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 Charlotte County SPCA (C.C.S.P.C.A. Inc) is a small animal shelter in rural Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada. We receive no government funding and rely on fundraising and donations to carry out our mandates for the stray dogs and cats of Charlotte County. The population of Charlotte County is approximately 26,000, or 19.7 people/square mile.
In 2024, we were very fortunate to be awarded a Petfinder Foundation Purina Happy Paws and Hearts Operations grant of $2,000 US. This grant paid for 1500 microchips. All our cats and dogs are microchipped and spayed/neutered prior to adoption, as well as given basic vaccinations and rabies (which is endemic in Charlotte County and Maine) and anti-pest treatments. The grant also helped us in our efforts to prevent more unwanted cats and dogs by paying for some neuter surgeries.
How many pets did this grant help?
It will help all the animals in our care. The actual number depends on how many cats and dogs are brought in and then adopted. The number of cats and dogs adopted out in 2024 was 180 cats and 36 dogs. There was a small surplus of funds, which paid for the neutering of seven males of the 28 feline spay/neuters in July 2024.
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
My next-door neighbor’s cat (first photo), adopted in 2016, was a beneficiary of the microchipping program. Several years after her adoption, she disappeared one summer morning. After several weeks, her owners were discouraged enough to give away her food.
One morning a month after that, a small long-haired white cat showed up in a yard three miles away, across two rural roads with speed limits of 45 to 55 mph.
The homeowner was able to trap her and called the CCSPCA. We asked her to bring in the cat to check for a microchip. That same day, my neighbor received a phone call from us to advise him that we had his cat and he brought her home. It was all thanks to the microchip that Dini (formerly known as Whitney) was reunited with her surprised but relieved owners. Fast-forward to January 2025 and Dini continues to live happily with my neighbors.
