoption event in North Texas and across the nation.

This year, 62 shelters in North Texas will take part in the event whose goal is to clear the shelters of animals via waived adoption fees and by spreading the word about adoptable animals. It will run from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at participating shelters.

The event began in Dallas-Fort Worth in 2014 when Corey Price, animal services manager for the city of Irving, and her staff looked for a way to expand a smaller-scale Clear the Shelters effort they had hosted previously.

Price pitched the idea of a region-wide event to NBC stations KXAS/Channel 5 and Telemundo 39, which joined the effort and began spreading the word via stories and public service announcements.

CLEAR THE SHELTERS EXPANDED NATIONWIDE

That first year, the ASPCA said that 2,356 puppies, dogs, kittens, and cats were adopted in North Texas from 33 shelters of all sizes — both public and nonprofit.

Clear the Shelters was expanded nationwide in 2015, according to NBCUniversal, and since then, more than 70,000 homeless pets have been adopted through the program.

In North Texas last year, 7,136 pets found new homes from 66 shelters, according to Cleartheshelters.com. Nationally, some 53,000 adoptions were made at more than 700 shelters.

To keep up with information about the event, as well as inspiring stories, use the hashtag #Cleartheshelters on Twitter.

To find a shelter near you, go here.

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