Shelter kittens Martha and Marley lounge in their cages inside their newly renovated space as the Huntington Cabell Wayne Animal Control Shelter conducts a ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the renovations of the former Cook School on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Huntington.
Shelter kittens Martha and Marley lounge in their cages inside their newly renovated space as the Huntington Cabell Wayne Animal Control Shelter conducts a ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the renovations of the former Cook School on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Huntington.
HUNTINGTON Ƶ The Western West Virginia Animal Rescue Alliance (WƵARA) has received a $40,000 innovation grant to enhance care for neonatal kittens in the region.
The grant comes from Orphan Kitten Club, a national nonprofit with a mission to innovate pediatric care and advance protections for neonatal kittens in shelters, according to a WƵARA news release.
With the funds, WƵARA has hired three kitten coordinators to care for the young felines, who without appropriate intervention would have a low chance of survival, said its president, Courtney Proctor Cross. The kitten care coordinators will work closely with regional partners at rural shelters and serve as a liaison among WƵARA foster homes, rural shelters and other partners to ensure that at-risk neonatal kittens are promptly identified and transferred to appropriate care facilities.
The kitten care coordinators are Teresa Atkins, Nicole Dingess and Andrea Jones.
Cross said the coordinators started approximately two months ago and have saved 190 neonatal kittens so far. With the grant funds, WƵARA anticipates that it will be able to save 300 kittens up to 4 weeks old and 300 kittens 4-8 weeks old, she said.
The kitten care coordinators will alleviate frequent calls from counties needing help with newborn kittens. The coordinators will facilitate education and supplies to people who will care for the kittens until they can go to a suitable foster or are old enough to be adopted.
ƵWeƵll be a resource that they can turn to,Ƶ Cross said. ƵWe canƵt take all of those kittens in necessarily, but we can provide people with supplies and information so that they have what they need to care for those kittens to enhance their chances of surviving.Ƶ
The grant money will fund the coordinators for one year. Cross said she hopes WƵARA can establish a network that will enable it to continue the work in the future.
ƵItƵs just a great opportunity to actually have the resources and the network of fosters and people in place who help save the lives of these little kittens, that is hard to do without those resources in place,Ƶ she said.
Neonatal kittens, those under 8 weeks old, are the most at-risk population in shelters nationwide, Jackie Noble, executive director of Orphan Kitten Club, said in an email response Monday. When WƵARA expressed its need for additional staffing to support its efforts, OKC found the initiative a good fit for its own goals.
ƵThanks to the support, their new Regional Kitten Coordinators now serve as vital liaisons between foster homes, rural shelters, and rescue partners, ensuring vulnerable kittens are identified quickly and receive the around-the-clock care they need to survive,Ƶ Noble said.
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