Approximately 100 cats and dogs will receive veterinary care to enable their adoption thanks to a grant from the Union City Elks Lodge No. 1617 to the Fayette Humane Society.

The donation was part of the Elks National Foundation Community Investments Program. The nonprofit FHS and its volunteers provide foster homes and placement for hundreds of homeless animals each year, since the Fayette County Animal Shelter does not accept owner-surrendered animals. All of the cats and dogs are vaccinated, microchipped and spayed or neutered before adoption.

FHS Secretary Sharon Marchisello said thousands of healthy animals are put to death in shelters nationwide each year because of a lack of homes; she said the Elks grant would benefit animals in the Fayette area who “otherwise might have been abandoned.”