CINCINNATI — This May during National Pet Month, Bounty Paper Towels is picking up pet adoption fees for new pet owners at Best Friends Animal Society Lifesaving Centers across the U.S. The animal welfare organization’s lifesaving centers provide the love, care and medical treatment for animals in need of a forever home. For every pet Bounty helps get adopted, Best Friends will have the ability to save two more.

“By partnering with Best Friends Animal Society, we’re able to help save the lives of these loveable mess-makers and get them into their fur-ever home,” says Janette Yauch, vice president, Bounty. “With Bounty, we also get to help these new parents when it comes to quickly picking up any pet mess once they get home.”

Joining Bounty’s efforts in surprising these new pet owners is Katherine Schwarzenegger – New York Times bestselling author, mother, wife, daughter, advocate and dog mom to rescue pup Maverick. Going from fostering Maverick to providing him with his forever home is what inspired her to write her first children’s book, Maverick and Me. Schwarzenegger is also an ambassador for Best Friends Animal Society.

“Adopting Maverick and being introduced to the animal rescue rower has been one of the joys of my life,” says Katherine. “So, when Bounty asked me to partner with them to help rescue pets at Best Friends, I knew I had to say yes.”

Every year 347,000 pets are killed in shelters across the U.S., according to Best Friends Animal Society. Currently, there are 100,000 more pets at-risk of being killed in shelters than at this time last year due to recent problems such as staffing shortages, limited shelter hours, decreased volunteers, and reduced adoption events. For every pet Bounty helps get adopted, it can save two lives: the pet who goes home and the one who now has space to come to a Best Friends Lifesaving Center.

“May is one of the highest intake months for animal shelters around the country. The sad truth is that shelters get overcrowded when pets aren’t adopted quickly enough and this can put lives at risk,” says Castle. “That’s why we’re grateful that Bounty wanted to quickly come to the rescue and pick up adoption fees this month. It’ll help Best Friends get more pets into homes at this critically needed time.”