Belleville Area Humane Society: KONG Toys Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
BAHS received a donation of 10 Kongs. The Kongs are used for canine enrichment. We stuff the Kongs with treats or peanut butter and use them as treats for our pets as well as training prizes.
The Kongs help with mental stimulation and focus. We put the Kongs on a chain to create a moving feature that helps the larger dogs burn energy!
How many pets did this grant help?
The Kongs helped approximately 30 dogs in our care. The Kongs are washed between uses and benefit our entire pet population!
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
The Belleville Area Humane Society (BAHS) has launched an enrichment program led by adoption counselor Kurt Blaes. Kong Tuesdays are very important to our canine enrichment plan. We recently received 10 Kongs from the Petfinder Foundation, and our shelter pups couldn’t be happier! We stuff our new Kongs with food or peanut butter. We also elevate the Kongs on a chain to create a moving feature for the BAHS animals to enjoy their favorite treat. The Kong grant has helped several dogs at the BAHS pass their idle time with us, but two specifically stand out – Ravi (first photo) and Kit (second photo).
Ravi, a large red-and-white American bulldog mix, is learning how to play well with others, but has a lot of energy he needs to burn. Kurt started him on the new Kongs, which Ravi enjoys thoroughly. His behavior has changed tremendously thanks to the mental stimulation of the Kongs, the slow, positive socialization he has been getting with other dogs, and the physical stimulation from his treadmill training. Ravi is still with us and a few steps closer to finding his forever home — hopefully one that is filled with Kongs!
Kit has also benefited immensely since the arrival of the Kongs and has since been adopted! Kit is a high-energy Australian shepherd mix who did not do well in a stressful shelter environment. Although he had friends here, he was growing restless until he was introduced to Kong Tuesday. The Kongs helped Kit focus on something else and he started to show much better in his kennel. He barked less and became more relaxed in his space. A recent update from his adopter was that Kit was doing extremely well in his new home and Kongs are now part of his daily routine.
Thank you so much for the generous donation of these Kongs to the BAHS. They help our dogs have a quieter, more relaxed stay at the shelter with us while they wait for adoption. We have noticed reduced stress not just in Ravi and Kit, but the entire population.
