CHS Receives Petco Foundation Grant
Cascades Humane Society receives lifesaving grant from the PetCo Foundation.
The Petco Foundation has granted Cascades Humane Society (CHS) a $10,000 grant to support adoptions and the feeding of homeless pets in Jackson, Michigan.
The grant will help fund the necessary medical care that CHS provides to each animal prior to adoption including spay and neuter surgeries, vaccinations, standard disease tests and microchips.
“The cost of care we provide for each animal is more than CHS asks in adoption fees, therefore donations such as this from the Petco Foundation are vital to keeping our facility functioning,” said Heather Leszczynski, Executive Director of Cascades Humane Society.
Cascades Humane Society is a not-for-profit shelter that runs entirely based on the generosity of the community and grants such as the Petco Foundation. Over the years, CHS has seen a steady increase in adoptions. In 2018, CHS saw their biggest adoption year – 1,348 pets.
“We need support more than ever. The costs of medicines, vaccines and food continues to rise, which means even more cost per animal, so we look to our community to help us care for pets while they wait for their forever homes,” said Leszczynski. “This grant from the Petco Foundation helps cover the cost of the increase in adoptions as well as helps us market our wonderful pets to a wider audience. We hope to keep our high adoption numbers and will need to ensure our available pets are seen by even more people. We hope this grant draws more attention to the needs of animals right here in our community.”
In addition to being an adoption center, CHS provides several programs: a low-cost spay and neuter program for owned animals, a feral or free roaming cat sterilization program and a pet food pantry.
“The pet food pantry feeds the pets of families who are going through financial hardships so that the pets can stay in their home, where they belong, and not add to the pets in shelters,” explains Leszczynski. “Part of the Petco Foundation grant will help supply the food for this program.”
The support from the Petco Foundation is in recognition of all the great work CHS does every year to save as many lives as possible. As a small, limited in-take shelter, being recognized by a national foundation that contributes to lifesaving efforts all over the country is very special for us. We work hard every day to give the animals in our care the best life possible, and after with the adoption into their perfect home,” said Leszczynski.
About Petco Foundation:
At the Petco Foundation, we believe that every animal deserves to live its best life. Since 1999, we’ve invested more than $250 million in lifesaving animal welfare work to make that happen. With our more than 4,000 animal welfare partners, we inspire and empower communities to make a difference by investing in adoption and medical care programs, spay and neuter services, pet cancer research, service and therapy animals, and numerous other lifesaving initiatives. Through our Think Adoption First program, we partner with Petco stores and animal welfare organizations across the country to increase pet adoptions. So far, we’ve helped more than six million pets find their new loving families, and we’re just getting started. Visit petcofoundation.org to learn more about how you can get involved.