Arkansas Rescuing Unwanted Furry Friends: A Shot at Life Vaccination Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
Our organization received 12 trays of 5-in-1 puppy shots in September, and as of today, we have 1/4 of a tray left, or six puppy shots. These so-much-appreciated puppy shots were used to save the lives of 168 puppies so far!
We were able to save so many more puppies than we could have normally thanks to this awesome grant from the Petfinder Foundation! We normally pay over $100 for one tray of shots. This grant saved us well over $1,200! This has also allowed us to save extra money in our rescue fund for the sole purpose of purchasing more trays of shots.
We saved 118 puppies from three different [open-admission] shelters, plus 50 puppies that had been dumped and left to die. These babies would never have had a chance to get out if we had not had the resources to help them. Thanks to this grant from the Petfinder Foundation, we used the puppy shots provided to us and subsequently were able to use the money saved to purchase needed medications, ensuring that all were 100% protected from viruses and diseases that are so rampant here in Arkansas.
Our rescue protocol includes spay/neuter, age-appropriate shots, deworming, cocchidia and giardia preventative, flea, tick, mite and heartworm preventative, and heartworm tests if the puppies are over 6 months of age. Adoption donations do not provide the money to cover the costs we incur. Thank you so much, Petfinder Foundation, for your generosity, your help, and everything you do to help rescues like us help the voiceless ones.
How many pets did this grant help?
This grant helped 168 puppies that are 6 months old and younger.
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
I would really like to tell the story of the “Dardanelle Puppies” because they were the first rescued souls that received the puppy shots that the Petfinder Foundation so graciously provided. These babies came from horrible living conditions. The owners live in poverty, as so many people in Arkansas do, and the poor Momma dog was tied to a chain in an unfenced area. She had 10 sweet babies and, thank God, every one of them made it! She raised them the best she could, but they were outside in the 95-degree weather every day of their lives. They lived in dirt. Food and water were not provided to her regularly, but she made sure those babies ate.
ARRUFF was contacted by a rescue friend in that area; she told me their plight and there was no way we could not help these sweet lives. We agreed to take them into foster. The “10-pack” came to my home on September 29, 2014. Good GOSH they were all so CUTE, as all puppies are, but almost every one of them had bald spots on their heads, legs, stomachs, backs — quarter-sized and bigger. Their birthdate, we learned, was June 23, so these babies were already 13 weeks old!
They were immediately taken to our local veterinarian, who diagnosed the bald spots as possible ringworm, and advised that we use tolnaftate, an ingredient contained in Tinactin, an anti-fungal spray found anywhere. They were also wormed and given their first set of puppy shots, as we had none on hand at that time.
Three weeks went by and the antifungal spray was working its magic! The babies were growing, playing, and just so happy and healthy. We had received our trays of shots from the Petfinder Foundation by this time, so they were given their second set of shots, and they were the first babies helped by this awesome grant.
We had listed them on Petfinder.com and people were going CRAZY wanting to adopt these beautiful souls 🙂 We told them the circumstances, and that we preferred to wait and give them their third set of shots before they traveled to their new homes. After receiving a third shot, each and every one of these babies went to the most wonderful homes possible 🙂
Ten babies that came from hellish conditions are now ALL living in homes like we will never walk into. This is our wish for every dog we rescue. I just wish they would adopt me too!
Thank you, Petfinder Foundation and Petfinder.com. The pictures say it all! I only wish I could attach more! Your graciousness, your generosity, the ability you provide for us to list pets for adoption on Petfinder.com, and the one-on-one help that you have provided to us during the past 11 years is why we will always support you, believe in you, and will always appreciate you.
Thank you from the “Dardanelle Puppies” as well!
