When Ray was found after being abandoned, vets said his eye infections were so bad his best chance in life was to have both eyes removed.
“It was obvious right from the start there was some problems with his eye sight. Both eyes were very cloudy,” Mary Remer with the Pocatello Animal Shelter , in Pocatello, Idaho, told KPVI news for a feature report.
“He was already blind. As you can see he was a sweet, sweet cat and we felt it was worth giving him that extra chance,” she continued.
Ray was helped thanks to the Friends of the Pocatello Animal Shelter‘s second chance fund. The Friends’ fundraising allows the shelter to provide for the animals in their care without being restricted by their publicly funded budget.
“It gives us that chance to be thinking along that line. Otherwise we wouldn’t even have money at all to even think about it,” said Remer.
The shelter has to dip into the second chance fund every month, so the fund needs to be continually replenished.
Friends of the Pocatello Animal Shelter was one of the deserving organizations benefiting from yesterday’s Idaho Gives Thursday. KPVI Channel 6 visited the shelter for Ray’s story to show how funds donated to the Friends are used for the betterment on Pocatello’s animals in need.
Remer says Ray has been an inspiration for shelter staff because he is not bothered by his blindness and he is living proof that special needs animals can lead good and happy lives.
“I think it really gives them a good feeling of what they’re doing knowing when they get an animal in that has some sort of condition – instead of the automatic nope, don’t do anything with it, we have a chance,” said Remer.
“We have a hope for each animal that comes in that we can do something for them.”
Ray has a good home lined up and he will join his new family when his stitches are removed.
