Belmira was given up by her owners, dropped at the city shelter into an environment with overwhelming smells and sounds: hundreds of animals barking, yipping, whining, clawing at their kennel doors. Overcrowding at CACC means she got little attention, some days not leaving her kennel. The first moments are often shocking for pets who have just been abandoned by their owners, and signs of shelter stress appear almost immediately.
Belmira spent a month in that environment before a new family fell in love with her. But their love alone wasn’t enough to rescue her. They would have to wait weeks to take her home, because CACC didn’t have the capacity to perform her spay surgery. Thanks to our Big Fix program, she didn't have to wait.
Recently, PAWS volunteers transported Belmira and 19 other dogs to the PAWS Chicago Lurie Spay/Neuter Clinic. They were spayed, vetted, and returned to CACC that afternoon, ready for adoption.
In 2024, PAWS spayed/neutered 931 CACC pets through the Big Fix. With this additional PAWS support, CACC finalized 3,019 adoptions in 2024, a remarkable 28.6% increase over 2023.
This is just one of the ways PAWS Chicago’s 360@CACC program is saving lives. But there's more work to be done in 2025.
Support the Chicago Animal Crisis Fund now and double your impact with Denny & Sandy Cummings’ generous donation match.
