Old Drum & Friends Animal Shelter was the scene Saturday morning for a reunion of half a dozen dogs for the first time since their adoption. The pet owners brought the dogs they adopted as part of an event the shelter hosted in celebration of a $15,000 grant awarded to the shelter to purchase flea and tick medicine.

The story that earned Old Drum & Friends the grant – which gained the attention of Adopt-A-Pet.Com and Bayer Pharmaceuticals – focused on a mother and her puppies that were abandoned near the shelter in July of last year. The puppies were suffering from multiple parasites and skin infections. With treatment and care, however, Old Drum staff members were able to heal their wounds and place them in new homes. With the funds provided from the grant, the shelter was able to provide Advantage II flea and tick preventative.

The celebration Saturday gave the pups the chance to reunite while the owners got to share adoption stories and fond memories of how life changed in the last year with their new addition.

One of those stories from Saturday’s event included one year old Delilah who was the last to be adopted out of the litter of her siblings. Delilah was accompanied by her owner’s roommate, UCM student McKensi Bradley, who was filling in for the actual owner, another UCM student, Maddie Selly.

Bradley said even though Delilah’s adoption was unexpected and a bit spontaneous, the first day Delilah came home it was love at first sight. Bradley and Selly share an apartment in Warrensburg and the responsibility of caring for Delilah, even though Selly is her owner.  

Another lively member of the litter was 1-year-old Jawa who was accompanied by his owner, Sedalia resident Dave Kirchhoff. When Jawa was adopted last October, Kirchhoff said he knew right away their connection would be a significant one and made the 30-minute drive to meet and adopt his furry companion.

Guests included Warrensburg City Councilman Bryan Jacobs, who has a personal connection to the shelter itself having adopted two cats and a couple of rescues from the shelter.

“This is kind of the one thing I’m always worried about and always concerned about,” he said. “It is definitely something I would like to see funding increase in.”

Jacobs said this grant is a step in the right direction.

“Receiving grants like this is huge. I’ve been involved in other grants but never in the amount of $15,000.”

Both Jacobs and the manager of the animal shelter, Sarah Patton, said in their time being involved with the shelter, this was the largest grant the shelter had ever received.

The grant was co-written by UCM alumna Kelsey Howard. Patton said Howard did a lot of the hard work that went into organizing the proposal for the grant. Patton said she was thankful for all of her efforts. Howard could not be reached for comment.

Moving forward, the shelter is providing a way for volunteers and Warrensburg residents to make donations to the shelter directly. Saturday, Jacobs confirmed the Positive Forward plan the shelter is initiating in the near future. The plan is designed for volunteers and others to lend a helping hand to the shelter even if they aren’t quite ready to adopt. All donations that are made to the shelter will go toward improvements and management for Old Drum & Friends Animal Shelter.