Butte Humane Society: P.L.A.Y. Pet Beds Grant Report

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

We received 40 P.L.A.Y. beds through this generous grant. It took less than two days for us to provide these to families who'd been displaced by the Camp Fire. We did limit them to one per household. We were serving about 200 households a day during this time and we're still serving about 140 per day now.

On Nov. 8, 2018, the Camp Fire permanently changed the lives of thousands of people and their animals instantly and permanently. They left their homes, many still in their pajamas, and rushed down the hill and out of town as fast as they could, leaving almost everything they had behind. On Nov. 9, Butte Humane Society started a Pet Pantry to give these people the items they needed so they could care for their animals and hopefully find a way to keep them and not have to surrender them.

How many pets did this grant help?

Forty, but more than 18,000 animals have been helped through the Pet Pantry.

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

The Camp Fire was chaos and many of our staff and volunteers were operating on autopilot and in semi-shock during this time. There are so many stories of people sharing what they lost, breaking down in tears at the kindness of others to make sure that they had food, crates, litter, leashes, etc. One of the most popular items were always the beds we had and it was very challenging keeping enough of them in stock. People shared repeatedly that this little touch of comfort and normalcy helped their dogs and themselves have hope. Imagine, living in your truck for weeks because there was no place to go and how good it would feel to have a nice bed for your dog to sleep in in the back of your pickup truck. It was so important to people to feel they had the ability to make something just a little better in their lives for those they loved. Thank you!