It was love at first sight for Mary Jusus. That’s what she said it felt like when she spotted Sally, an 8-month-old puppy mix with a sweet disposition and long pointy ears, at a one-day adoption event at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Grayslake Saturday. The Vernon Hills resident adopted Sally shortly after meeting her. Three-year-old Isla Zaffke of Wauconda plays with two kittens up for adoption on Saturday. (Yadira Sanchez Olson/For the Lake County News-Sun) “I’m so happy,” Jusus said. “I’m going to introduce her to my mother, and I think she’ll be really excited to know we have a new family member.” The Super Adoption Saturday event had 21 organizations participating with the ambitious goal of adopting out as many as 500 animals in the span of seven hours. Although the number of adoptions from all the shelters was still being tallied after the weekend, it was certain that more than 250 adoptions were made, according to Lydia Krupinski, vice president of mission impact at the Anti-Cruelty Society in Chicago, and co-chair of the Chicagoland Humane Coalition, which organized the event. At the furry affair, local groups such as the Riverwoods-based rescue Orphans of the Storm, along with others from throughout Cook County, brought different amounts of animals; some more than dogs and cats, others only the traditional house pets. Some had all of their animals adopted out and happily left empty-handed. Such was the case for the Wheeling-based rescue Heartland Animal Shelter. And, it came at a time when the facility really needed help with the adoption of its animals. The shelter’s building flooded in June, and it has been relying solely on foster homes, according to Mary Wozencraft, community engagement and programs manager. “This was huge for us; that we could come here and have all our 11 dogs get adopted and nearly all of our 18 cats,” she said. Chris and Mike Stephenson of Algonquin get acquainted with a 5-month-old dog they adopted from Wright-Way Rescue. (Yadira Sanchez Olson/For the Lake County News-Sun) One herculean effort was made by the Indianapolis Animal Care Services, which traveled nearly four hours with 36 animals to get to the event. “We are at full capacity at our open-admission shelter,” public information officer Colleen Walker said. The team was happy they had 16 adoptions, and to give them a hand several of the other organizations took some of their animals at the end of the event, after they had adopted theirs out and knew they had the extra space. “There’s such community with animal lovers,” Walker said. Hundreds of dogs were on display with shelters hoping they would find a family and new home on Saturday at an adoption event. (Yadira Sanchez Olson/For the Lake County News-Sun) But even while adoptions were happening in Lake County, she got word that seven more animals had been taken in at the Indianapolis shelter that day. That’s the way it goes, Krupinski said, and that’s why it’s so important for animals to find their home and not linger so long at shelters. A challenge the rescue community faces is that adoptions have slowed since last year, officials said. “Across the country, adoptions have gone down, in particular for dogs; not as much for cats,” Krupinski said. Twenty rescues and shelters participated in a one-day adoption event held at the Lake County Fairgrounds Saturday. (Yadira Sanchez Olson/For the Lake County News-Sun) Rising costs of living spaces, as well as veterinary costs are contributing to that dilemma, she explained. Saturday’s event gave visitors hundreds of pets under one roof from which to choose, an easy adoption process that took only minutes and, for many, adoptions fees that were waived or discounted significantly. Yuri and Natalia Hudov of Elk Grove adopted Egg Roll, a black kitten. “You want to adopt all of them, so it’s hard to choose just one,” Natalia Hudov said. The Super Adoption Saturday event had rabbits, guinea pigs and birds up for adoption, as well as many dogs and cats. (Yadira Sanchez Olson/For the Lake County News-Sun) It was Egg Roll’s white stripe on his chest that got him adopted into his new family. For Tiffany Cordero of Downers Grove, it was the one blue eye and one brown eye of the 2-year-old pup she chose that sealed the deal. Besides the adoptions, the message the coalition’s organizations wanted to spread was that there are many ways to help animals without a home, and a family to love and protect them. One way is to adopt from a shelter or rescue. Another is to foster, if you can’t keep a pet permanently in your home. A third way is to volunteer for the myriad tasks that organizations need done in order to take in and adopt out pets. Krupinski added a fourth. She said people should be connected through social media with shelters and rescues, and repost what they post, because you never know. “That one animal just waiting to be loved could be that one you’re looking for,” she said.