Bideawee on Main, the shelter’s first adoption pop-up location, will have dogs and cats available for adoption on Westhampton’s Main Street until September 1. If you visit Bideawee on Main and meet your new best friend, you can take them home almost immediately! The pop-up will be open Thursday-Sunday of each week. In addition to this new summer location, Bideawee operates two adoption centers in Westhampton and Manhattan, two Pet Memorial Parks in Wantagh and Westhampton, a veterinary hospital in Westhampton, and a mobile adoption unit, as well as pet therapy and reading to dogs programs around Long Island.
Bideawee has been holding adoption events in Westhampton on Old Country Road since the 1960s, but the location’s limited traffic means not as many pets get adopted as the organization would like. Moving to Main Street in the middle of all the summer fun has proved to be a good change, according to Leslie Granger, Bideawee’s president and CEO. The shelter has seen an uptake in adoption and in community chatter about its pets and programs, leading to more adoptions at other Bideawee sites.
“I’m not worried about where they get adopted from, as long as they’re getting adopted,” Granger says. “It’s been great.”
Bideawee rescues pets from around the country, bringing in many pets from crowded shelters in the South, and also performs rescue operations in Puerto Rico, where many animals are still displaced in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. New York and Long Island also have a problem with cat overpopulation, so Bideawee has many kittens available for adoption. The shelter is averaging 200 adoptions per month, says Granger.
If you’re ready to meet your new canine or feline pal, Bideawee on Main will be open on Thursdays from 2pm-6pm, Fridays and Saturdays from 11am-6pm, and Sundays from 11am-4pm at 61 Main Street, Westhampton until September 1.
Main Image: Puppy love on Bideawee on Main's July 4 opening day. Courtesy of Mackenzie Smith.
