The Conway Area Humane Society is partnering with three other animal organizations to address the needs of a colony of feral cats estimated to have 80-100 cats. It’s a huge job, but they have a plan and we have no doubt they will be successful. The May HTR Foundation is lucky to be able to help such a dedicated organization.

Spirits Place is a relatively new organization in St. Albans, Maine whose primary mission is promoting and assisting in the spaying and neutering of feral and community cats. They also find themselves helping low income families with spay/neuter for their pets and even some medical care.

When Spirits Place asked the May HTR Foundation for help, they knew exactly what they needed to do – trap and alter that 30 cat colony, alter the seven cats that just arrived at their shelter and follow up with several colonies already spayed and neutered. We were happy to help.

One of our favorite organizations is HART for Animals in Garrett County, Maryland, one of the poorest counties in the state. These intrepid folks rescue animals from local shelters to avoid euthanasia, offer free spay/neuter services to the pets of low income residents, provide humane education and have built their own shelter facility to care for the animals they rescue.

The new facility is fully operational now, but is still in need of secure, permanent fencing so that their lucky dogs can get plenty of exercise. The May HTR Foundation is delighted to contribute to HART’s efforts to raise money to finish off that last section of fencing.

The Maine Federation of Humane Societies is a statewide network of companion animal organizations working to support shelters and rescue groups in their missions. Their annual conference is an amazing opportunity for these groups to get to know one another, to learn from nationally known experts and to develop specific skills that will serve them well in their respective efforts.

This year’s conference will focus on “Avoiding Disaster,” from disinfection disasters to creating a disaster plan to animal intake disasters. Last year over 150 shelter and rescue staff attended and they are expecting more this year. The May HTR Foundation sees this collaborative humane education as essential to its mission and is proud to be able to offer its support.

The Kennebec Valley Humane Society has been around since 1927, serving the Augusta, Maine area as an open intake shelter. They are a safe haven for over 2000 animals per year and boast a 97& placement rate. That’s a lot of homes for a lot of animals and they should be proud of their work.

When they asked for funds are to help pet owners who can least afford it spay and neuter their cats in an effort to reduce the number of cats coming to the shelter, the May HTR Foundation was were happy to help.

Waiting for Surgery

Mutts and Mittens in Conway South Carolina, has a soft spot for the underdog, or cat, and focuses their rescue efforts toward those animals that don’t typically fare well in shelters – animals with ringworm, heartworms or mange; pregnant mothers; young puppies and kittens and seniors, among others. Working with 9 high volume shelters in their area, they took 442 animals into their care in 2016.

The heartworm positive dogs were costly to Mutts and Mittens, with at least 20% of their total budget for the year going to the treatment of these dogs. In an effort to lower the high incidence of heartworms in their area, they asked us for funds to hold community education programs in partnership with two of their local shelters to raise awareness of the problem.

With a prevention focus, these events offered the community FREE heartworm tests, informational booklets and discounted preventative. The May HTR Foundation was pleased to be able to help Mutts and Mittens with such a worthy effort.

Our friends at Assistance Canine Training Services recently asked for help to purchase a scale – something they needed to become a fully certified member of Assistance Dogs International. Their volunteers work hard to train the best service dogs possible and we were happy to help them achieve the recognition they deserve.

The Maine Federation of Humane Societies is a statewide network of companion animal organizations working to support animal shelters and rescue groups with education, outreach and advocacy.   Every shelter and rescue they could find was invited to their annual meeting and over 150 animal lovers were there.  To make it possible for as many people as possible to attend, Maine Fed helped by providing assistance with lodging and meals.  Some of those expenses just weren’t in the Maine Fed budget, so the May HTR Foundation was happy to help.

The Louisiana State Response Team (LSART), Equine Branch, has had its hands full since the flooding in South Louisiana displaced hundreds of horses, not to mention cattle and other farm animals. With concerns about an encephalitis epidemic and the lack of medications and supplies to treat the “waterline” horses, LSART was struggling to provide the needed care for these animals. It is an honor to be able to help LSART with the largest grant award in our short history.

South Louisiana is struggling – again – with animals displaced by flooding. When the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, Shelter Medicine Department asked for help in taking care of the hundreds of cats now in the shelters not affected by the flooding, we were happy to help. Since most necessary medications were already donated, the May HTR Foundation provided funds to purchase feral cats dens and nets to keep shelter staff safe along with “Scratch and Stretches “ and Feliway plugins to keep the cats calm and occupied.