Kokomo Humane Society Receives $50,000 from Petco Love

Photo Provided | Karen Wolfe

By ERIN LARISON

The Kokomo Post Staff

The Kokomo Humane Society is no stranger to making people smile through their lifesaving work with animals -- but this week, it was their turn to smile. 

Photo Provided | Karen Wolfe

That’s because the Humane Society was the recipient of a $50,000 donation from the Petco Love, the philanthropic arm of mega animal supply store Petco. 

“They call their grants investments,” said Karen Wolfe, executive director of the Kokomo Humane Society. “They are investing in our success, and it really shows.”

The team from the Humane Society surprised the staff at Petco with special cupcakes as they received their $50,000 check. 

Wolfe said Petco Love has a strong history of partnership with the local humane society, Wolfe said, specifically pointing to the $250,000 capital donation the group made toward the construction of the new building. 

“They have been instrumental in our success,” said Wolfe. “I don’t believe we would be where we are without their support.” 

Through the years, the support from Petco Love has allowed the group to lower adoption fees for cats, to start a dog playgroup, for operational support and has been directly responsible for helping the shelter raise their live release rate from 37% to a whopping 95.2% today, she said. 

“That’s never ever in my wildest imagination would I have thought we could have been there,” she said. 

With the additional funding, Wolfe said, the organization plans to strengthen its dog day out program as well as begin a community outreach initiative. Stay tuned for details, she said.

Overall, the continued community support of the group allows them to impact more lives, Wolfe said. 

“It speaks about your community in a lot of ways, because if you take care of your animals, it says a lot about how you take care of your people in a community,” Wolfe said.