Central Ohio Sheltie Rescue, Inc.: Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
In February we used some of the funds to cover the costs of an exam and bloodwork for a shelter dog who has heartworm. We have a seniors-for-seniors program that allows us to place senior dogs into seniors' homes for free, so these funds were used for to cover the bloodwork, microchips, and exams for little 10-year-old Lily (with kidney failure; fostered), 9-year-old Bucky (adopted), and Brooklyn (we used $400 to purchase a wheelchair for this senior girl who came in needing one; we also used the funds to do her bloodwork, exam, etc.). In January we used funds from the grant to ready Maya for adoption, which includes a thorough exam and bloodwork. The remaining funds are set aside to help us with an upcoming volunteer-education seminar on handling shy dogs. It will allow us to cover the costs of printing the final handouts, etc.
This grant helped us cover the expenses that come with caring for senior dogs, which then allowed us to be able to not charge an adoption fee. Just that alone helps spread the word that we take excellent care of our seniors. By placing them as we do, we not only save the life of a senior dog, but usually that of a human as well. We promoted these placements heavily on Facebook. We also hope that our seminars will strengthen our volunteers and their wisdom in caring for these rescue dogs. We couldn't do it without you!
How many pets did this grant help?
It directly helped four dogs and indirectly helped all future dogs coming in!
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Brooklyn (first and second photo) came back to us in December 2016. A year previously, we thought we had found her the perfect home through our seniors-for-seniors program. She just reminded us that, no matter how closely we check the applications, before placement, we still have to trust. In this case, that trust was erroneously placed. Brooklyn had left us a year earlier as a spunky girl with attitude and a rare feistiness that made her seem much younger than her years. Unfortunately we did not get that same sweetheart back. We found ourselves looking at a sad and broken soul who couldn’t stand, much less walk, on her own. Our hearts were shattered.
After bloodwork and exam, our fabulous foster began to work with her. We assessed her needs and reached out to wheelchair distributors and found a place that, because of her rescue status, allowed us to purchase her the best one on the market at wholesale cost.
Between our fabulous foster and veterinarian, they have her back up and walking short distances on her own. You see, apparently she’d had a stroke that had affected her ability to walk and eat. She even had the palsy on the left side of her face. She is now on the road to full recovery from the stroke. But unfortunately her bloodwork revealed that she is in the beginning stages of kidney failure, too. We have been working to get that under control. She is pictured in our photos in the wheelchair.
We are now seeking a foster for her to continue giving her the love and care she deserves and requires for however many days (and we pray there are many of them) she has left with us. She has only recently turned the corner where we feel we can move her. Her story will show up on Petfinder.com in the coming days. We have her featured on our Facebook pages. She is truly an inspiration to all. We couldn’t do it without generous donations and grants like yours.
