Whitman County Humane Society received a $5,000 grant from Petco Love to continue its life-saving veterinary efforts. 

The grant was part of the animal welfare organization grant cycle, said Jennifer Perez, Petco Love communications specialist. The grant was open to animal control agencies and nonprofit organizations responsible for animal control sheltering. 

Perez said Petco Love chose to invest in the humane society because it made the most impact to help animals in its community. 

“We invest in organizations that are dedicated, determined, innovative and that make the most significant life-saving impact in our community,” she said.  

The humane society is a private non-profit shelter that is donation-based, said Annie Lindsey, humane society foster program director. 

The humane society applied for the grant last July and received it in early April. The grant will be used for all animals that need special treatment, she said. 

When the humane society was applying for the grant, staff had to talk about the medical resources they had and where the money would be going, Lindsey said. 

The humane society wrote about getting animals out of hoarding situations, she said. A common issue that occurs because of hoarding situations is that animals get upper respiratory infections that often go untreated.

When untreated, the animals either go unseen by a proper veterinarian or do not receive the medication needed to recover from the symptoms, Lindsey said. 

After being left untreated, an animal’s eye or eyes can become inflamed, leading to the animal needing their eye(s) to be removed, Lindsey said. Once the eye(s) are removed, the inflammation is no longer an issue for the animal. 

Animals who only had one eye removed are still able to see from their second eye, she said. 

A cat named Cactus Cooler was the first animal to benefit from the Petco Love grant, Lindsey said. 

The cat’s eye became inflamed, which was painful for him, Lindsey said. He had been taking medications to help with the pain until he was able to go in for surgery.

Part of the grant went toward the removal of Cactus Cooler’s eye, medications and aftercare, she said.  

“Programs like [Petco Love] get these animals in the best care possible before they go home, which is always our goal … so when the animal goes home, they just get to have a fresh start,” Lindsey said.