Little Traverse Bay Humane Society: KONG Toys Grant Report

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

From Jan. 1 to June 30, 2023, we welcomed 278 new dogs into our care at Little Traverse Bay Humane Society, compared to 213 at the same time last year. Our average monthly intake for this year is more than 10 additional dogs over what it was last year, which makes the gift of Kong toys even more special to our organization.

Having a stock of frozen Kongs stuffed with dog food, peanut butter, and treats is critical to keeping our dogs happy and healthy during their stay in the shelter. It is so necessary, especially for our dogs undergoing medical treatment and recovering from surgery.

This month, we also launched a children's program encouraging children to help with enrichment in the shelter. We allow them to come volunteer at the shelter, stuffing Kong toys with special treats for our shelter pets, and giving them recipes to take home to their own pups. Of course, they help to clean the Kongs too, but having the extras to fill has been such an aid to our shelter staff, as they do not need to worry about running out of clean Kongs to pass out each day.

How many pets did this grant help?

500

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

Daphne is a 5-year-old American pit bull terrier and a dog-fighting survivor. She came to us from another rescue after being diagnosed with heartworm disease.

We gave Daphne a safe place to call home during her heartworm treatment, and Kongs were a constant throughout the entire process. With this treatment, it is imperative that dogs are kept calm, which meant that Daphne was not allotted running and romping time like the other dogs in our facility.

Daphne experienced quiet leash walks and Kong enrichments all throughout each day of her treatment, and ate all her meals from a familiar red or black Kong.

Daphne is still looking for her forever home. You can meet Daphne here.