Members of Animal Rescue Kare of Hart County work tirelessly to improve animal welfare and spread the word about humane animal care. Below, you can find information about the ARK Pet Foster Program, the Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) Program, the impact of individual members aiding animals - ARK Members in Action, and the data from our Spay-Neuter-Rabies voucher distribution events. We want to thank our partner veterinarians at Riverside Animal Clinic, the Leitchfield Veterinary Clinic, Country Critters in Elizabethtown, and Barren River Animal Welfare Association (BRAWA) of Glasgow for their steadfast support. We couldn’t do anything without them.
Below - Some of the pets that were adopted from ARK’s Foster/Adoption Program in 2024
ARK Pet Foster Program
Pet Foster/Adoption Data
Many thanks to the foster committee and foster families who help make this program work, and to the many individuals who adopted animals from ARK this year. You are making a big difference!
Beginning in 2022, the Hart County Animal Shelter began to manage dog surrenders in the community. ARK focused on cat fostering.
ARK 2024 Save Rate - 72 survived/74 in the foster program = 97% . ARK’s foster kitties receive excellent care.
ARK Trap-Neuter-Return Program for Stray Cats
The TNR program got underway in spring of 2019 and 2020 with grants and now continues with ARK funds. The TNR cats are trapped, then spayed or neutered and given routine medical care before being returned to their outdoor homes.
This program works with ARK’s Barn Cat program to help find homes for the cats who can’t be returned to their original locations.
Trapping is done throughout Hart County. We owe a huge thank-you to the team for helping make lives better, with healthier outcomes for our neighborhood cats. This is a difficult job, but the team works hard to help the most needy kitties.
ARK Members in Action
Many ARK members work outside of the foster program to help stray, abandoned, or surrendered animals with medical needs and rehoming. We have an active Facebook and Instagram presence, with a community of animals lovers willing to help find lost animals, help find new homes for pets, and share information about pet concerns. (ARK for Hart on Facebook) We strive to provide solutions to the community.
ARK Spay-Neuter-Rabies (SNR) Program
ARK volunteers selected spay-neuter promotion as one of our top priorities when we got started. Since 2017, we have offered low-cost spay-neuter-rabies vouchers to the public at events throughout the county or online. Clients use these vouchers to have their pets spayed/neutered at the 3 vet clinics in the area - Riverside Animal Clinic, Leitchfield Veterinary Clinic, and Country Critters in Elizabethtown. Voucher events are held four times each year. In 2024, there were only 3 events, because the “fourth” event was held in early January, rather than December.
In 2018, we partnered with Barren River Animal Welfare Association (BRAWA) in order to provide vouchers for cats. These differ from our regular vouchers because a cat owner can purchase as many as needed and they can be obtained at any time online or at the Hart County Animal Shelter. They needed to be redeemed at BRAWA. Both types of vouchers are very popular, preventing many unwanted litters. We received a grant in 2024 from the Central Kentucky Community Foundation to help fund the SNR program.
ARK is managed entirely by volunteers. Their devotion, commitment, and love of animals are essential to our success. Would you like to help ARK with its various projects? Click here to find the volunteer form.
Grants in 2024
ARK was awarded a $2,000 grant from the Central Kentucky Community Foundation for our SNR program. We are very grateful for the support. This will help us increase the number of area pets that get spayed or neutered, preventing many problems such as dropped off/unwanted pets, neglected pets, nuisance feral cats, and overcrowding in the county’s shelter. This will truly do some good!