Blackhat Humane Society: Play Pet Beds Grant Report

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

The Blackhat Humane Society is so grateful to the Petfinder Foundation and P.L.A.Y. Pet Lifestyle And You for awarding us a 2023 P.L.A.Y. Pet Beds Grant as part of their Warm Bellies initiative! These 10 pet beds currently provide rescued dogs and cats with cozy comfort while they are waiting for homes. The medium and large pet beds are with our wonderful Blackhat Humane foster parents. The small pet beds were shared with the Ark Cat Sanctuary.

How many pets did this grant help?

We estimate that this donation of pet beds will help about 50 pets in the next year. Some beds with stay at the fostering and shelter locations, helping multiple pets. Some beds will travel with our more shy pets when they go to their new homes as a source of consistency.

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

Meet Mira (first photo)! Mira is a border collie mix. She is from Crownpoint, NM. A priest had been feeding her and reached out to get her into foster care with Blackhat. She loved her new bed and was just adopted!

Flaco (second photo) was a starving stray in a rural town in the Navajo Nation. He is probably an Australian cattle dog and pitbull mix. He was found to have parvo soon after his rescue and survived this often-fatal disease. Despite being a bit less “flaco” these days, he’s still quite a small but sweet fellow. He is in foster care in Flagstaff, waiting for his forever home. You can meet Flaco here.

Charlotte (third photo) is a petite 19-year-old tabby cat. She was adopted from the Ark Cat Sanctuary long ago and was recently returned when her owner died. Charlotte is in renal failure and is quite frail and has difficulty getting around. She loves her new pet bed and spends most of the day there.

Orson is a large Siamese cat. Orson grew up in a hoarding situation where he was kept in a small cage, poorly fed, and received almost no care or love. He had been compulsively chewing his tail before he was rescued, resulting in his tail having to be amputated. Orson has plumped up nicely with care and now watches over Charlotte, cuddling on the new bed with her (fourth photo).