August Match Challenge Aims to Help with 218% Increase in Homeless Puppies this Year
Thanks to a matching donation from The Marianne and Stacy Cocks Fund, a Fund of The Community Foundation San Luis Obispo County, and another anonymous donor, all donations to Woods Humane Society will double in size, up to $25,000, in August to help two times as many homeless pets.
The August Match challenge hopes to boost fundraising as the shelter faces rising costs of care and explosive growth in the number of homeless puppies and kittens it serves. In the first six months of 2025, Woods cared for more puppies than in all of 2024, signifying a 218% increase in puppies for the first half of the year.
One such puppy, Reef, arrived at Woods at just one day old and needed months of gentle foster care, nurturing food, and medical attention prior to adoption.
“Success stories like Reef’s can cost the organization more than twice the amount budgeted for a typical dog or cat as these young, fragile puppies are vulnerable to contagious diseases and often require weeks of care,” says Woods CEO Emily L’Heureux. “As we have responded to the increased number of homeless puppies this year, we have also drawn on our resources to treat more cases of severe and lengthy illness. Woods looks to the community to participate in this August Match opportunity to help us raise $50,000 in essential funds that make it possible to save these young animals’ lives and see them through to adoption.”
Woods explains that the rise in puppies correlates with a national trend showing a decline in the percentage of spayed/neutered pets. According to Shelter Animals Count’s Altered Status Data Report, “From 2019 to 2023, the percentage of dogs entering shelters already spayed or neutered dropped from 33.2% to 22.3%; for cats, from 27.9% to 22.0%.”
Woods Humane Society continues to combat population issues by altering all animals prior to adoption, offering low-cost spay/neuter services for the community, and encouraging spays through its Mom Spay program and Project M.E.O.W. community cat program. With the help of this matching challenge, the shelter hopes to increase its numbers of altered adopted animals from 2,884 last year to 3,000 this calendar year.
“Because of the generosity of The Marianne and Stacy Cocks Fund, a Fund of the Community Foundation San Luis Obispo County, and our other anonymous donor, our community’s support this month will go even further than it normally would to provide food, shelter, sterilization, medical care and adoption services for puppies, kittens, dogs and cats that have nowhere else to turn. Gifts made during the August Matching Challenge will help us save the lives of hundreds more animals.”
To get your donation doubled, donate online at www.WoodsHumane.org or in person at Woods Humane Society SLO (875 Oklahoma Ave., San Luis Obispo, CA 93405) or Woods Humane Society North County (2300 Ramona Rd., Atascadero, CA 93422).
