Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS): Trolli Dynamic Duos Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
The $200 grant from the Petfinder Foundation enabled PAWS to provide fee-waived guinea pig adoptions and find loving homes for 11 guinea pigs between May 15 and August 15.
Since the creation of our small-animal adoption program in 2022, PAWS has been seeing an exponential increase in the number of community members reaching out to inquire about surrendering guinea pigs for adoption.
Our team provides support to these owners as supplies are available, in hopes that they can keep their guinea pigs, but we want to be available to take them in and keep as many out of the city shelter as possible. It is against the backdrop of this ever-increasing waitlist of guinea pig owners waiting for a space to open up in our adoption program and facing an influx of guinea pigs to the city shelter that we eagerly put to use the funding from the Petfinder Foundation to support fee-waived adoptions for guinea pigs.
Being able to offer fee-waived adoptions gives us a chance to tell our animals' stories to a new and wider audience, and encourages people to open their homes and hearts to animals they might not have considered otherwise. It begins a conversation that often leads to excellent matches, new beginnings, and second chances for other animals who are waiting for that space in our shelters or foster homes.
Utilizing the Petfinder Foundation grant to offer fee-waived adoptions attracted additional traffic to our adoption center and enabled us to move adoptable guinea pigs through that space and into loving homes more quickly.
Over three months between May 15 and August 15, this grant supported PAWS in adopting out 11 guinea pigs to caring homes where they are cherished family pets. Thank you for this support, which inspired people to step forward and expand their families and increased lifesaving opportunities for the pets who need us most.
How many pets did this grant help?
11
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Harold (first photo) and Dandy (second photo) were two guinea-pig brothers adopted out in June from PAWS’ Old City Adoption Center.
The duo was found abandoned in a box outside of the city shelter one morning, so PAWS rescued them to give these 3-month-old guinea pigs the care they needed.
Our veterinary team found that Dandy inherited hip dysplasia and that, while he will live a relatively normal and pain-free life, his adopters will need to monitor his gait and weight to limit stress on his tiny joints.
Overall, Harold and Dandy were very social and got lots of attention at our Old City Adoption Center, eventually catching the eye of a family visiting from Tennessee who decided they couldn’t leave Philadelphia without this piggy pair!
