Autumn Acres Animal Rescue: COVID-19 Operation Grant Report

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

The $500 Covid grant was used to help cover medical expenses for dogs in our care and for a cat who needed emergency medical care that the owner couldn't afford due to being laid off during the statewide shutdown.

Lovebug was a cat whom a family was caring for. He showed up one day and they started feeding him and the family's daughters loved the cat. One day Lovebug was found lying on their deck, injured. The dad was unemployed due to the statewide shutdown and he reached out for help. The cat was seriously injured, with infected wounds. We had to take the cat to the emergency clinic and, with help from this grant and community support, Lovebug has healed from his wounds and is doing great!

Some of the funds were also used to purchase disinfecting wipes to wipe down gates/doorways when people would come to meet/adopt dogs.

How many pets did this grant help?

One cat, nine dogs who were adopted (disinfecting wipes were used each time someone came) and 25 other dogs who were able to have volunteers visit with them because of the disinfectant supplies to keep people safe from each other.

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

During the shutdown, many people were lost. Many people lost jobs, were laid-off, and were struggling making ends meet. The Missouri unemployment system was down, many people couldn’t qualify because they were self-employed or didn’t meet the requirements for other reasons. A guy in town with two young daughters found himself in such a situation. He was in the middle of having to move due to his rented home being sold and he had lost his job. Then … the cat they’d taken in was somehow hurt and needed urgent medical care.

He had no idea what to do. He tried to clean the wounds, he hoped the cat would recover, but it became obvious the cat needed more help than he could provide. He started reaching out for help and we were contacted.

We drove out to his place that night and saw that the cat was in really rough shape. We picked the cat up and rushed him to the emergency vet. This cat — with open wounds, skinny, beat-up and pus oozing out of his wounds — purred loudly and rubbed his head against your hand. Such a sweet cat. The guy’s two daughters were petting him and so scared for Lovebug.

We reached out to other rescues and working together, along with the Petfinder Foundation Covid grant, we were able to secure funding for his emergency treatment. He had to be hospitalized and had four follow-up rechecks, but now he’s all clear! His fur is growing in healthy and shiny, he’s putting weight back on, and he’s still an absolute lover. All the vets and techs who handled him had nothing but good things to say about him. He’s just the sweetest cat. They think a dog got a hold of him. He was torn up pretty bad and is lucky to be alive, for sure. Lovebug is hopefully going back to the family who reached out for help. They are moving into their new home and have agreed to let Lovebug be an indoor-only kitty.