Animal Rescue Alliance, Inc.: Dog Field Trip/Short-Term Fostering Grant Report

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

We are a small, rural shelter in southwest Georgia. There are no other animal services in either of the two counties we serve. Most of our adoptions come from outside our immediate area, and we want to change that. We are scheduling more adoption events, and we wanted people to be able to visibly identify our adoptable dogs. We purchased leashes and harnesses and are excited to be able to walk our dogs around at local events and show them off!

How many pets did this grant help?

We only have 20-25 dogs at a time. We hope to be able to get all of them out in public with the new gear.

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

Chloe was surrendered to the shelter when her family was expecting a baby. She was despondent at being left.

When an elderly widow called us and said she would take a dog home for the holidays, we knew that Chloe was the perfect candidate. She ended up being adopted, but four months later her owner said she had to return her because Chloe was always so happy to see her that she wouldn’t stop jumping on her. The owner was afraid of being knocked over.

Chloe cried when she saw the shelter again.

That weekend we had an invitation to attend a farmers’ market, so we took Chloe. She visited all over town, even going into a local bank. Her “Adopt Me” harness and leash got a lot of attention, and we ended up finding a foster home for her (we think it will be a foster fail!).

We are so grateful for these materials.