City of Converse Animal Care: KONG Toys Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
This grant has allowed us to implement daily enrichment activities using KONG toys for the dogs who stay in our care. We have a deep chest freezer just for KONGs that have had treats frozen in or on them to be given out to our shelter population. These KONGs have helped staff, volunteers, and interns to earn trust with dogs who are scared and help with socialization by building their trust.
The KONG toys have been giving our dogs mental stimulation and exercise. We also use treats and food items in the KONGs to give them some more to look forward to and work towards to provide more stimulation. The dogs now look forward to KONG drops as part of their routine. The staff, volunteers, and interns have noticed an improvement in kennel stress, behavior, and demeanor of the animals.
How many pets did this grant help?
300-500
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
KONGs have helped so many of our pets. One in particular to be noted is a longtime resident named Homer. Homer is a black mouth cur mixed-breed male who shows signs of stress and frustration while housed in his kennel. Upon seeing people or animals from the barrier of his kennel, he would immediately react by repeatedly jumping excitedly. This behavior often makes him overlooked by potential adopters.
Since we implemented daily KONG drops as part of our enrichment program, Homer has shown some progress in reducing this behavior. As of this time, Homer has not been adopted, but we are working on continuing to support his mental and physical health and help showcase him to potential adopters to show what a truly great dog he is.
