Until they find their forever homes, the cats at Women’s Animal Center are going to be a lot more comfortable thanks to the shelter’s recently-updated habitats.
Earlier this month, Women’s Animal Center, located at 3839 Richlieu Road in Bensalem, hosted a ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony for the brand new, state-of-the-art housing units.
Living in a group setting can be stressful for animals, so these habitats aim to reduce that stress, all while promoting physical and emotional wellbeing. The improved space allows the cats to enjoy a full spectrum of cat behaviors, provides a safe and humane way for shelter staff to care for the cats without disturbing their space, and improves adoptability for them.
Women’s Animal Center began fundraising for the upgraded cat housing in spring 2023. Thanks to the generosity of individual donors and foundation funders, the shelter raised almost $50,000 by the end of the year to purchase the habitats.
Aiding in the financial effort was the Bucks County Foundation, a longtime partner of Women’s Animal Center that granted $10,000 toward the initiative. Over the past several years, the foundation has supported the lifesaving work of America’s First Animal Shelter by investing more than $60,000 toward essential surgical and wellness equipment, including an ultrasound machine, fencing for the shelter play yards and dental equipment.
“Bucks County Foundation is proud and honored to partner with such an essential organization in Bucks County,” said Mandy Mundy, executive director of the Bucks County Foundation. “Providing fiscal support for critical programs to support animal health and wellbeing benefits the pets as well as pet owners and the community at-large.”
Also of great financial assistance was The Irving and Phyllis Millstein Foundation for Animal Welfare, whose $10,000 matching grant created an incentive for individual giving to support the fundraising efforts.
“Women’s Animal Center assists thousands of animals and people in need throughout the county and region each and every year, but receives no federal, state or local funding to do so,” said Cathy Malkemes, chief executive officer of Women’s Animal Center. “We rely upon the generosity of our community to support our work, so to have individual donors and funding partners like the Bucks County Foundation and The Irving and Phyllis Millstein Foundation is truly invaluable to us, and to our animals.”
In addition to animal sheltering and adoption, Women’s Animal Center provides a variety of vital services, including veterinary care, dog training, animal enrichment programs, community programming and humane education. Visit womensanimalcenter.org for more information and to see pets available for adoption.
Samantha Bambino can be reached at sbambino@newspapermediagroup.com
