Rescue Fenix: Kia Pet Adoption Grant Report

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

This grant helped us get more dogs adopted, as we were able to lower the adoption fee for our active-duty military families and seniors. We still have some grant money left to continue to offer a reduced rate to these two groups.

How many pets did this grant help?

35

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

Our first story is about a sweet dog named Suzie. She was an owner surrender and was very scared and timid when she arrived to Rescue Fenix. While we don’t know her back story, we feel she wasn’t treated very nicely by her family.

After several foster homes, she found her furever home with the Kimble family, a military family that had just moved to San Diego. During their drive cross-country to San Diego, one of the Kimbles’ family dogs passed away. The family was devastated, as was their other dog, who had lost his best friend and playmate.

We set up a meet-and-greet with Suzie and it was love at first sight for the kids (first photo). However, the dad, Andy, a marine, struggled a bit as Suzie looked so much like the dog the family had just lost. But Suzie’s sweetness won him over and she became part of the family (second photo)!

Our second story is about Valerie, who also works for the military and wanted nothing more than to adopt a friend. She had adopted a dog the previous month, but was misled by the rescue and the dog was a complete nightmare, with severe behavioral issues.

With no means to handle this kind of dog, she had no choice but to return the dog to the rescue. However, the rescue refused to refund her the adoption fee, even though the dog had been with her a short time.

Because we could offer her the military discount, Valerie was able to find her perfect pup through Rescue Fenix. That dog was Chloe, now Ruby (third photo).