“Kitten Lady” Hannah Shaw and Royal Canin Want Your Local Animal Shelter to Win $1,000

The rescue advocate and pet nutrition brand are partnering with Greater Good Charities for a contest that will reward 20 shelters across the U.S. $1,000 grants.

by Hilary Weaver

November 1, 2023

Hannah Shaw knows a thing or two about rescue. She started rescuing kittens more than a decade ago. Soon after, she began posting helpful tips on her YouTube and Instagram accounts, where she became known as “Kitten Lady.” So, obviously, she’s the perfect person to partner with Royal Canin U.S. — a division of Mars — and nonprofit Greater Good Charities for National Shelter Appreciation Week. Starting today, you can submit your local shelter for the chance to win a $1,000 grant, courtesy of Royal Canin.

“Animal shelters do so much good, but they do all of that good while often being really under-resourced and needing a lot of community support to be able to do all the work that they do,” Shaw tells Kinship.

Twenty shelters will be chosen as the winners — yes, that’s $20,000 up for grabs to help all the cats and dogs who need it. But they aren’t going to stop at just $20,000. Royal Canin has also donated $30,000 to GOODS, a Greater Goods Charities program that, per their website, “distributes food, essential supplies, clothing, housewares, toys, and more to pets and people in need across the world.”

She continues, adding how important it is that people show up in person to support their local shelters and understand how essential they are.

“When people consider getting a new cat or dog, the first thing they should be considering is going to their local shelter,” she says. “What people should know is your local shelter is a community resource that’s there for everybody to use. It serves the animals, but it also serves the community, and honestly, the community should serve it as well.”

She encourages everyone, even if they aren’t ready to adopt or foster, to volunteer at their local animal shelters. She adds that you can play with some kittens, socialize dogs, or help out the staff with the many responsibilities they have to keep the place running smoothly every day. Shaw also wants to remind people that their local shelters are doing endless work behind the scenes to make animals’ lives better.

“Shelters do so much more than just provide animals with food and water and a place to sleep,” she adds. “They also provide things like community education, helping match people with an animal who’s appropriate with their home. And of course, when it comes to what they’re giving the animals, they are tasked with providing these animals with hope, with somewhere to go, with a positive future.”

To enter your local shelter in the contents, complete the “Enter Your Shelter” entry form here and wax poetic about why your shelter deserves to win the $1,000. To be eligible to win and bring it all home for your local rescue pets, you must be at least 18 years old as of today, and there is a limit of one email address per entry. Don’t forget to fill out your entire form, including your address, shelter info, and contact information. Submissions are open through Wednesday, November 8, and the contest organizers will announce winners the next day.

“We are excited to use National Shelter Appreciation Week as a chance to shine a light on the amazing work done at shelters across the country and are thrilled to give pet owners the chance to highlight the good work done in their local shelter,” says Amanda Hilton, the North America Marketing Director of Royal Canin’s Professional Division.

Enter Your Shelter

Hilary Weaver

Hilary Weaver is the senior editor at Kinship. She has previously been an editor at The Spruce Pets, ELLE, and The Cut. She was a staff writer at Vanity Fair from 2016 to 2019, and her work has been featured in Esquire, Refinery 29, BuzzFeed, Parade, and more. She lives with her herding pups, Georgie and Charlie.