Friday, October 31, 2014
ASPCA Provides More than $9.1 Million in Grants through 3Q 2014
The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) announced that it has granted nearly $9.2 million to animal welfare organizations across the country through the first three quarters of 2014. A total of 798 grants were issued to nearly 600 organizations nationwide.
“The ASPCA is always looking for innovative ways to make the most impact on fighting animal cruelty and homelessness,” said Michael Barrett, vice president of grants management at the ASPCA. “Through our grants program, we are proud to be able to empower organizations across the country to make a difference in the lives of countless at-risk animals.”
In Q3 alone, $1,618,440 in granted funds went to 173 organizations to support a variety of specific initiatives and goals, including:
- Saving more lives in shelters (73 grants totaling nearly $390,000). These grants supported adoption events and foster programs, medical care and vaccinations, shelter enrichment and behavioral programs, training of veterinary students and animal welfare professionals and organizational capacity-building efforts.
- Spay/neuter initiatives (44 grants totaling more than $638,000). These grants supported programs aimed at reducing the number of unplanned litters of kittens and puppies born, including trap-neuter-return programs, mobile surgery vehicles and low-cost, high-volume clinics.
- Cruelty prevention and response (21 grants totaling $190,410). These grants helped organizations across the country respond to incidents of animal cruelty through investigations, raids, interventions and rescues from dog fighting rings, puppy mills, hoarding situations and other cruelty situations. These grants helped provide training for humane law enforcement officers, forensics experts and others who could help identify and prosecute cruelty cases.
- Reducing the number of animals entering shelters (16 grants totaling more than $100,000). These grants subsidized safety-net programs such as pet food banks, veterinary wellness and medical care for struggling pet owners to prevent relinquishment. We also supported return-to-owner initiatives such as ID tagging, micro-chipping and related equipment.
Additional grant highlights of Q3 included the following two distinctive initiatives:
- Lil BUB’s BIG Fund for the ASPCA, a unique collaboration between the ASPCA and famous feline Lil BUB, has raised more than $75,000 to support programs that assist special-needs pets across the country. All funds collected are distributed as grants to organizations to support cats that need special care or extra help getting adopted.
- ROAR To Their Rescue, a funding initiative in collaboration with Animal Planet, provided grants to participating animal welfare organizations in Cleveland, Ohio; Austin, Texas; and Miami, Fla., to cover the cost of adoption fees up to $25,000 per community. All adoption fees for cats and dogs were waived for the public and reimbursed to shelters during the month of September through these grants.
Since 2008, the ASPCA has granted over $75 million to over 2,400 shelters, rescues and other animal welfare organizations across the country.