JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Although Halloween has passed, a lingering fright remains: the possibility of countless cats and dogs in Jacksonville spending the festive season in a shelter.

Jacksonville’s municipal animal shelter, Animal Care and Protective Services, is offering free adoptions throughout November to ensure these animals find loving families.

While the adoption fee waiver is available all month, the shelter will ramp up activities during weekends with special themed events, starting with the Florida-Georgia weekend.

On Saturday, November 8, ACPS, accompanied by some of its adoptable dogs, will participate in Porchfest, an annual music celebration held in the historic Springfield area.

During the weekend of Nov. 15 , it’s Guns vs. Hoses: Shelter Edition. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department will each have a sponsored team of adoptable pets and will compete to get them all adopted first.

ACPS says it also plans to join in on the fun at Petesgiving on Nov. 27 and participate in “Black Fur-day” with its own adoption specials that weekend.

The month-long event comes on the tail of the Pet Adoption Festival, where ACPS said it managed to adopt out more than 140 animals in two days.

ACPS is open every day from noon to 7 p.m. You can see all available animals now either on the shelter’s website or through its new pet matchmaking app, JaxPawFinder.

As it strives to get more animals into homes quicker, ACPS also announced a change to its policy on stray holds. 

When a stray animal enters the shelter, they are often put on hold so that no one can adopt them for a certain amount of time. This gives the owner, if they exist, time to reclaim their pet. Traditionally, ACPS Jacksonville kept the hold active for six days.

ACPS posted to social media that it wants to move toward 3-day stray holds instead, to mixed reactions. The shelter said that, based on its data, lost pets are almost always reclaimed within 72 hours of intake. 

“A 6-day hold does not increase reunions,” said a shelter representative in a social media video. “It increases stress, illness, and overcrowding. It blocks animals from moving into adoption, foster or transfer at the time when they need it the most.”

Some commentators raised concerns about owners who may be out of town for work or vacation. ACPS responded, encouraging owners to make sure their animals have proper identification, like microchips or collars with updated contact information, so that that they can be reached quickly no matter their location.