Making a Difference Now for feral, abandoned homeless animals

Making A Difference Now is a Lexington, KY-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to help homeless, abandoned and feral animals, and the volunteers and organizations that serve them; to support other organizations with similar goals; and to advocate for animals everywhere.

Why is it important to help homeless, abandoned, and feral animals?

This cat was rescued near a college campus with a new litter of 5 kittens.

Best Friends Animal Society (https://bestfriends.org/ ) reports that when they began in 1984, about 17 million animals died each year in U.S. shelters simply because they did not have a home. Best Friends says that number is down to about 2 million now, which is obviously great progress, but it still means that almost 5500 healthy, wonderful dogs and cats die in our shelters every day just because they do not have a home. We can and must change this!

According to the 2015-2016 APPA National Pet Owners Survey, 65% of U.S. households own a pet, which equates to 79.7 millions homes. Imagine how many animals we could save if every family that wants a pet adopted one from a shelter or rescue organization!! And in addition to helping precious animals find loving homes, we would also save money: onegreenplanet.org reports that U.S. taxpayers spend from $1 - 2 Billion every year to pay for the impoundment, sheltering, euthanasia and disposal of homeless animals.
The ASPCA reports that while it is impossible to know for sure how many stray cats and dogs live in the U.S., estimates for cats alone range up to 70 million! And while 83% of pet dogs and 91% of pet cats are spayed or neutered, the Humane Society estimates that only 2% of community cats (feral and stray) are spayed/neutered - and these cats produce about 80% of the kittens born in the U.S. each year!
Until we dramatically increase adoption from shelters and rescue organizations and spay/neuter services for dogs and cats, especially stray and feral cats, the problems of pet overpopulation and needless killing in shelters cannot be solved.

What can I do to help?

Be a responsible pet owner and spay/neuter all your pets!!
When you or someone you know is ready to adopt a new family member, make adoption from a shelter or rescue organization the first choice. For people who want a purebred dog, the HSUS estimates that 25% of the dogs in shelters are purebred dogs!
Educate yourself and support efforts to educate others about the critical issues of pet overpopulation, and the importance of spay/neuter and shelter adoptions.
Regularly donate and/or volunteer to help community shelters and nonprofit organizations working to improve life for the animals in your community. Many more veterinarians are needed to provide low cost/no cost spay/neuter services and medical care. Volunteers are needed to serve as foster families for cats and dogs, caretakers for feral cat colonies, shelter and rescue volunteers, and to raise funds for low cost medical care and spay/neuter efforts.
If your skills and interests are less about direct services but you’d love to help, we always need computer and tech skills, help with public education through traditional and social media, event planning, fundraising, and training skills. In fact, if you have no idea how or what you would like to do, but you love animals and would like to talk about it, we’d love to talk with you! Please email us at madnky@gmail.com

Success Stories of Animals who Found Forever Homes

This mama cat and her 4 kittens were abandoned in the yard at an empty rental house. After successfully trapping the family, they received medical care, and were taken to a foster home for love, socialization, and placement.

Jewel was adopted into a family with a dog and a 5 year old child. She is happily integrated into her forever home!

This precious dog was found wandering along Blue Grass Parkway and was rescued. When no one responded to the notices for a "found dog," she was adopted into her forever home.

Discovered alongside the road in a pile of trash when she was approximately 4 weeks old, this kitten was weak, dirty and had blood all over her neck. The volunteers who found her thought she was severely injured and took her to the vet expecting she would need to be humanely euthanized. Happily, she was not seriously injured, despite being starved and infested with fleas. After treatment, she was adopted into her forever home.

This is a kitten from a feral cat colony who was likely lost or abandoned by his mother and was not accepted by other members of the colony. The colony caretakers kept very close watch on this kitten and one weekend when the kitten seemed quite sick, a caretaker trapped the kitten and took him to the vet for treatment. He had a serious respiratory infection and required several weeks of care and supervision.

Fortunately, the kitten was young enough to become socialized and was adopted soon after his treatment, as you can see from this picture where he is settled comfortably into his new home!

These kittens were quick to learn litter box technique and relaxed into rescued life quite smoothly.

Mama cat and her kitten "Tuffy" have settled into their forever home! They enjoy the life of an indoor cat with a window view.

This beautiful cat was fed by a family in Woodford County whose property bordered the fields where he apparently lived. To this family’s great credit, when they moved, they made arrangements for him to be fostered and relocated to a new home.

This cat became homeless as a result of a divorce but was very lucky that the mother, who was unable to take her cat with her when she moved, nevertheless made arrangements for the cat to be adopted into another home so she was never abandoned to wander the streets.

This cat was found in a parking lot area where feral cats often congregate. He had been attacked and seriously injured. Thanks to MADN's support, he was neutered, his wounds treated, he was recovered in a safe haven, and placed in his forever home.

Every little bit helps!

Many dedicated organizations and volunteers work every day to protect and improve the lives of homeless, abandoned and feral animals...But the need far exceeds current resources. If you have time, energy, ideas or money to help in this important effort, please contact us and we will help match your interests with the work that needs to be done.
ALL contributions make a difference! Click here to Donate Now