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During the first six months of 2010, East Baton Rouge Parish Animal Control has reported a record number of adoptions. The 63% increase has literally meant the difference between life and death for 1,608 animals.

"Nationwide, there are 95 million cat owners and 75 million dog owners. Each year 17 million people are looking for a new pet. Still, 4 million to 5 million are killed in animal shelters," begins Patricia Calfee, Baton Rouge Area Foundation special projects manager, who encouraged the non-profit to investigate the issues surrounding the city's high euthanasia rate. "So what that tells you is: The kill rate is more an issue of market share than anything else."

The remarkable adoption rate is due to the efforts of three new BRAF-affiliated organizations: Yelp!BR, Friends of the Animals and Project Purr.

A recently organized group shelter volunteers, Friends of the Animals regularly posts photos of shelter animals on petfinder.com to make them more accessible to the public and assists at offsite adoption events.

In addition, Yelp!BR and Project Purr— the area's newest dynamic dog and cat rescues respectively—have brought adoptable shelter pets to the people from the downtown Farmers Market and PetSmarts to neighborhood shopping centers such as Acadian and Perkins, Lake Sherwood and Kenilworth.

"The opportunity to save a life is the No. 1 motivator of adoptions," says Project Purr's Polk. "It's essential to take adoptable animals to where the people are—a happy place where it's fun to go not in a dingy [shelter]."

This Saturday, the group debuts its newest venue with Best Friends on the Boulevard at Borders bookstore near the Mall of the Louisiana from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

"Just because [an animal] comes out of Animal Control doesn't mean it's a less desirable," says Yelp!BR Executive Director Betty Hullinger. "They've been abandoned and abused and they know you've just pulled them out of there. I don't want people to think they're not worthwhile. These animals need love."

For more information, visit projectpurrbr.org, yelpbr.org or friendsoftheanimalsbr.org.

For a preview of pets likely to be on the boulevard, click here for this week's Creature Feature.

Click here for this week's City Lynx.