Hawaii Island Humane Society: Kia Pet Adoption Grant Report

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

With the support of the Petfinder Foundation and the Kia Pet Adoption grant, we were able to waive adoption fees for adult animals ages 6 months+ and reduce fees for older puppies ages 4-6 months for the entire month of June.

Summer is historically a challenging time for animal shelters, and we were thrilled to have this opportunity to incentivize adoptions. Because we are a limited-admission shelter, every adoption represents another life that we can save by opening up a kennel and transferring in a new animal from our local animal control shelter. We are truly grateful for this opportunity that helped us place more pets in loving homes.

How many pets did this grant help?

50

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

One of our favorite adoptions made possible by the Petfinder Foundation and Kia during the month of June was that of Gemma.

We called Gemma our resident “house cow.” She was the sweetest, most cuddly girl, and was clearly not aware of her size (nearly 70 lbs.), as she would often throw her entire body in your lap.

We first met Gemma in July of 2022 (one whole year ago!) when she was impounded at our local animal control shelter. Gemma then spent the next 10 months at Animal Control, where she was being held as evidence in a court case.

The day that Gemma was released and made available for transfer was a beautiful day. On that day, we brought her into the yard at Animal Control to get to know her outside of a kennel. We instantly fell in love! She was so happy to finally be able to touch grass and interact with people; she got the happiest big-dog zoomies and then launched herself into our laps.

We transferred Gemma into our care, where she continued to charm everyone. We did a fun activity at the shelter in which we tested unusual but high-value treats with our shelter dogs. Gemma decided that her favorite was Honey Nut Cheerios!

We posted a video on social media of Gemma eating her Cheerios and it caught the attention of a wonderful couple. They instantly applied to adopt Gemma, and when they came to meet her, they brought Honey Nut Cheerios!

Gemma is now living her best adopted life in a loving home. Thank you, Petfinder Foundation and Kia!