Humane Society of Parkersburg: KONG Toys Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
This grant was in the form of a large box of KONG toys with a value of more than $420. Our organization has utilized and continues to utilize KONG toys for enrichment for dogs while they are in our care at our shelter; however, this grant allowed us to provide the adopters with a KONG toy as part of the packet upon adoption.
The KONG toys provided were utilized to provide enrichment activities for our shelter animals while in our care, as well as to be sent home with each animal upon adoption.
We especially benefited from the newer, heavy-duty KONG toys for some of our larger dogs.
How many pets did this grant help?
This grant was utilized both in the shelter and upon adoption, and to date more than 60 animals have benefited from the donation of the KONG toys.
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
This story is about a dog named Winston. He came to us with a fractured pelvis after he being hit by a car. The story below was sent to us by Winston’s new owner:
“I adopted my dog Winston from the Humane Society of Parkersburg in March of 2020. He first arrived at the shelter as a stray back in January after he was hit by a car. Winston managed to obtain a fractured pelvis from this accident and needed to be on strict cage rest for several weeks.
“I am a volunteer and foster for HSOP. One day I was there meeting a few of the dogs to try and find the next one to foster at my home when I saw Winston lying in his kennel. He had a look of defeat on his face, but once I leaned down in front of his kennel, his tail wagged like crazy as he rolled over for me to pet his belly! Later that day, I picked Winston up to foster, and a few months later I signed the adoption paperwork and made Winston a part of my family.
“I wish I could say that Winston fit right in without any issues, but is far from true. Winston suffered from extreme separation anxiety. He hated being left alone! He also needed to be on cage rest, so it was important that I do my best to keep him calm. I spoke with the shelter and they recommended we get a heavy-duty crate and they gave me some Kong toys that I froze with peanut butter.
“Giving Winston the Kong toys made his time in the kennel much less stressful. He eventually started going in without my having to pick him up and place him in the kennel. Now when he watches me put his frozen Kong toy in the kennel, he jumps right in! I am so thankful for the Humane Society of Parkersburg, and the help/advice they were able to give to me. Thank you, Petfinder Foundation, for making it possible that every dog at HSOP has a KONG toy to keep them busy!
Sincerely,
Michleen T. & Winston”
