Petco donation will aid some of the tiniest kittens at the Stanislaus shelter
The Petco Foundation has donated $225,000 for a new effort on behalf of kittens sheltered at the Stanislaus Animal Services Agency.
The money from the pet supply chain will help boost the survival rate for “prewean” kittens, agency Executive Director Annette Patton said by email Thursday.
Those are babies that arrive at the shelter off Crows Landing Road within a few weeks of birth, still dependent on mother’s milk. Nearly 2,000 kittens are euthanized annually, a weak spot in an overall trend toward greater survival for both cats and dogs, Patton said.
The grant will provide two years of funding for two new employees who will coordinate care for prewean kittens before adoption. It also will cover the cost of supplies and spay-neuter procedures.
“The direct problem to be addressed is the heartbreaking number of prewean kittens entering our shelter each year,” Patton said. “The number has steadily decreased, and with this program, we want to eliminate all prewean kitten euthanasia.”
The agency is a partnership of county government and the cities of Modesto, Ceres, Patterson, Hughson and Waterford.
The foundation presented the grant during a visit Wednesday with the Stanislaus agency. It also gave $95,000 to New Beginnings for Merced County Animals, a nonprofit based in Winton. It promotes adoption, spay-neuter and other efforts.
Petco, based in San Diego, has about 1,500 stores in the United States and Mexico. They include locations in Modesto, Riverbank, Turlock, Atwater, Los Banos and Manteca.
The Stanislaus and Merced grants are part of $10 million the foundation plans to donate this year in its market areas.
Annual reports from the Stanislaus agency show sharp declines in euthanasia rates over a decade, thanks to adoptions and other efforts.
Just 10 percent of the 6,370 dogs admitted in the 2018-19 fiscal year were put to death, down from 53 percent in 2010-11.
The euthanasia rate was 29 percent for the 10,253 cats admitted in 2018-19, down from 91 percent at the start of the decade. Kittens were put to death at higher rates than adult cats.
