Homeward Animal Shelter: Orvis Dog Enrichment Grant Report

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

In June 2016, our shelter held a promotion to help promote our six pit bull-mix dogs who were available for adoption. All of these dogs were in the shelter's care longer than our average length of stay. The promotion included a reduced adoption fee of $75 for each of the available pit bulls, and each adopter received a "pit package" that included a collar, treats, food, toys and a free training session with Vigilant K9.

Homeward Animal Shelter is a community-funded shelter dependent upon grant funds, corporate donations, and individual donors to cover the costs of our program. Grants such as the Orvis grant allow us the opportunity to lower the cost of adoptions for our harder-to-place animals and help find them their forever homes quicker.

How many pets did this grant help?

6

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

Zeus was surrendered by his owners to the local pound. He joined nine other shelter dogs, and became one of six pit bulls available for adoption. As a pit bull-type dog, Zeus was considered hard to place, and his dog-selective personality made it even harder for the shelter to find him just the right home. For three weeks, Zeus patiently waited for the right person. Finally, the perfect person came in looking for a dog to share his life with and Zeus knew he’d found his forever person.

Zeus went home with his new best friend, and a “pit package” to help his transition. The move into a new home wasn’t easy for either one of them. Zeus developed separation anxiety and the owner lost several of his belongings to Zeus’ destructive manners. After some training and persistence, the pair are now on track and enjoying each other’s company!