Humane Society of Elmore County: Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
We purchased six small aluminum Kuranda Bunk Beds for use in our kennels. We use them primarily for our small dogs, as they seem to like to "perch" more and can jump up on the tops easier. When we don't have as many smaller dogs, we also use these for our kitties, as our adoptable cats are all in communal rooms. The small beds work best in our kennels, and in one special kennel we have that is oversize, we use two of these bunk beds.
The Kuranda beds are so much more comfortable for our pets than just blankets or resting pads on the concrete. With the small dogs and cats, the bunk beds also help us hold one or two more dogs/cats in a kennel/room since they can kind of "layer" themselves for sleeping and such. Kuranda is an excellent product and we went to the more-expensive aluminum frames, as they will hold up long-term better than the PVC. The lower bunk also is a bit shielded from view, so a new dog that is perhaps a bit scared can feel a little safer and kind of hide as he adjusts but still be seen by the public.
How many pets did this grant help?
Oh gosh -- on any given day, these six bunk beds help anywhere from 8-12 small dogs and/or 4-12 cats.
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Louie (first photo) was a Chihuahua who actually first came to us in 2011. He was later returned for housetraining issues, adopted and then came back in the summer of 2015 due to the failing health of his owner. Louie was just a wonderful little guy, almost 9 years old when he came back to us this year. Even with the small dogs, older is a little harder, adoption-wise. When we put the new aluminum bunk beds in the big kennel where Louie and three other small dogs were located, he immediately perched right on top. There is no doubt that this helped Louie get noticed more, as he loved to sit up there and talk to people when they came by. Louie was adopted in September by a family that loves him dearly and tells us how he likes to sleep on the back of their couch. So the bunk bed was obviously a perfect “fit” for little Louie!
