Save the Lives of Shelter Pets in North America

The Petfinder Foundation's Rescue U volunteers just finished a massive renovation project at the Humane Society of West Michigan in Grand Rapids! In just one week (Aug. 18-24), they completed the following projects:

• A new dog agility course: We put in an agility course and play area in a space that had been just a big, fenced-in area. Now the dogs have plenty of activities to occupy them when they go to the yard to play.
• AstroTurf to protect paws: Some dog runs in the back of the shelter had a pea-gravel base that got really hot in the summer and burned the dogs' paws, so we replaced it with AstroTurf (which is also much easier for the staff to clean).
• Sound baffling to lower stress: Inside the shelter, the area where the dogs are housed was extremely noisy, which stressed the dogs, so we installed sound baffling in the kennels to stop the echo.
• Organizational shelving: We added shelving to organize the shelter’s pet-food bank program, the Kibble Konnection, which helps low-income pet parents provide food for their pets.
• A new sanitation barrier: To help prevent the spread of disease among cats, we installed a sanitation barrier in the cat-intake area. A sheet of plastic resembling a shower curtain now hangs between the stacks of cages so that when cats sneeze and cough, they don’t transmit upper-respiratory infections to the cats in the cages across from them.
• Painting and organizing: We also painted and organized the reception/admitting area and the vet clinic.

All these improvements will make a big difference in the physical and mental well-being of the pets at the shelter - which in turn will make it easier for them to find forever homes!

Links:

• See video and read more on our blog!