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One small Kentucky shelter has used an ASPCA grant to dramatically increase the number of lives it saves.
Through a donation from the Carroll Petrie Foundation, the ASPCA is looking to help municipal organizations – or those holding municipal contracts – save 16,600 dogs by May 31, 2013.
At Kentucky River Regional Animal Shelter in Hazard, that money couldn’t have come at a better time. “There were times, before we got that grant, that we would scramble just to find enough money so the electricity didn’t get shut off,” says shelter director Tammy Noble.
Noble has used the grant and the support system she found through the ASPCA to reach some amazing milestones:
- In October 2012 the shelter was able to save the lives of 195 dogs through transports to their rescue partners, an increase of more than 150 over the same month in 2011.
- In November 2012, despite being down one driver, the shelter managed to save even more; 207 dogs reached rescue partners through transports, an increase of close to 200 over November 2011.
The grant has also helped Ky River start its very first spay/neuter program, which Noble plans to expand.
When Noble – who volunteers her time – first took over leading the shelter, it “wasn’t very rescue-friendly,” she says. Learning how to cooperate with other agencies was key. “We had a lot of highly adoptable dogs in our area that nobody ever got.”
These days, the shelter sees success stories on a daily basis. One puppy, for example, was thrown over the shelter’s fence and had a broken leg. “Without that grant money we would have had to euthanize the puppy,” Noble says. Instead that puppy was able to go on a transport. “The grant has not just helped the shelter operate better, it’s helped dogs who otherwise would have had no chance whatsoever.”
 Then there was 10-year-old Stella, who came into Ky River as an owner surrender because “she was too old to hunt.” Stella was considered less adoptable, but a transport partner, Safe Hands, took her and matched her with a foster family. The very next day she was adopted by her foster family.
And the money has been a boon in so many areas, even “in the little things,” Noble adds. “We’re able now to get blankets and towels for the dogs – otherwise they’d end up on concrete. We’re in a remote area, and we’re low on the totem pole for people’s giving.”
Click here to learn more about the Carroll Petrie Foundation grant.
Here is an overview of the ASPCA’s Relocation and Transport Program. |
