Kokomo Humane Society: KONG Toys Grant Report

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

We received cat treats, and gave them to our stray and adoptable cats. For adoptable cats, we used them in conjunction with clicker training to train cats to come to the front of the cage so make them more visible (and desirable) to adopters.

We receive lots and lots of dog treats, but very few cat treats, so this was a great resource for our cat volunteers and for the staff to be able to reward, comfort and entice our cats.

How many pets did this grant help?

We recevied approximately 425 cats from the time we received the treats until today. Every one of those cats received Kong cat treats!

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

Van Gogh came to the Kokomo Humane Society in January. He was missing an ear (not an ear tip!) and because he was a stray, we had no idea of his history. But he was a beautiful long-haired cat and quite friendly, so he was placed on the adoption floor after his stray holding period. He was at the shelter several weeks, and in that time became more and more withdrawn. The Kong Cat Treats helped bring him out of his shell. He loved them! We found that he came to the front of the cage more often, hoping that visitors might have treats for him. He was adopted in late February, and we sent some Kong Cat Treats home with him. A recent report from one of the boys in his new family told us that he is happy and healthy, and purrs a lot.