The time to adopt your new best friend is now — Warren County Animal Control and Adoption Center (WCACAC) has extended its free adoption event.

Warren County’s Health and Welfare Committee meeting was held on Tuesday evening and, as part of its monthly report, WCACAC revealed it had 68 dogs and five cats in its care as of Feb. 28, with 12 dogs and seven cats having been adopted over the course of the month.

The facility’s Document Manager Jeff Tubb cited the free adoption fee event as being a driver of such success. The committee discussed keeping the event going and, at Commissioner and Committee Chair Blaine Wilcher’s suggestion, opted to extend it until April 18.

With the adoption event, cats and dogs adopted from WCACAC will be free to adopt and their rabies vaccination and spay or neuter procedure will be provided without additional cost.

Tubb explained the event had been slow-going at first, but once it was announced in the Southern Standard, more interest had been generated and adoptions picked up.

Commissioner Kasey Owens asked if the shelter had received any of the same animals back after being adopted without a fee — a concern among some when the concept was first considered — and Tubb reported it had only happened in a couple instances where an individual passed away and their dogs were returned, but were very quickly readopted by other families.

“I’m just happy to know adoptions are taking place,” Owens said. “I was worried about getting the publicity out when we closed down the Facebook page and started working on the new website.”

Although there were several adoptions, the facility still contains a high population after taking in 13 dogs as part of an alleged animal cruelty situation. The dogs came from the ongoing case reportedly involving Dennis Craig Broadway, which took place in February and resulted in 14 counts of cruelty to animals. As the facility is at capacity, the animal control officers have not been going on calls due to the lack of space to accommodate more pets.

“We basically can’t go on road calls now,” County Executive Terry Bell said. “There’s nowhere for them to go. When we took in the 13 dogs, we are now maintaining what we’ve got, we can’t make a road call.”

He described a situation where dogs were doubled up in a kennel and they began to fight, which resulted in one having an injury to their lip.

“When Brandy tells me we’re full, we can’t take anybody,” Tubb explained. “And when people want to surrender dogs, I tell them on the phone that ‘I’m sorry, but we are maxed out.’ ”

Currently, the facility is not taking surrenders as all kennels are full. WCACAC has two employees — Shelter Manager Brandi Harville and Tubb — who receive additional and daily support with cleaning kennels and walking dogs from two inmates as part of Warren County Jail’s trusty program.

WCACAC is open for adoptions from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. Appointments can be scheduled by leaving a voicemail or sending an email to wcacac@warrencountytn.gov.