Prairie Paws has a significant grant in hand to help transfer pets from other shelters, specifically those not listed as no-kill facilities, to its care.
Director Vanessa Cowie says the $30,000 in new funding is a Rachael Ray Save Them All grant from the national animal welfare organization Best Friends Animal Society. Cowie says Prairie Paws, an active member in the Best Friends network, will use the funds to identify shelters needing help. It will also cover transport, housing and veterinary care costs for the pets getting transferred.
The goal of the grant is twofold: one, to transfer 200 pets into the Prairie Paws system this year, and two, to turn kill shelters into no-kill locations.
Prairie Paws operates shelters in Emporia, Manhattan and Ottawa. Exactly how much money will be used locally is unclear, Cowie says, because the facility at 1216 Hatcher “struggles to have any additional capacity” to house animals. The Emporia shelter has been full or near-full for years, well before Prairie Paws began operating the shelter last summer.
