Pope Memorial Humane Society: COVID-19 Operation Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
Your wonderful gift was used to keep the doors open to needy animals during a time when our whole society hit "pause." Society needed to stop and reprioritize, taking care of sick people and dealing with breaks in supply chains for essential survival items. Meanwhile, it was our job to make sure that animals would not suffer because they were lower on the priority list. They still needed safe shelter, medical care and a chance at loving homes. You helped keep this happening -- thank you!
This pandemic hit right at the start of kitten season. Kittens and moms needed to find foster homes, get fed and find adopters during a time when people had to severely limit contact. In addition, the shelter started two programs to help local pets and animals in crisis: The first is a quarantined area to receive owned pets whose owners were in the hospital due to the pandemic. The second is an innovative pet-food pantry. Staff receive a call from a needy family, record their pets' species and numbers and the town the family lives in, and put together a care package of food, treats, litter and even sometimes toys. The care package is left outside the shelter at an agreed-on time for pickup. This last program has been used hundreds of times to support local pets and animals experiencing hardship because of the pandemic.
How many pets did this grant help?
Each month we had an average of 200-220 pets in the facility. So since March, you helped more than 500 animals.
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
It’s not just a donation when you send an operations grant, it is saving an animal’s life when her owners can’t afford the medical treatment she needs. Sassy, a little terrier mix, had mammary tumors, infected insides and was Lyme-positive. Her owners could not afford to give her the medical care she needed. She came in to the shelter in early May, right in the middle of the Covid-19 shutdown.
Sassy received all the medical care she needed and was adopted on May 29 to a local lady who was looking for a loving companion. Thank you for helping us continue to care for animals in need.
