Santa Maria Valley Humane Society: Grant Report

How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?

This is used to further our adoption program for cats and dogs.

Sending my Program Assistant to the workshop has given her added skills in photograing shelter animals in a positive and favorable manner.

How many pets did this grant help?

This grant helps the 25 dogs and 12 cats we currently have in residency, and the knowledge gained will help many more animals to come.

Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.

Patsy was an adorable, 2 1/2 year old black Chihuahua that entered our shelter in March of 2013. It’s difficult being a black Chihuahua, there are so many Chihuahuas in shelters these days. Patsy was quiet and shy and was repeatedly overlooked. We knew what a sweet little dog she was, but we weren’t sure just how to promote her so our clients could see what we saw. After being in our residence for two months we showcased her as Pet of the Week, but the photograph we used made her look sad and pitiful. With our new Canon EOS camera and the newly acquired photographic skills obtained at a recent workshop, our Program Assistant, Sandi, made it her mission to photograph Patsy in a new light. She set about snapping good quality pictures showcasing Patsy at her playful best. We discovered that Patsy loved to chase soap bubbles, but didn’t like them to touch her. It was quite fun to watch. We updated her profile photo on our website, in Petfinder, and on her kennel card. Finally, Patsy’s day came. A woman came in to look at the adoptable dogs and fell in love with little Patsy. After 5 months in our shelter, Patsy was adopted into a loving forever home.