We have seen a lot these past 10 years in animal welfare in Kansas City but nothing quite like the challenges that 2022 has brought. While our average length of stay for our pets is 26 days, this past year we have had more than 30 pets who have been in our care for 100 days or more.
Shelters exist to provide temporary care for pets in need. We are a safe place to rest on their journey until they find their forever home. While our goal is to provide temporary care, for pets like Brodie who have surpassed the 200 day mark, our temporary care has turned into long-term care.
For Brodie, waking up every single day to the same four walls of a kennel, without a forever family to love him or the comforts of a home, is a heartbreaking reality. Despite our Herculean efforts, pets like Brodie are stuck in a cycle of “homelessness.” This can result in high levels of stress that frequently manifest in undesirable behaviors, putting pets at a consistent disadvantage to finding a “forever” home.
And it’s not just the length of time a pet is in our care, it is also the fact that this is a shelter. We have a best-in-class shelter with a best-in-class team that goes above and beyond every day to ensure incredible care for our pets, but at the end of the day, it is still a shelter. Dogs like Prada arrive at the shelter petrified. She feared men and any noise she heard, and she would constantly drop to the floor and shake. A shelter with hundreds of animals and constant bustle has presented numerous challenges for this terrified girl.
We know shelter life is stressful and life in a kennel is hard. That is why at Great Plains SPCA, we do more than any other local shelter to give pets a break from their four walls. While other shelter may take their dogs out of their kennels once or twice a day, our dogs go out four to seven times a day. And while some shelters may have a pet in an office as a special treat, at Great Plains, every single staff member shares their office space with a shelter pet. Our staff take our dogs to the park on our lunch hour, for pup cups, anything we can do to help them. And it’s not just our dogs. Cats like Lilac who have been here over 100 days get to go for walks in pet strollers and also share our offices. Going above and beyond for our pets is what we do.
We continue to see pets being surrendered to the shelter not just for behavioral issues but for medical issues. Like little Russell, brought in through our HERO Team along with his brother. Russell had a hernia, and he and his brother both needed cherry eye surgery. This cute little boy quickly stole our hearts, and we were so glad we could give him the medical care he so desperately needed.
You are our HEROES. We cannot do what we do without you.
2022 has shown all of us how tough times can be. This summer, from June 1 through July 31, all donations will be matched up to $150,000 during our Lend A Paw match campaign.
Will you Lend A Paw for our pets in need like Brodie, Lilac, Prada, Russell and so many more?
On behalf of my team and all the animals in our care,
Thank YOU!
Tam Singer