The Animal Refuge Center: KONG Toys Grant Report

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

The KONG product grant was used for our dogs going through activity restriction after heartworm treatment or after surgery.

The donation of KONG toys was great for our dogs who needed activity restriction. Allowing the dogs to work on yummy canned food, peanut butter, or treats in a KONG certainly helps as an environmental enrichment aid for these dogs. Since dogs going through heartworm treatment need at least 10 weeks of activity restriction, this grant allowed them to avoid boredom. Dogs who get bored in the shelter can easily develop behavior problems that make it harder to find them a home. Thank you, KONG, for helping our dogs!

How many pets did this grant help?

Ten KONGs were provided, so 10 dogs are helped at a time.

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

Elwood (first and second photos) is a very active young dog. We took him in after Hurricane Matthew. He arrived at ARC testing positive for heartworm disease. Highly energetic dogs frequently develop complications during heartworm treatment since it is difficult to keep them calm. Fortunately, Elwood very much enjoyed his KONG toy. He most enjoyed having canned food stuffed in there, and freezing the toy allowed him to be occupied even longer! Elwood is still looking for his forever home. Meet Elwood: www.petfinder.com/petdetail/37769007