CritterhouseKC: Kia Pet Adoption Grant Report

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

The Kia Pet Adoption Grant made it possible to provide adopters with access to free adoptions. CritterhouseKC pets were helped through this grant funding and were matched with loving owners who just needed support to remove the adoption-fee barrier and were able to say "yes" to furever homes.

How many pets did this grant help?

10

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

CritterhouseKC used Kia Pet Adoption Grant funds to help Zelda (first photo). She is pit mix who had been kept in a basement and forcibly bred, and only let out twice per day.

When the owner’s landlord found out, we took Zelda in December 2021. She went through a lot after she came here, needing a rear leg amputated from an old injury, then heartworm treatment. She was not great with other dogs and we were having a hard time finding the right home for her.

Then, in December 2023, a full two years later, we got an email from someone who had been looking at her online from the time she had been made available. They had been waiting until they could buy a house and had just closed on their very first home! They wanted Zelda as soon as they moved in, but wouldn’t be able to afford an adoption fee right away.

We set up several visits over the next few weeks to make sure it was a good fit; then we were able to cover the adoption fee with the Kia Pet Adoption Grant so that they were not burdened by that extra expense and Zelda was finally home.

Kia grant funds were also used to help Panda (second photo). Panda’s adopters had recently lost their beloved older dog. They were all so sad at the loss that they decided that fostering a puppy might help them heal.

Of course, they fell in love with the Aussie/heeler mix and wanted to keep her, but money was tight after dealing with their last dog’s vet expenses. We were able to offer them a fee-paid adoption thanks to the Kia Pet Adoption Grant.