START Rescue: KONG Toys Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
Some of our dogs wait for months to find their forever homes. In the meantime, most of them wait patiently in boarding. The Kongs that you so generously donated provide a source of comfort and prevent boredom to so many of our dogs.
We are very grateful that through this grant, we were able to provide (and continue to provide) several START dogs with some sense of relaxation and joy in their kennels.
We also received several small Kongs that we were unable to use (we mainly have big dogs in our care) so, with the Petfinder Foundation's permission, we shared them with our rescue partners at the Porterville shelter. They were overjoyed, as they have small dogs in their care and very limited resources.
How many pets did this grant help?
8 big dogs, 4 medium dogs, 10 small dogs
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Ty (first three photos) is START’s longest boarding resident. He was rescued from a shelter in Modesto with only minutes to spare. He was a volunteer favorite and so sweet, we couldn’t let him die.
One of his favorite pastimes is sitting in the sun, chewing on a Kong. We are so grateful that he has a couple of different options to choose from (bone shaped and one in the traditional Kong shape), and he enjoys Kongs so much, he doesn’t even mind if they’re not stuffed! Thank you for giving him some joy and comfort while he waits.
Shadow (fourth and fifth photos) was surrendered to START Rescue by a woman who had fallen on hard times and was living in her car. This bouncy, sweet boy was happy to have a break from the car, but was unhappy spending most of his time in a kennel while he waited to be adopted.
We shared one of the bigger Kongs with him, and were thrilled to find him happily chewing on it. Shadow was spotted on Petfinder by a lovely young woman and adopted within a month of being rescued! Thank you, Petfinder Foundation!
