Stray Hearts Animal Rescue: Orvis Dog Enrichment Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
Stray Hearts Animal Rescue thanks Orvis and the Petfinder Foundation for the grant, which has made a bright future possible for four shelter dogs in rural eastern Kentucky. Without the grant, Stray Hearts would have faced a huge strain on its budget and these four dogs would still be at the shelter, awaiting forever homes.
See below.
How many pets did this grant help?
4
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Duke (first four photos), a large Australian shepherd/hound mix, languished at the Martin County, KY, animal shelter for months waiting for his big break — an adoptive family. When the handsome, but hyper, tricolored dog kept being overlooked by potential adopters, he was vetted using a portion of the Orvis Animal Care Grant. Then, in mid-July, he was transported to Pets Alive Niagara, a shelter and rescue in St. Catherines, Ontario, where he was adopted in less than a month.
Duke’s adoption was made possible by a $1,000 Orvis Animal Care grant through the Petfinder Foundation. Stray Hearts Animal Rescue, a non-profit volunteer group that runs the Martin County, KY, shelter in rural eastern Kentucky, applied for and received the grant on July 1. The grant made Duke’s complete vetting possible and paved his way to Canada and happily ever after.
Three other Martin County shelter dogs also benefited from the grant, which was to be used to help in the adoption of shelter dogs. Lily (fifth photo), a beautiful young red-tick hound, was a stray who had been at the shelter since early spring 2016. In an area where discarded hounds are common, Lily, too, remained at the shelter for months, waiting for a home. After the grant was received, Lily was completely vetted and sent with Duke to the same rescue in Canada. She, too, was adopted within a few weeks of her arrival.
Little Rusty (sixth photo) is a purebred, 8-year-old beagle who had been roaming a rural Martin County road for months. The elusive beagle was finally captured by Stray Hearts volunteers in May and placed in a great foster home. The Orvis grant paid for his extensive heartworm treatment, as well as treatment for ear, eye and whipworm and hookworm infections. With an all-clear on his health, Rusty was sent to a rescue in Ohio in October, where he had an adoptive home waiting for him.
Baron (seventh photo), a young black pit bull, also received much-needed vet care, paid for in part by the Orvis grant. A vet checkup determined he had internal parasites and, after treatment, Baron was neutered and given a clean bill of health. He is now awaiting the next chapter of his life — a wonderful adoptive home — after he receives more canine good-citizenship training.
