Pups Without Borders: Kia Pet Adoption Grant Report

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

As a privately operated rescue, the backbone of our operations comes from adoption fees. Many factors are used to determine the adoption fee of a dog in our care, and we understand at times that may make it difficult for a loving family to bring a pet into their home.

To help with that cost, the Kia Pet Adoption Grant allowed us to reduce the fees of some of the dogs in our care who had been with us for a prolonged period of time to help them move on to their forever homes. This primarily applied to adult dogs and senior dogs in our care as a way to remove barriers from potential adopters to help these often-overlooked dogs meet their families.

How many pets did this grant help?

15

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

Jean Gray was a Malinois mix found on the streets of Compton and taken to Downey Animal Shelter.

When the staff met Jean, they quickly realized she had recently given birth, but unfortunately her puppies were not with her. Though we believe Annenberg eventually found and rescued the litter, Jean came to us a young mom with a lot of personality and a LOT of Malinois energy.

She fit in quickly with her rescue siblings, but in spite of all her good habits, Jean stayed with us for nearly three months, much longer than most lengths of stay in our rescue.

Our adoption team felt Jean was an ideal candidate to have her fee reduced. Since she was a young but fully-grown Mal, we knew she needed every opportunity to match with a forever family.

Within days of reducing her fee, Jean’s applications doubled. After vetting applicants and evaluating Jean with a trainer to make sure she received the care necessary for her breed, we were thrilled to send her to her forever home.

Her new mom, Yolanda, has spent time working with a trainer who focuses on Malinois and Jean has adjusted very well in her new home in Moorpark.