Just two weeks after the group made public its desperate need for cash after a cutback by a major sponsor left a $150,000 hole it its annual income, came the news this week that they had won a grant from the US-based Greater Good Network.

It would not have happened without the diligence of 438 supporters who each day for over a month made sure they logged on and voted in an Internet competition run by the network’s affiliated website the animalrescuesite.com.   Their doggedness ensured that the Freeport-based non-profit organisation ended up as one of only five international winners.

What made it particularly special was that more than 13,000 animal welfare groups throughout the United States, Canada and the Caribbean took part.

A jubilant Tip Burrows, the society’s executive director, was first to break the news to the people who had made it happen.  “What a fantastic Christmas present!  I didn’t think we had won anything and I couldn’t believe it when I saw our name in the winner’s list.  This is going to be a real help.”

It is still only a small part of what the GBHS needs to raise to keep its financial head above water and to maintain the good work it is doing.

Society executives and volunteers are desperately trying to find ways of drumming up more funding at a time when their work is more important than ever.  They have to fill a huge hole in their annual revenue – money which pays for rounding up strays, caring for hundreds of dogs and cats, providing a neutering and spaying service and painlessly putting down those for whom permanent homes cannot be found.

One idea was to invite people who are stumped for ideas for a Christmas gift for close family to donate $50 in their name – the cost of shipping a dog to the US or to keep it in the home on Coral Road for a month.  Lots of people have already responded to the initiative – including those abroad with family here -and it is still not too late to join them.

The hugely valuable job the society does on the island is shown by the fact that this year in the 10 months to the end of November alone they had taken in 1,257 dogs and 268 cats – and 11 per cent increase over the same period in 2009.  With tough economic times and more people abandoning their pets the challenge is going to get greater.

The severity of the problem is illustrated by the fact that by the end of October shelter staff had also completed the sad task of putting down 765 dogs and 146 cats.  Prior to that they have to go through the heart-rending process of picking out which animals live and which die.

One way of coping with the numbers problem is ship animals off to the US for adoption, and there is plenty of demand.  In fact this year the number headed off to new homes there has tripled over last year with 329 flown out so far. 

The animal rescue website was launched in 2002 with the objective of harnessing the power of the Internet to give people a fast, free and easy way to give to help animal causes.  It and the other websites in the network have given $20m over the last 20 years, with the money coming from major sponsors.

The competition which resulted in the humane society winning its $1,000 was designed as a test of the commitment of each competing group’s supporters.  The fact only 72 groups out of the 13,000 participating won anything shows the determination of the 438 Freeport animal lovers.