Thank you for another incredible, impressive President’s Impact Report for February 2023! We provided care for 1,081 dogs, cats, and other pets in February 2023 – including the largest number of dogs ever received in the month of February in our shelter’s history. The number of pets being surrendered by their families in February has risen 73% over the past five years – with the top two reasons families are relinquishing pets in 2023 being loss of affordable housing and the inability to afford veterinary care for their pets. With the cost of housing and veterinary care continuing to rise, this will be an unfortunate trend we will continue to see throughout 2023.
Here are a few more highlights from your report this month:
🐾 A record 845 pets were adopted in February (494 dogs, 337 cats, and 14 other pets).
🐾 Our veterinary clinic doctors performed 544 surgeries and 919 examinations on animals in our shelter system last month.
🐾 Our Reclaim Fee Forgiveness Program provided $9,590.00 in subsidies for 97 families with 114 pets in February so they could take their lost pets home from the shelter without the financial barrier of expensive fees and fines.
🐾 There are 100 open animal cruelty cases currently under investigation. The Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney’s office reported they are reviewing and charging a record number of felony-level animal cruelty cases since KC Pet Project took over Animal Services in Kansas City.
🐾 We shared the miraculous rescue story of Jolene, the dog who was found by our Animal Services Officers locked inside a wire kennel inside a dark, unheated garage in below freezing temperatures. The dog was emaciated, unresponsive and appeared dead – her stiff, lifeless body already frozen solid to the plastic kennel tray. Our Cruelty Investigations Team is working with the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office on this case to pursue felony level animal cruelty charges against the dog’s owner.
🐾 We had 185 media stories and news mentions for the month of February, including 4 stories on MSN.com and the CBS affiliate in Philadelphia. Estimated media reach for all stories was an incredible 1,038,464,585 billion people last month!
🐾 627 volunteers gave 3,502 hours of service and 119 people volunteered through corporate groups and businesses. We currently have 2,616 active volunteers at KC Pet Project.
There is incredible lifesaving work being performed every day across our organization by all departments. Read the full report to learn more about the work we are doing to create a more compassionate community for the pets and people of Kansas City!