Good Shepherd awarded $25K Orphan Kitten Club grant

Good Shepherd Humane Society recently announced that it has been awarded a $25,000 innovation grant from Orphan Kitten Club (OKC), a national nonprofit organization with a mission to innovate pediatric care and advance protections for neonatal kittens in shelters.

These funds will allow Good Shepherd to implement Kitten College, a program that builds a network of kitten foster homes in Carroll County to decrease the kitten mortality rate.

Good Shepherd is working with partner organizations to achieve this goal: Paws & Claws Pet Shelter in Huntsville, Ozark Humane Society in Harrison, Lowell Animal Shelter and Green Forest Animal Services.

“As a passionate kitten foster myself, I have seen how kittens thrive when they start out in a home,” said Samantha Jones, kitten care specialist at Good Shepherd Humane Society. “Fostering matters, and Kitten College will allow us to build a larger network of fosters and save more kittens together.”

Neonatal kittens — ages zero to eight weeks — are the most euthanized feline population in animal shelters in the United States, accounting for at least half of feline deaths. The specialized skills, supplies, veterinary expertise and overnight care they require makes them uniquely difficult to care for on-site in an animal shelter. For this reason, sheltersnd rescues heavily rely on volunteer foster parents to assist in the care of this vulnerable population.

Led by a panel of experts in animal welfare, veterinary medicine, and kitten wellbeing, the Orphan Kitten Club Mightycat program strategically selects partners based on their potential to create meaningful new impact for neonatal kittens.

After a bi-annual application period, the advisory panel thoughtfully allocates donor funds to partner programs that have proposed an executable and measurable plan to lower euthanasia rates, increase lifesaving capacity, enhance quality of care and/or contribute to groundbreaking research.

“Our Mightycat partners are shelters and foster-based rescues that are truly aligned with our mission to increase lifesaving programs for kittens under eight weeks old,” said Jackie Noble, executive director of Orphan Kitten Club. “We’re proud to partner with Good Shepherd Humane Society to move the needle for neonatal kittens.”

For more information, visit www.goodshepherd-hs.org.