Genesee County Animal Control: KONG Toys Grant Report

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

As a county animal control, we are a high-intake facility. We can have anywhere from 100 to 200 dogs at any point in time. In 2024 we took in 1,693 dogs -- strays and owner surrenders. Of those, 992 were adopted to new families and 395 returned to owners. Others were transferred to rescues for assistance in placement. This many dogs in close quarters results in a high-stress environment, even though our volunteers do their best to get every dog out at least once a day.

The Kongs provided by the Petfinder Foundation provided an enrichment activity that improved our dogs' opportunities for adoption by reducing the mental deterioration that can occur within the confines of a shelter. This is done through fostering and in-facility care. Although it is hard to measure the deterioration per dog, we do see an overall increase in frustration in the animals when they do not readily have Kongs and other enrichment activities.

How many pets did this grant help?

Based on the number of Kongs received, which we sterilize between each use, we estimate that 150 to 175 of the dogs in our care were helped in 2024.

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

Fabio (first three photos) is a 1-year-old pup who was picked up as a stray. He was scared and cold and wasn’t sure what was worse — being out in the cold or warm in a cage. However, Fabio was fortunate to have the opportunity to be fostered in a warm and loving home, so he didn’t spend months at the shelter.

After some time decompressing, he turned out to be a lap dog and loved snuggling and belly rubs. Also, while burrowed in his blankets, Fabio enjoyed chewing on the Petfinder Foundation Kong that had been provided by the shelter. And yes, he has been adopted!

So many things come into play when helping our dogs decompress, including exercise, fostering, and, of course, enrichment items such as the Kongs!