A local author is making sure some animals in need find their forever homes.
Gracie Wilson's Operation Homes for the Holidays' initiative raised enough money to pay for adoption fees and medical expenses for six animals at the Sarnia & District Humane Society.
The 30-year-old said one dog and one cat have already been adopted, but there's still four animals, one cat and three dogs, that need homes.
Wilson, who moved to Sarnia from Tecumseh last year, said the idea all started when she asked her husband for another dog for Christmas.
"We actually already have three dogs, so getting another one wasn't a possibility. So I made the joke "Well, can I get a dog for somebody else?"" said Wilson. "So my husband agreed that my Christmas present could be to pay for a dog from the Humane Society to be adopted. I explained to my readers what we were doing and it kind of snowballed from there and other people wanted to be involved."
Wilson then held an auction alongside other authors where she raised enough money to pay for the six animals.
She said she quickly surpassed her initial goal.
"Our initial goal was for me to pay for a dog and for my readership to donate a dog, and it kind of went over that in the first few hours," she laughed. "So right now I've already kind of met my goal, I'm just trying to get it out there that the animals are going to be there available for adoption with us covering it, and that there are other animals there and other things the Humane Society may need."
Wilson said her love for animals began through her grandparents, who have always been big supporters of the Humane Society.
She said the Sarnia site does amazing things, but the animals there deserve a home.
"Those animals are sitting in those cages and they need our help. They deserve to have more than a life of waiting and watching people walk by."
Wilson said her campaign was originally supposed to be a one-time thing, but now, there's no end-goal in site.