Nearly 80 dogs and cats found new homes during a recent 17-day event at the Gainesville-based Humane Society of Northeast Georgia (HSNEGA).

The goal of 10th annual Empty Shelters campaign, sponsored by the BISSELL Pet Foundation, was to see as many pets as possible adopted through the lowering of adoption fees. The foundation says more than 300 organizations participated this year and more than 16,000 adoptions were reported.

The purpose of the program is to ease overcrowding at humane societies across the country.