Rolla, North Dakota – 12/04/2024 – Turtle Mountain Animal Rescue, a dedicated nonprofit focused on rescuing stray animals, re-homing those in need, and addressing animal overpopulation in one of North Dakota’s most underserved regions, is excited to announce the receipt of a generous $2,500 grant from Petco Love. The funding, awarded earlier this year, has enabled us to purchase crucial new equipment that will significantly improve our medical services and advance our lost pet reunification efforts.

Thanks to Petco Love's support, we acquired several essential tools that directly benefit the health and safety of the animals we serve. The new equipment includes:

• Animal Health Monitor: Essential for monitoring animals during medical procedures, ensuring the highest standard of care.
• Digital Stethoscope: Improving diagnostic accuracy for better overall health assessments.
• Microchip Reader: A key tool in reuniting lost pets with their families, helping us ensure pets are safely returned home.
• Oxygen Regulator for Anesthesia Machine: Enhancing safety during surgeries such as spay/neuter procedures.

Use of Investment: Addressing Animal Suffering in Underserved Communities

We have already put much of this equipment to use in our 2024 Spay/Neuter/Vaccination Clinics, which are crucial to controlling the local animal population and preventing unnecessary suffering. These clinics help ensure the long-term health of animals and provide vital services to underserved communities.

Microchip Reader: Strengthening Lost Pet Reunification Efforts

The microchip reader has been particularly impactful in our mission to reunite lost pets with their families. In partnership with Petco Love’s ongoing efforts to address the issue of lost pets, this tool allows us to quickly scan and identify animals who may have been separated from their owners. By incorporating this technology into our clinics and rescue operations, we are able to prevent pets from entering the shelter system unnecessarily, ensuring they are safely returned to their homes.

"Petco Love's generous contribution has already made a tremendous difference in our ability to provide medical care and to reunite lost pets with their families," said Keith Benning, Founder of Turtle Mountain Animal Rescue. “We couldn’t do this important work without the support of our volunteers and organizations like Petco Love."

Our Mission and Goals: Long-Term Solutions for Animal Welfare

At Turtle Mountain Animal Rescue, our mission is to rescue stray animals and re-home those in need while addressing the root causes of animal overpopulation and providing essential services to the community. We work hand-in-hand with local residents to create sustainable, long-term solutions that improve the quality of life for both people and animals. Our goal is to be a resource for the entire community by providing spay/neuter programs, veterinary care, and educational opportunities.

We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and have been primarily volunteer-based since our founding in 2015. While we currently operate out of a rented building/house, we are working toward a permanent shelter and sanctuary, which will also house a youth center to engage local kids in animal care and rescue. This shelter will provide jobs, training, and opportunities for community involvement in animal welfare.

To date, we rescue 70-100 animals each month and have saved over 1,000 animals in a single year. We continue to expand our efforts to reduce the suffering of animals and provide the best possible care to those in need.

"We are deeply committed to providing not just temporary relief, but permanent solutions for the animals and people in our community," said Keith. "With the support of organizations like Petco Love, we are one step closer to our goal. The new equipment will improve our capacity to help more animals, reunite lost pets with their families, and continue offering our vital services."

About Turtle Mountain Animal Rescue: When We Save One, We Save Them All The Way

Turtle Mountain Animal Rescue was founded in 2015 to help animals in a severely underserved, economically challenged region, home to the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa in northernmost North Dakota. Serving a 2,000-square-mile area, where many people live in or near poverty, we provide free spay/neuter clinics, vaccinations, a pet food pantry, and animal first aid. Our mission is to support the community by caring for both stray and owned pets, who often suffer from neglect, abandonment, injury, disease, and severe weather conditions.

Currently, our facility is at full capacity. Due to limited space in our "little garage rescue," we often face the heartbreaking reality of turning away animals in need. When temperatures in our area plummet to -25°F, stray animals left outside face life-threatening conditions. That’s why we are building the first true animal shelter in the region—equipped with a veterinary clinic and kennel areas to provide essential medical care and shelter.

The shell of our new shelter is complete, but we need additional funding to outfit the veterinary clinic and install disease-preventing kennels. With this new shelter, we expect to increase the number of animals we rescue from 1,072 in 2020 to 1,250 in the first year, and ultimately to 1,500 once the facility is fully operational.

Our shelter will not only help the animals we rescue but also provide long-term solutions for our community by offering low-cost spay/neuter services, vaccinations, and a safe haven for animals in need. Petco Love’s grant will help us take a significant step toward fulfilling this vision and alleviating the suffering of countless animals in our area.

For more information about our mission or to support our programs, please visit www.TurtleMountainAnimalRescue.org or follow us on facebook @TurtleMountainAnimalRescue.

About Petco and Petco Love
Petco is a leading pet specialty retailer that provides high-quality pet supplies, services, and products to improve the lives of pets and their owners. Through Petco Love, Petco supports programs and initiatives dedicated to animal welfare, pet adoption, and pet health. For more information, visit www.petcolove.org.

Contact
Turtle Mountain Animal Rescue
tmarvolunteer@gmail.com
www.TurtleMountainAnimalRescue.org