New Mexico Animal Friends: COVID-19 Operation Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
Covid-19 grant funds were used to help our fosters purchase food for the dogs and cats in their care.
When COVID-19 caused suspension of our weekly dog and cat adoption clinics, we stopped receiving donations of supplies and money from members of the public who had been coming to our clinics. Initially, we also lost in-kind donations of food, beds, and other pet needs from the stores that sponsor our adoption clinics: PetSmart for dogs and Petco for cats. Our stockpile of pet food quickly became depleted. The COVID-19 grant helped NMAF and our foster families continue to provide quality food for the dogs and cats in our care.
How many pets did this grant help?
We had 23 animals in our care when the grant was submitted. All of them were helped as dry and wet food was purchased to support them.
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Peaches (first and second photos) is a heeler mix who came into our program in late April 2020. We happened to be at a rural, high-[intake] shelter to pull another dog into rescue when Peaches came in with her owner who wanted to surrender her. The reason was that she was chasing his newly purchased goats. Of course we thought, “Well isn’t that what heelers are supposed to do?” But we did not say that to the owner.
We knew that because of her transgression (chasing livestock), she would most likely be put down if left at the shelter. The owner let us take her and she came into NMAF. Peaches is a sweet girl who needed to lose some weight, so special weight-management food was purchased for her using grant funds. By the end of May, now up-to-date on her shots, microchipped, spayed, and having lost a few pounds, Peaches found her furever home.
Chico (third and fourth photos) came to NMAF in mid-July having been found at a home in rural NM with his dead owner and 12 cats. You can read his story on Petfinder or our website, nmaf.org.
Chico was not in good shape when he came into rescue and was overweight. We used grant funds to purchase weight-management food for him. Chico had extensive blood work as well as a chest x-ray, as a heart murmur was detected during his first vet visit. All-new shots, a much-needed nail trim, and an upcoming dental will have this guy in tip-top shape. Best of all, he has found a home and is currently staying with his soon-to-be adoptive mom until his dental work is complete and his adoption is finalized.
Chico has come out of his shell and is loving life! Of course, he still thinks he is a cat, using the back of the couch as his favorite perch, and he has fit in perfectly with his new mom’s two cats! How lucky can a guy get?
