Nuzzles & Co.: Disaster Response and Recovery Grant Report

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

This grant helped us replace an aging HVAC system that was struggling to keep up with the extreme winters we have had the last several years in the mountains of Utah.

Last winter, during a blizzard, our in-floor radiant heat went out, leaving us reliant on a back-up forced-air system and space heaters to maintain comfortable temperatures.

As we have an on-site veterinary suite and team, we take in medical-needs animals who benefit greatly from the new system, which helps them recover safely and more quickly without having to worry about varying temperatures. We also do not have to have our on-site caretakers do space-heater checks throughout the night to ensure all animals are warm and that we are not overloading our electrical system.

Our new, reliable HVAC system has been a big relief for us, and has really benefitted the animals in our care! We are so happy they are warm and snug when storms rage outside.

How many pets did this grant help?

1,200

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

Jerry Garcia (first photo) was an older kitty in our shelter who needed medical care for his arthritis and, initially, some eye concerns. We worked to make him comfortable with soft bedding and gentle pets as his arthritis medications started to work.

The new HVAC system in our facility, funded in part from the Petfinder Foundation Disaster Response and Recovery Grant, helped Jerry stay toasty warm as he waited for his forever family.

Previously, heavy mountain winter storms had decimated our HVAC system, and we were relying on space heaters and a back-up system to keep our adoptable pets warm. The new system ensures our dog kennels stay warm with in-floor radiant heat and that our cat rooms also stay at comfortable temperatures year round.

Jerry didn’t have to wait too long, as he found his forever family quickly after his medical hold was cleared!