KC Pet Project has managed the shelter contract for 10 years, and we have never seen the volume of pets coming in that we’re seeing now. We took in 6,700 pets in our first year in 2012, and in 2022, we are on our way to 15,000. We are continue to do all we can to keep families together, reunited lost pets with their families, and find homes for our shelter pets. But we do not know how our organization can withstand these numbers and summer isn’t even here yet.
We need help in so many ways.
- We need adopters and have $30 adoptions from Friday through Monday
- We need foster homes to help our pets and make space for our new arrivals.
- We need donations, both monetary and in-kind. More animals coming in means more resources are needed.
- We are hiring and we always need volunteers.
- We need time to build the programs and services we want to implement to help more people and their pets but can’t because of the number of pets in our care.
- We need more affordable housing in KC for people and their pets, and we need housing that doesn’t discriminate against breeds and large dogs. People should not have to give up their pets because they cannot find a place to live with them.
- We need more affordable veterinary care and more veterinary resources for people and pets. People should not have to give up their pets because they cannot access affordable veterinary care.
- And that’s just a start.
We often hear, “we don’t know how you do what you do.” We don’t know how we can sustain this either, and we need help. Municipal animal shelters across the country are struggling, and we have a national crisis unfolding in our animal shelters with record numbers flooding in. KC Pet Project is your local shelter experiencing this, and this crisis is impacting us in Kansas City in a huge way. If you can get involved, we need your support.
How You Can Help
Foster a Pet: KC Pet Project is also seeking foster families to provide care for the pets at their shelter. The biggest need currently is for large, adult dogs. Also, if you do not have any pets in your home, there are several dogs that would be a great fit for your home as they need to be an only pet. Visit the KC Pet Project website to sign up.
Donate: More animals coming into the shelter means more resources are needed to care for them. Donations may be made here to support the daily care, medicine, and food needed for hundreds of pets in the shelter, and the most needed in-kind donations right now are canned dog and cat food, hot dogs, and items from the shelter’s Kitten Amazon Wish List.
Share Lost and Found Pets: KC Pet Project posts all pets that are lost or were found on their website and on a Facebook page. You can look through the album or listings to see if pets were found in your neighborhood. Sharing these pets will help them get back home faster.
Advocate for Change: Do you live in an apartment complex that doesn’t allow for large dogs or certain breeds? Advocate for them to change. Does your community discriminate against certain breeds still which means you can’t adopt certain pets from shelters. Advocate for change. The animal welfare industry is evolving to meet the needs of our communities and these outdated practices, policies, and ordinances have to go.