WELFARE - PetSmart Charities Increases Grant Opportunities

PetSmart Charities, the leading funder of animal welfare in North America, has an expanded mission and more grant opportunities for animal organizations.

Historically their grants have supported their mission to end pet homelessness, but they have expanded their scope to also include connecting pets with people.

The result is ten different grant categories under the organization’s four strategic areas of focus.

Preventing Pet Homelessness

To help decrease the number of pets entering shelters, PetSmart Charities now offers three grant categories to support programs and initiatives that proactively prevent pet homelessness and mitigate pet homelessness during family transitions.

• Spay/neuter: Preventing unplanned litters through targeted spay/neuter programs and clinic development, free or low-cost spay/neuter surgeries, trap-neuter-return (TNR) efforts, as well as veterinary school initiatives.
• Intake diversion: Keeping pets from entering shelters by making wellness clinics, as well as behavioral training and education more accessible.
• Keeping pets and families together: Creating resources for families that are or may experience domestic violence, homelessness and/or Military leave and can no longer accommodate their pet.

Helping Shelter Pets Thrive

Many adoptable pets never find homes, facing euthanasia due to lack of capacity. By supporting organizations that provide resources, build capacity to care for homeless pets and focus on adoption, PetSmart Charities expects to enhance pets’ lives in shelters and help them find their forever homes.

• Shelter management: Supporting best practices in areas such as mentoring, disease control and strengthening shelter infrastructure.
• Pet transport: Supporting organizations that relocate adoptable pets to areas where the demand for pet adoption is high so they will have the best chance possible at finding their forever family.
• Conferences and training: Funding enrichment programs and workshops for those working for and volunteering within the animal welfare industry.

Supporting the Bond between People and Pets

While there are many tales of how people save pets’ lives through adoption, there are also inspiring stories of how pets can save people. By supporting organizations that bring people and pets together to leverage the power of pets to enhance the human spirit, PetSmart Charities ultimately aims to end pet homelessness and drive awareness of the benefits of pet ownership.

• Adoptions: Partnering with local animal welfare organizations to connect people with adoptable pets everyday at PetSmart stores or and at PetSmart Charities’ signature events, including National Adoption Weekends which are held four times a year.
• Capacity building: Assisting with the construction, rebuilding or remodeling of animal welfare organization facilities that fulfill the needs of homeless pets.
• Enhancing the quality of life through pets: Supporting programs that train pets to become service animals for military veterans or people with disabilities and for pet therapy programs in hospitals, schools, senior homes or with at-risk populations.

Providing Emergency Relief

In the event of a weather crisis and natural disaster, such as the Fort McMurray fires in Alberta, Louisiana Flooding, and Hurricane Matthew, the role of local animal organizations has been critical to providing immediate support in times of crisis. Temporary shelter, pet supplies and medical care are just some of the immediate needs of misplaced or abandoned pets.

• Emergency relief and disaster response: Providing assistance in the event of a natural or man-made disaster during the rescue, relief and/or recovery stages.

Four grant categories are currently open for applications - Adoptions, Spay/Neuter,  Emergency Relief, and Conferences and Training.

The remaining grant cycles will be announced in February 2017.

Applicants must provide documentation verifying status as a 501(c)(3) organization for the US or registered charity in Canada.

CFHS releases Accessible Spay/Neuter Toolkit

The Canadian Federation of Humane Societies (CFHS) launched its Accessible Spay/Neuter Toolkit last week. The new succinct suite of invaluable resources facilitates the creation of accessible spay/neuter programs in every community, in every province, across Canada. 

The Toolkit is a series of real-world, hands-on materials that will help make the dream of accessible spay/neuter for all a reality," said Toolika Rastoji, Policy and Research Manager of the CFHS.

The Toolkit includes a Community Spay/Neuter Needs Assessment; Educational and E-learning Resources; Budget and Marketing Guidance; and Funding Resources. Funding for the Accessible Spay/Neuter Toolkit was provided by PetSmart Charities of Canada. 

For more information and to download the Toolkit resources in English and French, visit www.cfhs.ca

PetSmart Charities funds new Ontario pet clinic

The North Bay & District Humane Society in Ontario announced a groundbreaking partnership with PetSmart Charities last week that propelled the opening of a new pet clinic offering low-cost spay and neuter surgeries. 

The 350,000 project was made possible by a $200,000 commitment from PetSmart Charities of Canada as well as reserve funds of North Bay Humane. 

An event to highlight the announcement August 29 was well attended by media and local dignitaries, including North Bay mayor, Al McDonald. Executive Director Daryl Vaillancourt told attendees the clinic goal is to complete 2,500 spay/neuter surgeries this year with the ultimate goal of 5,000 surgeries annually. 

Overpopulation of dogs and cats continues to be a persistent problem in the North Bay and surrounding area resulting in tens of thousands of animals entering shelters across the country each year. Operating as a full service clinic, this initiative will allow the organization to provide on-site primary care to animals housed there as well as offer services to other humane societies, remote communities and rescue agencies in the area. 

BC SPCA announces $157,920 grant to reduce homeless cat population in Campbell River

The BC SPCA announced last week it received another grant from PetSmart Charities of Canada for the spaying and neutering of cats in Campbell River. 

The $157,920 grant will fund a program to sterilize at least 1,500 cats over the next two years which, according to BC SPCA CEO Craig Daniell, will prevent the birth and suffering of as many as 6,000 homeless kittens per year in Campbell River. The surgeries, which will be offered free of charge to low-income pet owners and community cat caretakers, also include a permanent identification tattoo. 

"Cat overpopulation is one of the most serious animal welfare issues facing communities across B.C. and Campbell River has one of the largest populations of stray and feral cats anywhere in the province," said Daniell. "We are extremely grateful to PetSmart Charities of Canada for allowing us to work with cat guardians in Campbell River to reduce the suffering of unwanted and abandoned cats in the regions. 

Daniell notes the BC SPCA spends nearly $2 million each year on low-cost spay/neuter initiatives in B.C. communities and targets communities with the most serious overpopulation. 

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BC SPCA receives $110,000 grant

The British Columbia SPCA received a grant of $110,900 from PetSmart Charities of Canada to reduce the homeless cat population in Port Alberni by offering low-cost spay/neuter clinics. BC SPCA chief executive officer Craig Daniell says the grant will help the Alberni-Clayoquot branch reach its goal of sterilizing at least 800 cats over the next two years. 

All low-income cat guardians living in Port Alberni are eligible to apply to the spay/neuter fund. While the program is free, recipients will be asked to donate $30 back to the fund if possible to continue the efforts. 

To apply for the fund or for more information, contact the Alberni-Clayoquot SPCA Branch at 250-723-5269 or visit the shelter at 4936 Broughton Street, Port Alberni. 

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The BC SPCA is a non-profit organization funded primarily by public donations. Its mission is to prevent cruelty and to promote the welfare of animals through a wide range of services, including cruelty investigations, emergency rescue and treatment, sheltering and adoption of homeless and abused animals, humane education, advocacy, farm animal welfare, spay/neuter programs, and wildlife rescue and rehabilitation.

PetSmart Charities Invites Canadian Grant Applications

Applications for PetSmart Charities High impact Spay/Neuter grants must be received by 3 September, 2013. Organizations are required to file the following documents with their application:

• Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Form
• Audited financial statements ($500K of revenue or more)
• List of current board directors
• Local shelter intake metrics

PetSmart Grant Application Area

    

About PetSmart Charities:

For the 10th year in a row, PetSmart Charities earned 4 stars from Charity Navigator (highest rating) and remains in the top 1% of all charities ranked. PetSmart Charities is the largest provider of funds for animal welfare in North America. In 2012, PetSmart Charities granted more than $27 million to communities for increasing pet adoptions and funding spay/neuter surgeries.  PetSmart Charities applies 88 cents of every dollar to help pets directly.