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NBCUniversal Local's 2025 'Clear The Shelters' Results in More Than 160,000 Pet Adoptions and $628,000 in Donations

Clear The Shelters

September 24, 2025

NBCUniversal Local’s 11th annual Clear The Shelters pet adoption and donation campaign helped 160,165 pets find new homes and raised more than $628,000 for participating animal shelters – the highest fundraising total since 2020. Since its 2015 inception, Clear The Shelters has now led to more than 1.3 million pet adoptions and more than $5.6 million in donations.

The NBC and Telemundo stations’ annual pet adoption initiative was held from Aug. 1 to 31, with fundraising from July 15 to Sept. 15, and was supported nationally by longtime partners Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Greater Good Charities, WeRescue, along with first-time supporter The Black Dog. This year’s campaign was conducted in collaboration with 129 participating NBC- and Telemundo-owned and affiliated stations, which partnered with 1,735 shelters and rescues across 49 states, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam.

“We are incredibly thankful for another successful year helping vulnerable pets and animal shelters,” said Meredith McGinn, NBCUniversal Local’s EVP of Diginets & Original Production and Clear The Shelters leader. “This effort is fueled by our wonderful campaign partners, including Hill’s Pet Nutrition, and the participating stations and their employees across the nation who bring it to life. We greatly appreciate them and all of those who adopted and donated so generously this year to help at-risk pets and those who care for them.”

2025 Partners, Features & Highlights 

Hill's Pet Nutrition, a global leader in science-based pet nutrition and leading supporter of animal welfare, served as the national sponsor for the eighth consecutive campaign.

As part of their partnership, Hill’s Pet Nutrition supported fundraising – including the contribution of $25,000 to the Clear The Shelters fund – and provided in-kind food donations and adoption kits to help new pet parents at select participating shelters, which included starter bags of Hill’s Science Diet, coupons, and other supplies.

"The mission of Clear The Shelters is as important as ever while shelters across the country continue to face a capacity crisis," said Carrick Massey, US Senior Vice President of Marketing at Hill's Pet Nutrition. "Hill's is honored to have played a role in helping shelters connect so many deserving pets with loving homes for the eighth consecutive year of this campaign. We are incredibly grateful to all the campaign partners and shelters across the country for their tireless support of such an important cause."

Greater Good Charities, a global nonprofit and longtime campaign supporter, was again the fundraising partner for Clear The Shelters. From July 15 to Sept. 15, supporters were able to make online donations to the Clear The Shelters fund, and could donate directly to the shelter of their choice Aug. 1 to Aug. 31.

WeRescue returned as a campaign partner for the seventh consecutive year to facilitate virtual pet adoptions.  The WeRescue website and app enables users to browse adoptable pets in their area by breed, gender, size, and more, apply to adopt, and ask questions directly to shelters.

The Black Dog restaurant and apparel company, a first-time Clear The Shelters partner, helped generate $100,000 in fundraising, including proceeds from the sale of special Clear The Shelters-branded merchandise and by allowing customers to donate by rounding up their total for purchases.

A Clear The Shelters pet airlift, conducted by NBCU Local and Greater Good Charities, transported more than 120 at-risk shelter cats and dogs from overpopulated shelters in Louisiana to New Jersey and New Hampshire. Since 2021, six Clear The Shelters flights have airlifted more than 700 shelter pets.

Joe Manganiello, the actor, director, host, producer and writer, served as a campaign spokesperson and hosted – along with his adopted Chihuahua/Pomeranian mix named Bubbles – of the annual the Clear The Shelters TV special that debuted in NBC stations and NBC-owned stations’ streaming channels on Aug. 8.

The Desocupar Los Albergues TV special was presented on Telemundo stations and the Telemundo-owned stations’ streaming channels starting Aug. 8. The 30-minute show, led by Elva Saray and Mariana Rodríguez of Acesso Total, delivered Spanish-speaking audiences moving pet rescue and adoption stories. For More information on Clear The Shelters, including participating animal shelters and rescues, along with details on local events and television programming, visit ClearTheShelters.com and the Spanish-language site DesocuparlosAlbergues.com, and follow Clear The Shelters on social media:

About Clear The Shelters

NBCUniversal Local’s Clear The Shelters™ is an annual nationwide pet adoption and donation campaign held each August. As part of the initiative, NBC- and Telemundo-owned and affiliated stations partner with animal shelters and rescues in communities across the U.S. to promote pet adoption and raise funds for participating shelters. Since its 2015 inception, Clear The Shelters has led to more than 1.2 million pet adoptions and raised more than $5.6 million. Longtime campaign supporters include Hill’s Pet Nutrition, a national sponsor for eight consecutive years, Greater Good Charities and WeRescue. Clear The Shelters was inspired by a 2014 North Texas pet adoption event hosted by NBC 5 / KXAS and Telemundo 39 / KXTX. For more information, visit ClearTheShelters.com.     

About NBCUniversal Local

NBCUniversal Local, part of NBCUniversal News Group, is comprised of more than 50 media properties, including local TV stations and regional sports networks that deliver English and Spanish-speaking audiences in 30 U.S. markets and Puerto Rico comprehensive news, weather, consumer and investigative reporting, lifestyle and entertainment content, and live sports across TV, streaming and digital platforms. NBCUniversal Local consists of three media groups – NBC Owned Television Stations, NBC Sports Regional Networks and Telemundo Station Group – plus multicast networks COZI TV, TeleXitos and American Crimes, regional cable news network NECN, and 16 free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels – including 11 NBC local news, four Telemundo regional news channels and NBC LX Home. NBCUniversal Local also features NBC Spot On, an advanced CTV and OTT advertising platform; LXTV Productions; marketing and promotions company Skycastle; out-of-home business NBC Everywhere; and The Arthouse, a graphic design group. 

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