SALISBURY — The Rowan County Animal Shelter will be holding an adoption discount event for the entire month of September if the proposal passes a vote by the Rowan County Board of Commissioners during their meeting Tuesday. If approved, the adoption event would then allow for an 80 percent reduction of all adoption fees for people looking to add a pet to their family.

In past years the commissioners have allowed Animal Services to hold the same adoption events for 20 days during the year, according to Animal Services Director Maria Pannell. However, Pannell said that when Commissioner Craig Pierce noticed the amount of overcrowding that the shelter was dealing with in August he put forward the proposal for the month-long adoption event in addition to the days the shelter is already allowed.

The request has been added to the consent agenda for the meeting, which means that it has been grouped with 24 other items that will all be voted on at once. The consent agenda is a way for the commissioners to group together items that are viewed as non-controversial, and so do not require any discussion before the commissioners vote on them. For example, other items on Tuesday’s consent agenda include approval of the last meeting’s minutes, a change of the budget to add $5 to a grant and a salary incentive to relieve difficulties hiring social workers.

The request needs commissioner approval because it does represent a cost to the county government. Because the adoption process includes a $70 voucher for spaying and neutering either from the shelter’s veterinarian or the adopter’s choice of veterinarian the county commissioners need to approve the event as an expense.

In August, the shelter saw over 400 animals adopted even without a months-long discount, so Pannell said she is hoping that September’s event will continue that momentum.

If the adoption discounts are approved as part of the consent agenda, the event will start the day after on Wednesday, Sept. 6 and run through Saturday, September 30. The shelter is open for adoptions Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.