Just like any other day, vehicles carrying crates rolled into the Giant parking lot on Chain Bridge road. Yet instead of grocery products, the containers were filled with puppies. While shoppers visited the Giant for their weekly groceries, volunteers from the Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation (Lost Dog) had a different plan in mind.

On May 17, Lost Dog set up a pet adoption stand outside Giant from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. The event aimed to celebrate National Pet Month while simultaneously spreading Lost Dog’s mission of helping rescued pets find homes.

“I helped put this event on because it’s National Pet Month, and we wanted to have something for social media,” said Breny Recinos, the social media content specialist at Giant. “So when [Giant] was thinking about content for Instagram, I was like, ‘What if we did a dog event where you people might come in?’ Even if [people] don’t adopt a dog, they get a nice experience just by coming through Giant.”

The event hoped to alleviate a regional issue faced by Virginia.

“All of these dogs [here] are from Southwest Virginia shelters where they were at high risk of euthanization,” said Jody Kulstad, Special Events Manager for Lost Dog. “That’s what [people] are doing in Southwest Virginia. It’s overpopulated with stray dogs, [so] they euthanize them for space.”

Lost Dog volunteers frequently travel to Southwest Virginia shelters to rescue and transport puppies for adoption events in Northern Virginia.

“[Lost Dog] goes in on a weekly basis—sometimes twice a week, sometimes three times a week, and we bring as many dogs as we can, and cats, into our care,” Kulstad said. “As quickly as we can, we get them bedded, make sure that they’ve got all of their vaccinations and if they’re over six months, they are spayed or neutered. We make sure that they’re healthy and then we [put them up for adoption].”

Lost Dog hosts many similar adoption events in other areas of Northern Virginia, and this was the organization’s first event at Giant McLean. The event was part of Lost Dog’s efforts to expand its presence and raise awareness for dog adoption in the McLean community.

“[Lost Dog just made] this partnership with Giant. It’s a great way to get the community involved,” Lost Dog volunteer Tomash Dase said. “We don’t really have adoption events in the McLean area. We have a Tyson’s Corner adoption event, but it’s a great way to connect the McLean community specifically.”

As for the adoption process, people can adopt pets by filling out an adoption application. Then, they sign up for an interview, which operates on a first-come, first-serve basis. If more than one person is signed up for one dog, Lost Dog will interview at most three people for that dog.

“[Lost Dog] does a really thorough interview process. I’ve always tried to get dogs into homes,” Kulstad said. “We don’t throw up barriers—we really look at whether [the adopter will] be able to care [for the dog].”

Many of the volunteers at this event were families looking to volunteer together, especially given that volunteers under 17 need to be with an adult. McLean mother Neha Vohra attended the event with her son.

“[My family] has a dog at home, and we love dogs,” Vohra said. “So I just came across this volunteer opportunity. I thought it’d be fun for [my son and I] to do, and he can only volunteer with an adult right now.”

Other volunteers also participate because of the rewarding experience of helping the dogs find permanent families.

“My favorite part [of this event] is definitely seeing the dogs go to great homes,” Dase said. “Some of the dogs take a little longer to get adopted, and these special events are a great way to get those dogs to be seen.”

Ultimately, this event fostered connection between the volunteers, their families and the dogs. Even if not every pup was adopted, it was a productive way to give attention to the cause and brighten the people’s day as they passed by.

“Getting dogs out there [is my favorite part of this event], because I can’t adopt them all. I’ve adopted four [dogs] from Lost Dog, and one from another rescue,” Kulstad said. “My husband has cut me off, but I [still] fall in love with every single one of them.”