Washington-Wilkes Animal Shelter: Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
The money was used to help defray the cost of adoptions for dogs and cats at the shelter.
This grant was beneficial to our animals in that they were given a chance to get adopted by helping to pay their adoption fee, or totally defraying it all together.
How many pets did this grant help?
Eight: seven dogs and one cat
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Bessie (first photo) was adopted on August 26, 2020. Bessie came to the shelter as a stray, picked up by the animal control officer in the city of Washington, GA. She was limping on her right front leg, and was taken to Wilkes County Veterinary Services for x-rays to see what the problem was. From reading the x-rays, it was discovered that she had been shot and had damage to her leg, and that an amputation needed to be done. Bessie was brought back to the shelter with pain medication and her picture was posted on Facebook to see if anyone claimed her. She went through a seven-day hold, and we posted a request on Facebook for money for her amputation.
When she was taken to the vet for her amputation, the vets said that she was walking so much better on her leg, and that she would be better off with a little limp that to have the leg amputated. So she was spayed and brought back to the shelter.
When we received the grant money, we reduced the adoption fee for all dogs weighing more than 40 lbs. by half. The price would be $50 instead of $100. Bessie was noticed by her adopter when the woman came to adopt a cat, but she was in the process of moving, so she couldn’t adopt her at that time. Ms. Tillman came back to the shelter on Aug. 26 and wanted to adopt Bessie. She had fallen in love with her and wanted to bring her into her family. Bessie went to her new home the next day.
Goose (second photo), now named Bandit Sweite, or “BamBam” for short, was adopted on Sept. 4, 2020. The adopter came in to the shelter to drop off donations and, on a whim, asked if we had any basset hounds up for adoption. As it happened, we had one senior basset-hound mix named Goose. The adopter got really excited and left the shelter. As it turned out, she went home and told her husband she was going back to the shelter to adopt Goose, sight-unseen. So about 45 minutes after she left, she came back and wanted to adopt Goose.
Since we were using the grant money for our older dogs and those over 40 lbs., Goose fit the bill perfectly. We did the paperwork and Goose was brought out to her new owner. It was love at first sight for both. The adopter called the next day and told us that it was destiny that Goose came into their home. She fit like a glove into their home. Everyone was happy.
Precious (third photo) came to the shelter as a stray and tested positive for heartworms. She had just had a litter of puppies and needed to recover from that. A young man came into the shelter looking for a dog whom his dad might like and who would benefit from having its treatment taken care of. So Precious came to mind.
The adopter took some pictures and sent them to his father. The father was very amenable to adopting her and getting her heartworm treatment. He came to the shelter and, because of Precious needing treatment, we waived the adoption fee. He was very happy and liked her at first sight. She was adopted and taken to Atlanta for her treatment — a great outcome for a very sweet dog.
Dude (fourth photo) was taken into foster care to have his heartworm treatment done. Before he was discharged from the vet’s office after treatment, he had an episode that has given him a cough and he will have to be on steroids for the rest of his life. His foster family have, of course, fallen in love with him, and were happy to adopt him, as his medical condition would make him extremely hard to adopt. So we waived the fee and Dude is now happy and doing great in his “new” home!
We had a Chihuahua (fifth photo) come in who was an owner-surrender. He was a bit overweight, but a really sweet and friendly boy. There was a lady who had called the shelter the week before and asked that, if we ever got in any Chihuahuas, could we please call her and give her the first option to adopt. So she was contacted and came to look at him and fell in love and wanted to take him home. However, she was on a limited income and was not going to get her money for another week. So, to help him get a good home, we paid half her adoption fee and she was ecstatic and took him home that day. This helped a very sweet animal find his furever home quicker.
