PENDLETON — The Pendleton Animal Welfare Shelter received a big funding boost to support essential kennel repairs and dog yard upgrades.
Shawna Nulf, manager of the Walmart Pendleton, during an award ceremony March 25 outside the shelter, handed a giant check for $20,000 to Shaindel Beers, vice president of PAWS.
This marks the second grant PAWS has received a grant from the Walmart Foundation. Beers said the first grant was in January, and to the shelter’s surprise, Walmart in February confirmed the second grant was coming, bringing the total to $40,000.
Beers applied for the grant by submitting a video that highlighted the shelter’s ongoing challenges with its aging kennels.
“The outdoor kennels were built in 2015 and they’ve had a lot of wear and tear,” she said. “We actually had some dogs that were getting injured. The welds were coming loose and they would stick their paws in and get a paw caught or something.”
Beers said the shelter faces heavy use, caring for about a thousand animals each year. She emphasized the constant need for repairs and maintenance, noting the kennels are always full and the cleaning demands are ongoing.
“ Large donations, like the very generous sizable $20,000 grant from Walmart, make a huge difference,” she said. “We welcome donations of all sizes, but something like this can definitely pay for us to fix or redo lots of kennels.”
Each kennel costs around $900 and has lasted 10 years, and the shelter hopes for another decade from the new ones, Beers said.
In addition, Beers noted shelters nationwide are facing a crisis affecting 2.7 million animals that missed spay-neuter appointments during COVID-19 lockdowns. She stressed all shelters need help and encouraged community members to support their local shelters.
Beers expressed her gratitude for the Walmart Foundation and everything it has done for the community, noting the grant will make a difference in providing shelter pets with a safe and secure place to live until they find their forever home.
