‘Cornhole 4 Cats’ aims to boost adoptions at county shelters
A silly promotion begins Friday at the county’s three largest shelters.
The promotion, Cornhole 4 Cats, gives guests the opportunity to test their tossin’ skills to win a free cat adoption. Each guest gets four shots to toss a bag into a hole. The cost or donation is just $1 for four bags.
“It’s all part of raising awareness of our serious cat situation – in a fun manner,” said Jaclyn Schart, an Animal Services chief overseeing shelter operations at the county shelter in Jurupa Valley. “To be blunt, we have too many cats. And no one is coming to adopt our cats. We need help. A lot of help.”
The Western Riverside County/City Animal Shelter in Jurupa Valley currently has more than 170 cats available for adoption. The Coachella Valley Animal Campus in Thousand Palms and the San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus in San Jacinto both have more than 100 cats needing their “furever” homes.
The promotion will run for several weeks. Also, it’s a very informal promotion; employees won’t be standing as referees. Participants can play as many times as it takes to score a bag in the hole and then report the number of times it took when they’re ready to adopt.
“Although this is very silly, we must not forget that cats offer us a lot of entertainment, too,” Schart said. “This fun way to adopt reminds us of the fun, playful spirit of all our felines.”
Visitors can adopt cats the regular way, too. So there’s no pressure to participate in the Cornhole 4 Cats promotion.
Cornhole has been around for decades, but has grown in popularity in the past 15 years in backyards, during tailgating parties and can often be found at craft breweries.
The name is connected to the corn used in most bags and each player’s goal of trying to toss their bags into a cut hole on a board. Tosses in the hole are worth more points than shots that land on the board – or miss entirely.
“We think anyone who tries will definitely leave smiling – and hopefully with one of our friendly fuzzies,” Schart said.
