Operators of the Kansas City animal shelter won a $25,000 challenge grant this month because of community engagement done this summer.
The ASPCA awarded grant to the KC Pet Project, which competed with 50 animal shelters nationwide, said Teresa Johnson, executive director of Pet Project operations.
She announced that on Wednesday and also gave a shelter update to the city council public safety committee.
The award was based on the number of people involved during a challenge period of June, July and August, the ways city residents participated and the level of community enthusiasm for saving homeless animals, she said.
“Our community has really gotten behind the shelter and really supported us,” she said. “We’re very proud of that.”
The group also got another $5,000 grant for saving more than 300 additional pet lives during that period than at the same time last year.
For the first nine months this year, the shelter took in 7,355 animals, 1,097 more than for the same period last year.
Yet its live release rate for this year is 93 percent, she said, and continues to be the largest open admission No-Kill animal shelter in the nation.
And this weekend it presents “Pawtoberfest,” billed as a mega adoption event at all three of its locations: the shelter at 4400 Raytown Road, Zona Rosa, 7351 NW 87th Terrace, and Petco at 11620 W. 95th St.
You can get a dog then for $35 and a cat for $10. Potential pets can be seen at kcpetproject.org.
In another campaign, the Pet Project is hoping to raise $25,000 before year’s end to help save at least 375 dogs that come in with heartworms this year.
The average cost to treat them is $287 per dog, Johnson said.
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