Correspondent photo / Sean Barron Tracy Guy, a volunteer with the Vienna-based Animal Welfare League of Trumbull County, offers a belly rub to Maddie, a St. Bernard mix who was an attraction Saturday during the fourth annual Be Mine adoption event at the Eastwood Mall in Niles. Several dogs and cats were adopted during the two-day event, which was held in honor of Valentine’s Day.

NILES — Hunter Chaney and her boyfriend, Bryce Felicity, felt the Valentine’s Day spirit — and it extended to those with more than two legs.

“I just wanted to come to love on them,” Chaney, of Niles, said Saturday.

She was referring to several dogs and cats who were waiting for a loving forever home during the two-day annual Be Mine adoption gathering that began Friday in the Eastwood Mall concourse. The dogs and cats were housed at the Animal Welfare League of Trumbull County in Vienna.

Chaney, her boyfriend and her daughter, Saylor Robinson, 3, seemed intrigued with, and gave plenty of affection and attention to, Maddie, an easygoing 2-year-old St. Bernard mix.

The couple has a dog named Riley, Chaney said.

On Friday, six dogs and cats were adopted during the event, which is in its fourth year. As of Saturday, about nine or 10 more pets found homes and companions, Morgan Estes, the Animal Welfare League’s animal care manager, said.

During previous such events, rabbits and guinea pigs also were available for adoption, she said.

The decision regarding which animals to bring from the AWL to the busy and often noisy mall concourse was based largely on each dog or cat’s personality and temperament.

Typically, cats have greater difficulty than dogs in adjusting to such challenges, Estes said, adding that many timid dogs often do poorly around new people and scents.

When necessary, a special, nontoxic spray is applied to calm a cat and help it better cope with stress, Estes said.

“They’re typical, rambunctious puppies that will do well in any kind of home,” Dan Marhulik, an Animal Welfare League volunteer, said about pit bull mixes.

Marhulik spent part of the event Saturday holding Chuckie, a 2-month-old pit bull mix that was part of a massive humane rescue in which 19 dogs and puppies were removed from a home in Trumbull County. The puppy’s parents also are looking to be adopted, he added.

Maddie, the St. Bernard mix, seemed at times oblivious to the heavy volume of mall foot traffic. He came to AWL with several other puppies, most or all of which had been adopted, Tracy Guy, a shelter volunteer, said.

Estes also wasn’t shy about displaying affection to Esme, a 1-year-old domestic short-hair cat that came to the facility from a humane center. Specifically, Esme was brought in Sept. 30, 2025, with seven other cats, she recalled.

“All of them were sick. (Esme) had an upper respiratory infection,” Estes said, adding, “We found polyps and had them removed, and now she’s breathing perfectly.”

Polyps are abnormal but usually noncancerous and benign tissue growths on the mucous membranes that often resemble small bumps. The abnormalities were discovered when Esme underwent a standard spay-and-neuter procedure and was given an antibiotic, Estes said.

The Animal Welfare League of Trumbull County, founded in 1969, is beginning to prepare for its next monthly bingo gathering March 21 at the facility, 812 Youngstown-Kingsville Road SE, Vienna. Doors open at 5 p.m. and tickets are $30 apiece.

The gatherings have generated $3,000 to $9,000 each for the AWL, and the money goes toward primarily the care of its animals, staff time and medical items, Estes noted.

In addition, the facility, with a mission statement that says “Rescue, rehabilitate, adopt, educate,” is in need of lightweight blankets, along with monetary donations. Both of those can be dropped off during the AWL’s walk-in hours 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, or 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday at the animal admissions door.