PAWS Animal Welfare Society, Inc.: Cat Enrichment Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
We used the $900 grant from the Petfinder Foundation to purchase a cat enclosure that is 8 ft. tall, 6 ft. wide, and 6 ft. long. It has four shelves on the walls and is very well-constructed. The enclosure is attached to the building and the cats get in and out of it by climbing out a window. The enclosure was purchased from Safe Kitty in Buxton, Maine.
The cats having access to the outdoors while remaining completely safe is a benefit to the cats and to Paws Animal Welfare Society, Inc. The cats will have greater stimulation and exercise and will be able to enjoy the outdoors. This will make them more content and may decrease the transmission of diseases, since they will have access to fresh air. We visited another shelter that had a large outside area and they found that to be true. Also, the general public will view this addition to the shelter in a favorable way and perhaps be inspired to provide a similar enclosure for their pets.
How many pets did this grant help?
It will help all of the cats that are in this particular room of our shelter. It is the room where our semi-feral cats roam. The number of cats in the room at any one time varies; right now, there are only three, but we are in the process of moving others into the room. We have a larger room where cats who are ready for adoption roam. We want to have another enclosure to attach to this part of the building so that these cats can have the same advantages as the cats now will have in the smaller room. We are in the process of ordering one.
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Unfortunately, although we installed the enclosure on May 15, we have had to make a number of adjustments to ensure that the cats will be completely safe and have easy access to the enclosure, specifically, preventing them from digging under the structure and making ramps so that they can get in and out safely since the window is very high off the ground. This has taken some additional planning, effort, and time. As a result, we have not been able to let the cats use the enclosure until this week, so we do not have any stories to share at this time. We would be glad to send you some stories once we have had more time and more cats in the room to use it.
