The Animal Foundation: Dog Field Trip/Short-Term Fostering Grant Report

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

This grant allowed us to purchase 16 pairs of booties, for $36 each, for our Foster Field Trip program.

Our shelter dogs use these booties when they go on foster field trips. The booties protect our shelter dogs' feet from the hot Las Vegas pavement and anything else that might hurt their feet.

How many pets did this grant help?

This grant has helped 25 dogs so far and will help hundreds more dogs in the future.

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

GG, a 6-year-old pit bull-type dog, was at The Animal Foundation waiting to be adopted for more than six months — a long time for a dog to endure the shelter environment. Our Animal Care Team watched as GG’s behavior changed over the months, slowly turning from calm to assertive, an indication that she wasn’t doing well. We knew we had to take action, so we sought out some of our volunteers to take her to the park and spend time with her, to let her be a dog and enjoy life outside of the shelter.

Two volunteers, Kimberly and Julissa, were more than happy to help GG explore and have some outside fun! They spent a few hours walking and seeing the sights at a local park, and then they stopped for a yummy treat, which GG devoured with delight. This simple outing did wonders for GG. Two days after her field trip, she was visited by a potential adopter. GG presented her happy, calm self, which sealed the deal.

After more than six months of waiting, GG was adopted! The booties we were able to purchase gave her access to the outdoors despite the hot pavement, and they will give even more dogs the ability to enjoy foster field trips year-round. Foster field trips contribute to our dogs’ health and wellbeing, which affects their adoptability. Thank you for helping these dogs!