Gloucester businesses and those with a heart for homeless pets once again joined forces for the Fifth Annual Dog Days of Summer fundraiser to benefit GMHS. This year, the campaign was held on social media in response to COVID-19. Each Friday during August brought a #FiveDollarFriday Facebook fundraiser, raising a total of $3,921. A random winner was drawn from donors each week and received a prize package with items from participating businesses.

A huge and heartfelt thanks is due to participants Brent and Becky's, CA & J Farm, Chesapeake Marine Training Institute, The Inn at Warner Hall, Village Cleaners, and Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp-Resort: Gloucester Point and the generous donors who made the Dogs Days of Summer an outstanding success!

Dog Days of Summer weekly prize winners include (from top to bottom) Alexa Blevins Taylor and Kasey Joyce.

Join us in celebrating the 35 heart connections made in August. One of the month's greatest successes is the adoption of Gwen (far right), who waited 514 days to find her match. It is because of friends and supporters like you that we are able to care for homeless pets who take a bit longer to find their match. Thank you for your role in helping pets like Gwen find their forever families, and thank you to our adopters for welcoming a rescue pet into their heart and home!

Visit GMHS on the web to view all the homeless pets searching for a forever family and submit your adoption questionnaire electronically. We continue to conduct adoptions by appointment in response to COVID-19. With an approved questionnaire, a member of our Adoption Team will schedule a time for you to make your very own heart connection!

GMHS adopters are invited to share how their pet has changed their life to help give us a chance to receive a $100,000 grand prize Holiday Wishes grant award from the Petco Foundation. In partnership with BOBS from Skechers, the Petco Foundation is granting more than $750,000 this holiday season to qualified animal welfare organizations across the country. Awards will range from $5,000 to $100,000, and adopters with winning submissions will receive up to a $1,000 Petco shopping spree and a prize pack with BOBS from Skechers shoes.

Through September 23, at 12 PM (CST), adopters can submit their story at petcofoundation.org/holidaywishes. Stories should highlight how pets have changed their adopter’s life for the better, in big and small ways, and should celebrate the love of their adopted pet. Submissions must include four photos to illustrate the story and can include video as well. Adopters are also encouraged to visit the Holiday Wishes homepage for more information and to read stories from previous winners. (Winners will be announced during the holiday season. For a full list of prizes and submission FAQs, visit petcofoundation.org/holidaywishes.)

Did you know that GMHS currently has 21 puppies who were born in our care?

(Scarlet, one of the two mothers to whom these puppies were born, is pictured with some of her litter.)

If each one of the puppies is adopted at eight weeks old, GMHS will have invested a total of $20,664 caring for them--and that only covers the cost of daily care, veterinary wellness care, and spay/neuter!

Will you help fund their care with a donation to GMHS?

Your contribution ensures we have the resources necessary for these sweet puppies and all of the other pets in our care to heal and grow strong while awaiting adoption into their forever homes.

Thank you for making GMHS a beacon of hope and safe harbor for homeless pets!

The generous support of staff, volunteers, and donors enables GMHS to provide daily care, cover special medical needs, foster animals in homes as needed, and arrange transportation to adoption-guaranteed partners. We are also committed to education, outreach, and transparency. Our annual statistics are available on our website, and we also offer you a monthly snapshot.

It has been a little quiet at GMHS lately. Adoptions have slowed a bit, but there are more wonderfully adoptable pets than ever to choose from. In fact, the month of August brought an 5% increase in intakes, including 41 dogs!

Liv Tyler has been waiting more than 340 days to find her match. She will thrive as a solo pet with an active family. Could her ideal match be with you?!

If you have been holding out for a puppy or do not see the pet you are looking for on our website, do not fret: Your future pet is just an email away. Email our Adoption Team at animalplacement@gmhumanesociety.org for a personalized recommendation. We are committed to helping you find the one you have been searching for from small dogs to puppies and barn cats to kittens.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the GMHS Highway to Home program has been working diligently with our network of trusted adoption-guaranteed partners to help place homeless pets in areas where adoption demands are high and rescues have space. When a pet from GMHS goes to one of our incredible partners, they average less than one week in the new shelter before being adopted.

Recently, stray cat Love Bucket was brought in by a GMHS team member. From day one, he captured the hearts of everyone with his desire for attention and his need to snuggle. Love Bucket had some medical challenges to overcome before being able to find his forever home. After receiving surgery for entropion in one eye and some TLC for his wounds, he was available to the world for adoption.

After three months in the shelter, however, Love Bucket had received no adoption interest. We could not fathom why such a wonderful and personable cat was still waiting for his match, but with kitten season in full swing, we were chock full of young cats and kittens available for adoption. It would be easy for a sweet middle-aged gentleman to get overlooked in all the chaos!

Thankfully, Love Bucket was part of a recent Highway to Home transport. Unfortunately, upon arrival, he developed an entropion in his other eye, requiring surgery. His new rescue paired him with an awesome foster home to help him through his recovery. In the process of caring for Love Bucket, his fosters realized they could not imagine life without him. Ten days after arriving at his new rescue and on the same day the shelter cleared him for adoption, Love Bucket became a permanent member of his fosters’ family.

Congratulations Love Bucket, and thank you to our Highway to Home partners and adopters for making this match possible!

Let's hear it for Peyton Marderosian! This amazing young lady has a huge heart for homeless pets and decided to collect donations for GMHS instead of receive gifts for her 12th birthday. Peyton has a heart of gold and loves all pets but says cats are her favorite. Join us in wishing Peyton a perfect birthday and thanking her for being such an amazing friend to pets in need!

The GMHS team is incredibly grateful to Diane and Peter Perina, of Eastfields Farms, for hosting the recent pick-your-own blueberries fundraiser and all of those with a heart for homeless pets who came out in support of the Farm and GMHS. Their generosity raised $2,871 for GMHS and ensures pets in need have the opportunity to lead the lives filled with love, care, dignity, and respect they deserve. Thank you to the Perinas and fundraiser participants for partnering with us to save and transform lives!

In August, That Damn Mary Brewing Company hosted Community Brew Month, donating a portion of proceeds from beer sold to various local charities. A portion of August 19 to 23 beer sales will be donated to GMHS. Our thanks to the TDM team for choosing to share their heart for homeless pets with us and making an investment in our community!

We are always excited when our kitten foster families can help us find wonderful forever homes for any of the kittens in their care. Finding homes for five out of six foster kittens is an incredible turn of events, and that is just what Kathy Carden was able to do with her group of foster kittens.

When six rambunctious kittens enter your home for a few weeks of TLC, it is impossible not to discover the many facets of their distinct personalities. While getting to know them, it is natural to begin “matchmaking” for friends and family thinking about adopting a pet. In this case, it was a combination of heart connections, good timing, and the undeniable cuteness of kittens. We are thrilled the Carden family was able to help us find forever homes for so many of their fosters, and we have no doubt the last kitten from that litter will be adopted in no time!

You, too, can foster kittens! GMHS provides all of the training and supplies necessary for kitten fosters to give cats and kittens a super chance at living healthy, happy lives. If you have a heart for homeless cats and would like to join our dedicated kitten foster team, contact Highway to Home Coordinator Jessica Outten at (804) 693-5520 ext. 310 or email her today.

Fixin' to Save Spay & Neuter Clinic now offers canine and feline packages, which include vaccinations and wellness services (delivered at the time of spay/neuter surgery) at a 10% discount!

Call (804) 694-0349 today to schedule your pet's appointment and ask for the Canine or Feline Package when booking your appointment. Stay in touch with the clinic team by visiting them on the web and Facebook.

Mocha, Alexander Hamilton, and Ada (left to right) are waiting to meet you!

Like and follow GMHS on social media to stay in-the-know about the latest shelter news, homeless pets available for adoption, adoption success stories, and more!