More than 135,000 pets found new homes this past August, according to NBCUniversal Local’s 2026 Clear the Shelters campaign, its 12th annual nationwide adoption push spanning over 1,200 shelters across 47 states. Nearly 1.5 million pets have been adopted through the campaign since it launched in 2015, but with 5.8 million dogs and cats entering U.S. shelters last year alone, thousands more are still waiting right now for someone to say yes. Summer’s adoption rush has rolled into something even better this fall, cooler weather, quieter shelters, and plenty of dogs and cats still hoping for their turn. Now we present our beloved readers with 12 rescue dogs and cats who found exactly that this season, real families, real forever homes, right in time to spend their very first cozy autumn curled up somewhere warm instead of waiting in a kennel.