Dartmouth shelter quickly doubles fundraising goal after taking in 24 kittens

The Bide Awhile animal shelter in Dartmouth, N.S., reached its capacity last week after taking in two dozen kittens and has quickly surpassed its fundraising goal to take care of them.

A woman who runs a private rescue offered to take some kittens in from someone in her community. The shelter says the woman thought it was only a few animals, but ended up with more than she could handle and asked Bide Awhile for help.

The shelter only had two days to prepare for their arrival.

“As soon as I saw the pictures I immediately said yes, and we got 24 of them on Friday,” said the shelter’s executive director Liesje Somers Blonde during an interview on CTV Morning Live.

In turn, the shelter had to ask the public for help.

Bide Awhile is 100 per cent community-funded, with all their operations based solely on donations and fundraising efforts.

“We have a CanadaHelps fundraiser right now, we launched it on Friday, with the goal of $5,000 to help cover the costs of the spays and neuters alone for these kittens,” said Sam Cole, the shelter’s communications coordinator.

“The $5,000 does not cover any of the additional medical expenses, the housing, the food, for these kittens.”

As of Tuesday afternoon, the shelter’s goal has more than doubled to $12,000.

Blonde says the property where the cats came from has more animals that may need to be rescued as well.

“So we’re working with other rescues, and also with that one rescuer, to get some more in,” she said.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

The kittens are also named after Canadian Olympians – like Sloane MacKenzie, Ellie Black and Wyatt Sanford.

“There was 24 of them, in the beginning we thought there was 22, and at the time Canada had 22 medals, and we were like, it’s a no brainer,” Blonde said.

While the kittens may have some people wanting to take them home with them, they are not up for adoption yet.

“They do two weeks of isolation where our veterinarian comes in twice to see them, then they do two vaccines, two dewormings, a flea and tick treatment, a microchip, a spay or neuter, and then they’ll be available,” said Blonde.

“We’re looking at the middle of September, because if you could imagine, our vet as been booked with other pets that have been at the shelter, so this is going to put a big strain on them as well. They’re going to need to find space and time to spay and neuter 24.”

In addition to monetary donations, Bide Awhile is also accepting donations of food and pet items.

“We use some at the shelter and some goes into our pet food pantry for low-income individuals and those in need. So we provide free pet food and supplies to anyone who needs help,” Cole said.

The shelter says while they didn’t envision caring for 24 kittens while putting together their budget for the year, they are going to make it work.

“I can assure you that the board of directors and Bide Awhile staff are onboard to figure this out and make sure that we can fully vet and home these guys,” Blonde said.

Information on how to donate to Bide Awhile can be found on their website and social media pages. The shelter says it will also kick off an online 50/50 raffle on Friday.

For more Nova Scotia news visit our dedicated provincial page.