Help More Love Stories Unfold for Animals at HSWC!

With your help, animals get a fresh start at our shelter and new love stories are written every day. Make a gift today to help animals in need have the opportunity to have their very own love story unfold at HSWC.

Throughout July your gift will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $25,000, thanks to the generosity of God’s Grace Fund!

That means you'll have twice the impact and help write twice as many love stories.

Maurice's Love Story

It was a bitter cold evening last winter, on a day when temperatures struggled to get above freezing. The sun had set, and winter winds added an extra chill to the 18-degree air. There, huddled to keep warm, was a litter of seven tiny kittens. A sheriff deputy returning from a call spotted them. He could have kept driving, but instead, he chose compassion. He stopped his patrol car and checked to see if they were alive.

Sadly, five of the seven kittens were already deceased, but incredibly, two were still clinging to life. The deputy contacted HSWC’s Field Services Department, who transported the kittens to the shelter.

By the next day, the three-day-old littermates were nestled in the arms of one of HSWC’s experienced neonate foster parents. Despite warmth and delicate care, Mika passed away just ten days after being found. Maurice, the male lynx point, was the sole survivor of the litter.

Soon though, even his future appeared uncertain.

Maurice’s foster noticed he struggled drinking from a bottle. The formula would oftentimes come out of his nose. At two months old, he had difficulty swallowing even the softest kitten food unless it was placed in an elevated bowl.

HSWC’s Veterinary Team examined Maurice and discovered he is suffering from a severe heart murmur and enlarged liver. An ultrasound yielded more bad news: atrial and ventricular septal defects. Maurice’s heart – the only heart still beating from the original litter of seven – has two holes in it. As a result, his heart is enlarged and presses on his esophagus. This is why Maurice struggles to eat.

Thanks to your dedicated support, HSWC’s veterinary team can investigate health concerns in even the tiniest creatures like Maurice. The shelter is also able to pursue advanced diagnostic tests that would otherwise be out of reach.

Maurice’s heart defect is complex, and corrective surgery is incredibly risky. In reality, his story could have ended here. However, staff recognized that there were still more chapters left to unfold. His life would likely be shorter, but Maurice, having survived so much already, was given the chance to live—and boy has he ever!

To no one’s surprise, Maurice’s foster family – so smitten with this kitten – officially adopted him. Now 8 months old, he has even become a local celebrity! Maurice is featured in a special edition calendar for the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars.

Today, Maurice takes a daily cardiac supplement and eats using an elevated bowl to help food go down more easily. His adopter shares that he is gentle with everyone he meets, and he especially loves to be held like a baby. Staff and shelter visitors witnessed this, as well as his extraordinary patience, at HSWC’s Kitten Shower, where Maurice was a special guest. He lounged in his foster mom’s arms for hours!

Maurice still likes to have fun. He loves to play fetch and has even learned to give sweet nose nuzzles upon request!

Maurice almost never had a love story. Part of his survival is unexplainable, but the other part is clear. You helped save Maurice, and your support of HSWC’s lifesaving mission helps save other animals just like him every day.

Today, you can make that happen for more animals like Maurice. Thanks to a generous pledge from God’s Grace Fund, every dollar donated to HSWC during the month of August will be matched up to $25,000!

Just like the deputy chose compassion and our foster chose to open her home and her heart to Maurice, you can choose to support the most vulnerable animals in our care.

Every animal deserves a love story, and with your generous support, we can help twice as many of them find their very own happy ending.