After a successful month in December, the normally filled-to-overflowing animal shelter was relatively empty recently.

“The numbers have been so low in the shelter,” said Debie Jefts, animal shelter manager. “The shelter’s been pretty empty, which is really good.”

On one particular day last week, there were only seven dogs and seven cats available for adoption. Typically, there might be two or three times that number.

“We’ve had great success,” Jefts said.

One reason for the brisk rate of adoptions in December was a promotion by City Council representative, Suffolk Humane Society volunteer and auto dealership owner Mike Duman. He refunded $50 of each adoption fee for the first 50 people who adopted in December.

In addition, several holiday-themed adopt-a-thons held in concert with the Suffolk Humane Society were quite successful, Jefts said, and an appearance with adoptable pets on the Hampton Roads Show on Dec. 15 also resulted in several adoptions.

“It is a good time of year,” Jefts said.

Many people adopt pets for the holidays, which also sometimes makes December a good month for adoptions.

Unfortunately, some pets wind up coming back after the holidays because people didn’t check with their landlords or simply realized the animal was not a good fit with the family, Jefts said.

“We try and place them well by talking to them and seeing what their needs are,” Jefts said. “We definitely don’t want the animals to come back. I’d rather them be in forever homes.”

Jefts thanked Duman, the Humane Society and PetSmart, where many of the adoption events are held, for helping to achieve the high rate of success this month.

“We’ve had a really good year,” she said.

For more information about the animal shelter, call 514-7855.