Giving Tuesday - Supporting KC's Pets
If 2020 has taught us anything, it is to appreciate things we have and the loved ones around us. Being at home more, we have also grown to love and appreciate our furry friends more and more. So many pets around the metro area are lost or need a good home for the winter. With temperatures dropping it is important to help stray dogs and cats as much as we can. That's where KC Pet Project comes in!
2020 has been a year of great change and accomplishment for KC Pet Project. With the city-wide Stay-At-Home order going into effect in March, not only did they have to quickly transition their fundraising event to be a digital one, but they also needed to quickly find homes for all of the animals housed in their facility.
Once it was clear we would all be at home for a while, KC Pet Project started a month-long campaign to move every pet that they could out of the shelter into foster homes or with adopted families. More than 900 individuals and families signed up to be emergency fosters for the pets at their shelter, and more than 450 pets were adopted in just a few weeks. In May, not a single available dog or cat was living in the shelter – they were all in foster homes. KC Pet Project created a virtual adoption strategy to find homes for pets and it was an incredibly successful strategy that helped hundreds of pets find homes. Foster families even participated in Zoom meet-up with potential adoptive families. The shelter is now doing virtual adoptions as well as in-person adoptions.
For KC Pet Project, keeping their staff, volunteers, and guests safe has been top priority. When visitors arrive, they are paired with an animal care team member who will safely escort them through to look at available pets. Throughout the pandemic, the interest in adopting pets has been high and our team has enjoyed helping our pets find homes, even though difficult circumstances.
Being in the new shelter at the KC Campus for Animal Care has made a huge impact on the way that the shelter has been able to operate. At the former shelter on Raytown Road, they would often find themselves at maximum capacity, limiting their ability to effectively grow programs due to space constraints. Now however, while still taking in 30-50 animals on most days, the new campus allows them to effectively care for the animals, accommodate visitors while adhering to social distancing guidelines, and still find homes for their pets.
KC Pet Project is also excited to expand their new Animal Services Division which will bring more community programs for residents and pet owners. The KC Keep 'Em Together program and KC initiative support keeping families and their pets together. As our community goes through this difficult time, the shelter expects to see more assistance needed to keep pets with their people. Donations to the Keep 'Em Together and KC initiative help provide vaccinations, microchips, food, and other resources to ensure no one has to give up their pets because of financial hardships.
To support KC Pet this Giving Tuesday, considering purchasing a TIVOL pet name tag for your favorite furry friends. They make great holiday gifts and $75 of each purchase goes directly to KC Pet project! You can also directly donate to aid in all of their wonderful initiative "Hope for the Holidays" at kcpetproject.org.
