Stafford SPCA: Sponsor a Pet Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
We used the grant we received to buy supplies for the shelter, specifically special harnesses to help some of our dogs with leash manners.
We always have a need to accumulate tools and supplies that will aid dogs in learning leash manners and fighting shelter boredom. We all know that a well-behaved dog is an adoptable dog!
How many pets did this grant help?
Several, one in particular.
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Lex, our rottweiler-beagle mix, is the dog whom this grant helped the most. Lex was starting to suffer from shelter stress and no longer wanted to go outside for walks with the volunteers. When we tried to take him out on our wooded walking trails, he would try to avoid letting us clip the leash on. On a few occasions, once we got outside, he would try to slip out of his collar entirely so that he didn’t have to walk. This was especially sad because when Lex first came to our shelter, he was an energetic dog who loved to go outside. But he ended up being overlooked by a few different adopters and thus staying with us for too long, leading him to get stressed and no longer enjoy the things he used to. Once, he slipped out of his collar entirely while he was out on a reluctant walk; this was especially alarming for us because our property is not entirely fenced in, and we feared losing him due to his history as a wandering stray.
When we bought him a special harness with this Petfinder Foundation grant, his walking manners improved greatly. We could send him out for walks again with volunteers, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to wiggle out of the harness like he did with his collar. Once he got used to the harness and was taken safely on a few walks, he became closer to his old self again and remembered how much he enjoyed going for walks outside!
When we found an amazing foster home for him, his new harness went along with him, and his foster family worked hard on getting him back to his old self. With the right tools, Lex overcame the shelter stress and became the great dog we knew was inside him all along. We’re pleased to report that he has now been adopted into a forever family!
