On Mondays at Now Habersham, we take time to highlight some of the animals at the Habersham County Animal Shelter in need of homes. It’s a special day for those animals, who get to share their stories and hopes for a home with potential adopters, but this past Monday is even more special.
On January 17, the world remembered television icon and animal lover Betty White, who championed animal adoption in her 99 years. On what would have been her 100th birthday, people around the globe participated in the “Betty White Challenge,” donating to their local animal shelters in her memory.
The challenge exploded on social media after the beloved comedic actress died on New Year’s Eve. The public is encouraged to donate $5 (or more) to any local or national animal shelter, rescue, or agency in Betty White’s name
Donations to area animal shelters, like the Habersham County Animal Shelter, help homeless animals receive medical care, shelter, food and opportunities to find fur-ever homes that they so desperately need.
Meet two animals, Kensington the dog and Mochi the cat, who were able to find their fur-ever homes thanks to the generosity of donors.
Kensington’s transport
Kensington sat at the Habersham County Animal Shelter for months before she had the opportunity to find the people that would become her family. Donations to the shelter helped keep her healthy, fed and safe, but what she wanted more than anything else were people to call her own.
“When the shelter told me I had the opportunity to go on a donation-funded transport to a rescue up north, I was all in,” Kensington said. “I didn’t know that within a few days of arriving at my rescue that the family I dreamed about for so long would come take me home.”
Thanks to those donations to the shelter, Kensington didn’t only recieve an opportinity to find a loving home, she actually found it. She lives with her family in Connecticut now, enjoying playtime with two kids, sleeping on soft furniture and warming her belly by the fire.
RELATED: More than 100 Northeast Georgia animals transported to rescues
“If I could tell the people that donate to the shelter anything, I’d tell them that their donations do more than they know,” Kensignton says. “I’m alive today because of them, and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been because of them. I’m so grateful.”
Mochi’s surgery
Mochi came to the Habersham County Animal Shelter with a severely fractured leg that needed to be amputated for him to survive. It was a big surgery, and he had to be transported to the Atlanta area for the surgery to happen.
Through the support of donations and generous nonprofit organizations, Mochi recieved the life-saving amputation he needed and, after healing up, was adopted by his fur-ever family.
“If it hadn’t been for that surgery, I wouldn’t have made it,” Mochi said. “And I sure wouldn’t be where I am now: in a happy home, healed and full of love.”
He tells people thinking about donating to take the plunge.
“The other animals at the shelter deserve the same opportunity to get healthy and go home as I did,” he says. “Your donation isn’t just helping animals eat or get medical treatment, it’s giving them the opportinity to have a future.”
If you’d like to donate the the Habersham County Animal Shelter, please call the shelter at (706) 839-0195 to make donation arrangements.
