Franklin County Animal Shelter: Cat Chow Building Better Lives Grant Report

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

The grant was used to offer free or fee-reduced cat adoptions on an as-needed or situational basis.

Many families are able to provide for the ongoing cost of having a pet but are unable to fund the adoption fee. By having this funding, we were able make adoptions of special-needs felines, long-term residents or vulnerable cats possible.

How many pets did this grant help?

15

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

Late one mid-November afternoon, a local Animal Control officer brought us four orphaned newborn kittens. Esmeralda (first photo) and her sisters, Cinderella, Ariel and Aurora, were tiny and cold. We knew we needed to act fast to get them warmed, fed and into a foster home that could make the commitment to feed them every couple of hours — around the clock. Given that the holiday season was beginning, we knew it would be difficult to find a foster parent who could devote that kind of time to the kittens. Fast forward eight weeks. Just after the turn of the year, Esmeralda and her sisters were available for reduced-fee adoptions thanks to the Petfinder Foundation and Purina Cat Chow Grant.

Ludwig (third photo) was dropped off by a community member in mid-August. He was a stray in a very rural area in the northern part of our county. It’s not uncommon for people to drop off cats they no longer want on backwoods roads. We suspect that this is what happened to Ludwig. Because he is a black cat and a bit of a loner, he did not get much attention from adopters. We knew he was lovable! Before we knew it, he had a nasty upper respiratory infection that resisted two rounds of antibiotics. In late November he was adopted, but didn’t fit into his adoptive home and was returned after a few weeks. Upon his return, he became our lobby cat and we promoted him everywhere. Finally, more than four months after his admission, he was adopted (fee-waived) into his forever home. Thanks, Cat Chow!