C.C.S.P.C.A., Inc.: Purina Canada Happy Paws & Hearts Operation Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
The Purina Happy Paws & Hearts Operation Grant helped the Charlotte County SPCA Animal Shelter (C.C.S.P.C.A.) continue providing cats admitted to the shelter with vaccines for feline panleukopenia and dogs with vaccines for canine parainfluenza. The grant also ensured the adoptable lonely hearts that continue waiting for their forever homes receive the booster vaccines when needed.
How many pets did this grant help?
This grant is helping 96 cats and six dogs at the Charlotte County SPCA Animal Shelter.
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Melanie (first photo) is one of the oldest kittens rescued from a cat colony in Charlotte County, New Brunswick. A couple was caring for this friendly colony, and they called the Charlotte County SPCA Animal Shelter (C.C.S.P.C.A.) for help. In conjunction with the CA-R-MA Charlotte County Chapter and other animal shelters near our area, we took action to help the colony.
The C.C.S.P.C.A. rescued 17 cats from the colony, including little Melanie. They were each vaccinated with PCT WC/PCT WOC for feline panleukopenia and treated for parasites within two days of their stay at the shelter.
The C.C.S.P.C.A. prioritizes efforts to reduce fear, anxiety, and stress in pets to the best of our abilities when they are admitted to the shelter. For the colony cats, we kept the cat portals open in our kennels so that they could interact with each other. This improved their mood significantly compared to keeping them in separate kennels. This was especially effective for Melanie because she could be there to comfort George (second photo, and with Melanie in photos 3 and 4), who was one of the kittens.
Like all the cats the C.C.S.P.C.A. rescues, Melanie was spayed, received the rabies vaccine, and was ready for adoption. She caught the attention of her adopters with her motherly affection and playfulness. She was officially adopted on Aug. 5, 2025, to live a happy and safe life.
The CA-R-MA Charlotte County and C.C.S.P.C.A. continues to monitor Melanie’s colony and rescue cats as we are able.
