Nassau Humane Society: Kia Pet Adoption Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
The Kia Pet Adoption grant allowed our organization to make adoption more accessible to those who find adoption fees to be a barrier to adoption, especially during the current economic hardship our nation is facing, coupled with the capacity crisis animal welfare organizations are experiencing.
Not only did we see a new group of guests that we haven’t had at our shelter before, but we also had some of our “long-timers” adopted who may not have found a home otherwise at this time -- all without our shelter having to take a hit to our adoption income, which is already very insignificant.
Another incredible and unexpected outcome of the Kia Pet Adoption Grant, was that those who adopted who did not see adoption fees as a barrier typically gave a donation of what would have been the remainder of the regular adoption fee, and in some cases, even more.
Our organization is thankful enough as it is for being awarded this grant, and seeing how wonderful our community was in conjunction was truly heartwarming and encouraging. Our hearts couldn’t be more full about how many wonderful animals found loving homes as a result of this grant.
How many pets did this grant help?
More than 100 pets!
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
We want to share two special adoptions that took place as a direct result of receiving this grant:
First is a very special pup named Eagle. Eagle came to us in 2019 from a Korean meat market that was keeping animals in horrendous conditions their entire lives, only to eventually send them for slaughter. Eagle was one of the last dogs from this group to be adopted due to how fearful and unsocialized he was (first photo).
Eagle was eventually adopted, but returned after almost two years of constantly hiding in a closet because the adopter no longer had the time to continue working with him.
Eagle became a instant member of our underdog program, in which an assigned staff member dedicates extra time to working with certain animals, as Eagle obviously needed special attention.
Our kennel staff worked diligently with Eagle to help build his confidence around people. He became a playgroup rock star with other dogs and eventually learned to trust humans (second photo).
Eagle was finally adopted into his proper forever home with a woman who lives on a very fixed income. The two are now an inseparable pair that wouldn’t have been possible without the reduced adoption fee (third and fourth photos).
The second is one of our “office cats” named Loki (fifth photo). Our office staff always keep a special-needs animal with them to help them progress and prepare for adoption. Loki is a cat with high separation anxiety who has a tendency to lose his fur very quickly when he’s experiencing stress (second photo).
Loki lived in an office for a long time as he awaited adoption (third photo). During this time, his beautiful coat returned and his anxiety lessened, but the downside to having animals in offices is that they are seen less by our guests.
A woman who had heard of our adoption special and saw Loki’s handsome photo on our website just had to meet him. It was an instant connection and Loki now lives the stress-free life he has always deserved! His adopter regularly sends us selfies of the two of them.
