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PetSmart Charities Celebrates 30 Years of Impact on Pets and their People

agilbreath — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 11:00:00 +0000

PetSmart Charities Celebrates 30 Years of Impact on Pets and their People agilbreath Thu, 07/18/2024 - 07:00

PetSmart Charities celebrates our 30th anniversary this year, and so much has changed in that time. Friends was a new hit TV show, and cell phones weren’t commonplace yet. As we cross this milestone and celebrate the many ways animal welfare has evolved during these past three decades – the impact of that work, with the help of our donors and partners, inspires our team to keep reaching.

Our story started with a bold decision by the Founders of PetSmart. They made a promise to refrain from selling bred cats and dogs. Instead, they would invite local animal shelters and rescue non-profits to bring adoptable pets into PetSmart stores to hold adoption events. And it worked. It really worked, and this year along with our partners, we will celebrate 11 million pets placed through our in-store adoption programs. And while our focus on matching pets and families continues, we also identified the emerging needs and acted swiftly over these past few years. Today we’re making significant investments to not only connect pets and people, but to keep them together with support for access to veterinary care, pet hunger and disaster response. Pets are family — and keeping them together when times are tough is essential to building healthy families and communities.

Our approach to funding the work our partners execute on the ground is best described as catalytic – meaning we focus on innovation, proving new models, and taking risks that smaller local groups could not easily manage. Once a pilot program has the data to prove results and best practices are developed, we share that information far and wide to inspire replication. Then we move on to the next priority we believe can broadly benefit the industry, counting on animal loving local communities and governments to step up and invest in priorities that benefit the pets & people in their area. At times that means we find ourselves taking on ideas and models that the rest of the industry is not quite ready to embrace. And that’s OK – we see it as a key part of our role to keep pushing forward, ready or not!

Thankfully, things have changed for the better over these 30 years. Today, recognition of the importance and benefits of the human-animal bond are at an all-time high. Because of this, most modern animal shelters are a far cry from the “pounds” of history. Today, programs in animal welfare (and now those in health and human services) help keep pets and the people that love them together with the support they need during tough times.

PetSmart Charities’ Contributions Spanning 30 Years

It’s interesting to note that while we’ve achieved record funding in animal welfare, our resources can only support a mere fraction of the need in our space. In 2023, non-profits that focused on the environment and animals received only 3% of total donations combined. This means that it has been a wise decision to take a strategic approach to spending, determining how to have the most impact for the broader field with the funding we have available. The good news: in 2023, giving in the animal welfare sector rose by 1.4%. And they deserve it – the brand of unconditional love they give us so generously is priceless.

Check out the key big bets that PetSmart Charities has made over the years to help prove new models and approaches:

For a more detailed timeline and additional sources, keep scrolling!

As our mission grew, PetSmart made another bold decision 20 years ago to turn on customer donation prompts at registers in all stores. What has made this partnership with PetSmart Charities unique is that the funding ask is always on, and for a fixed dollar amount rather than a round up. Pet lovers are a compassionate pack. And that game-changing move propelled our fundraising efforts to top dog status as the largest funder of animal welfare in the U.S. and Canada.

The incredible impact over these 30 years continues to inspire our team to keep reaching. I want to thank every leader and team member at PetSmart Charities that touched and grew our mission. And, to our donors and partners – we thank you for joining forces and for your deep love for pets and people.

Finally, to our best friends at PetSmart – thank you for carrying on the vision of the Founders. Today, in more than 1600 stores across the U.S. and Canada, the average gift given at registers is less than $3. Those small donations add up to big change as PetSmart Charities has now made more than $600 million in grant funding to make life better at both ends of the leash.

As the animal welfare movement continues to adapt to emerging needs and innovate new solutions, I’m excited to see what we can accomplish together over the next 30 years!

Additional Resources

2004: launched the Rescue Waggin’ program to help systematize long distance transport of pets for adoption. The program supported the movement of over 100,000 animals through 2013 and is still the blueprint for transport today to maximize the best balance of demand and access to adoptable pets

2006: began significant grants to demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of High Quality, High Volume Spay Neuter (HQHVSN) as well as pediatric S/N. Provided funding to help launch dozens of clinics nationwide and train veterinary students on HQHVSN technique, ultimately donating over $100 million to various spay neuter initiatives through 2018 that have helped the unwanted pet population to decrease significantly

2014: Investing in pilots and data collection, PetSmart Charities wrote a book in 2014 about Trap Neuter Return as the most effective and humane approach to outdoor cat management

2017: Together with PetSmart, launched the first mass effort to support the distribution of pet food alongside human food at food banks, starting with Buy a Bag, Give a Meal. A meal was provided to a pet in need for any and every bag of dry dog or cat food purchased March 1 – Dec. 31, 2017, in more than 1,500 stores. More than 12.8 million pounds or 63 million meals were delivered to more than 120 food banks and pet food pantries, helping families to meet a critical need

In the past 5 years our progress has accelerated. The portfolio expansion included more programming designed to help pets and their families stay together especially when times are tough. That includes support for those experiencing hunger, coping with natural disasters and in need of basic veterinary care.

2019: Launched an official partnership with Meals on Wheels America with our first multi-year $3 million commitment to support pet food distribution and access to care for seniors with pets

2021

Committed $10 million to alleviate pet hunger with a landmark partnership with Feeding America to distribute pet food alongside human food at affiliate food banks
Delivered 17 million pounds of pet food to affiliate human food banks to address both ends of the leash
Delivered more than $1.1 million to support pet rescue, rehabilitation and reunification in the wake of national disasters including Hurricane Ida, helping save lives by ensuring pets and their families could be kept safe and reunited

2022

Celebrated $500 million in total grant funding (now more than $600 million)
Crossed 10 million milestone for in-store adoptions
Announced a landmark partnership with American Red Cross to integrate pets into disaster response. It’s a truly lifesaving effort, as many people refuse to evacuate from the dangers of natural disasters if it means leaving their pets behind.

2022: Invested $3 million to Red Rover to support the call to ensure 25% of domestic violence shelters are pet-friendly by 2025; 50% of domestic violence victims will not leave their homes for fear of their pet’s safety

2023

Committed $100 million over five years to address financial, geographical and other barriers to the veterinary care gap, including funds for research, a telehealth pilot, and a payment plan pilot.
Launched “Incubator” and “Accelerator” portfolios to support new veterinary care models co-created in historically excluded communities and to build capacity in low-cost veterinary clinics
Launched inaugural Pet Hunger Awareness Day® campaign to draw attention to the 30 million pets in the US who live in homes experiencing food insecurity
Funded the largest grant PetSmart Charities’ history – a $6 million grant to support the PetSmart Charities Endowed Chair in Access to Care at UC Davis Veterinary College in perpetuity. This grant helps ensure our ideas and priorities are represented in the space and translated into local action, along with supporting several partnerships with veterinary universities to promote higher education initiatives

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Innovation: The art of looking at old problems with new vision

rojaynes — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 17:42:53 +0000

Innovation: The art of looking at old problems with new vision rojaynes Mon, 10/09/2023 - 13:42

Many see change and innovation as the same thing, but I believe they are distinctly different. Change may be a key driver of innovation, while at the same time, innovation most certainly drives change. Change is happening around us multiple times every day, often in ways we can’t control, but innovation is an opportunity to actively look for something new and impart positive change. Innovation is visualizing and creating a new process or product in a way that positively impacts the work that you do. And it’s a critical practice for continued growth and success.

The impacts of innovation have been proven multiple different ways. Innovation helps businesses differentiate themselves, stay relevant in the current environment, increase revenues, decrease costs, improve quality and so on. Innovation however doesn’t just help traditional businesses but impacts all professions, and veterinary medicine is certainly no different.

At PetSmart Charities, I’m fortunate to focus my time and energy on improving access to veterinary care, an issue that impacts more than 50 million pets in this country each year. That means people are impacted, too. Our research found that if each of these pets were to get some level of acceptable care in the current ecosystem, the costs would be staggering (over $20 billion annually, with a combined animal welfare grant budget of national welfare organizations at about 125 million annually). No single organization can manage this necessary transformation alone.

The critical need for building more accessible veterinary care cannot be solved without involvement from all aspects of veterinary care and cannot be solved within the current system of veterinary medicine. To fix this dilemma, together we need to:

Be innovative and challenge the current way of doing things with an all-hands-on-deck approach!
Critically evaluate how we can improve efficiencies to reduce cost of care.
Become experts in personalized care where we work with pet owners to provide an option that makes sense for their situation, aka Spectrum of Care approach.
Evaluate how we can reach rural communities or those communities in need, all while addressing the systemic impacts associated with the shortage of veterinarians and veterinary technicians.

Innovation associated with access to veterinary care can and will include lots of different ideas, services, technology platforms, etc., and will continue to adjust and evolve as we advance the profession. With nearly half of dogs and cats living in households with annual incomes of less than $55,000 per year and 83% of pet owners reporting difficulties with covering veterinary costs, we have to take a hard look at how to alleviate the financial burden of care. This most certainly does not imply that we don’t charge fairly for the services we provide, or that we don’t offer quality care, but it does mean that we need to look at other options.

As an example, we are currently evaluating the use of payment tools that more adequately meet the needs of pet owners and veterinarians and would allow for payment of veterinary bills over time. We are also exploring practice models that may improve efficiencies such as single service models e.g., dental only, or surgical only models. We believe that other financial tools, such as pet insurance, will open more access to care and are exploring how we can improve the current insurance models to better meet the needs of both pet owners and veterinarians.

Beyond financial barriers, there are other significant challenges associated with accessing care such as physical proximity to a veterinarian. Many areas of the country either do not have a single veterinarian, or the veterinarians in the community cannot take on additional clients. Like “food deserts” where nutritious, affordable choices are lacking, these areas are often referred to as “veterinary deserts.”

We also know that in many communities, transportation of pets to veterinary clinics as well as limited hours of operation of veterinary clinics can significantly impact the ability of a pet parent to get their family member the care that they need. In recent months, we have seen an increase in the number of veterinary schools being planned to help offset the veterinary shortage, but this alone will not solve the problem. We will need to explore other tools such as telemedicine and AI capabilities as well as expansion of the skills and expertise of veterinary technicians to increase the reach of service providers.

While new, innovative practice models and tools are exciting and will transform veterinary medicine as we know it, we also realize that these changes can be met with mixed emotions. Some people consider themselves innovators, the drivers of new ideas, while others feel that they can’t keep up with innovation. However, we are all innovators in some way or another. Trying something new, even if just a small adjustment, can have positive impact on the world around us. Although your innovations may not solve world hunger or global warming, focusing innovation on things you can affect may have profound impact on those around you. Small improvements eventually lead to bigger and better ideas that may one day solve the access to veterinary care gap.

And that’s good... For Pets. For People. For Good.

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Feeding Hope: The Key to Alleviating Pet Hunger

agilbreath — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 18:32:24 +0000

Feeding Hope: The Key to Alleviating Pet Hunger agilbreath Wed, 09/06/2023 - 14:32

Joyce, a senior who loves to sport colorful glasses, is cuddling with her beloved Mistie. A spunky yorkie with an eye for fashion, the two are clearly an ideal match. She's literally the reason Joyce gets out of bed every day. Walking, feeding and caring for Mistie gives Joyce’s own life purpose. Like so many seniors, her pet helps curb the burden of loneliness and isolation. Pets help their people build healthier lives, and every pet lover deserves their special brand of unconditional love and companionship. Even when they struggle to afford nutritious pet food, consistently.

Food insecurity impacts people, and their pets, too.

Someone’s love for their pet can’t possibly be measured by the amount in their checking account. It's why at PetSmart Charities, we’re launching the first ever annual Pet Hunger Awareness Day on September 26, 2023. Feeding America’s Hunger Action Month takes place in September each year, so it made sense to set aside a day to champion pets. They, too, experience food insecurity when their people do. Pets are part of the family, and supporting their parents with nutritious pet food is key to keeping them in their homes with the people they love – and out of shelters. But we can’t do it alone. Pets are inextricably attached to people, and so we have to find avenues to reach them.

Thriving partnerships with national social service organizations have been the secret to success in making an impact – along with making others more aware. So let me tell you a bit more.

Feeding America + PetSmart Charities = Banking on solutions

The impact of the pandemic, and then inflation, hit many families hard. According to Feeding America, in 2022, 1 in 6 people sought the help of food relief programs and food banks. Feeding America is the largest hunger relief organization in the U.S., serving a network of more than 200 affiliate food banks. That includes St. Mary’s Food Bank, the nation’s very first one located right here in Phoenix near our home office. The team at Feeding America are the experts. Together, we formed a partnership beginning in 2017, and to date, Feeding America has distributed millions of pounds of quality pet food across the country. We know that together, we are so much more efficient. And together, with critical support from donors and volunteers on the ground, we make a profound impact on people who might otherwise be forced to surrender their precious pets back to shelters. And that’s an impossible choice to make.

Meals on Wheels America + PetSmart Charities = Special Deliveries

Next, give it up for volunteers, who make the world go round. At Meals on Wheels, the nation’s most prolific social services agency for senior citizens, volunteers deliver a lot more than meals. They also bring social interactions, compassion and a keen eye in tow. Some observant volunteers discovered that the containers of meals they delivered for seniors were often on the floor. Turns out, many seniors love their treasured pets so much, they’ll ensure their fur babies’ tummies are full before their own. Scores of those meals were lovingly placed on the floor for sharing.

As people invested in making life better for pets and people, we knew Meals on Wheels could be another vehicle (pun intended!) through which we could reach pet parents in need. We teamed up beginning in 2019, and our partnership has been fruitful and collaborative. Now, with support from PetSmart Charities, many local Meals on Wheels member organizations serve up pet food right alongside those meals for seniors like Joyce. We’re grateful that together, thousands of older Americans, who have given so much during their lifetimes, can now receive just a little bit back.

The Canadian Connection

The efforts around Pet Hunger Awareness Day will also reach to our partners in Canada, where more than 18% of people live in homes experiencing food insecurity. A recent survey conducted on behalf of PetSmart Charities of Canada™ found that more than 77% of pet parents would forgo their meals to ensure their pets’ get enough to eat. That’s no surprise to us — because pets are family.

We’ve made a $500,000 commitment to alleviating pet hunger, and as always, rely on our thriving partnerships on the ground to make an impact. Humane Canada was awarded a $300,000 grant to create the first-ever national pet food pantry network to support pet parents, social service agencies and shelters. We’re also making grants to partners to help keep pet food on the shelves of pet food pantries across the country.

You can help, too

There are many ways social service organizations and passionate pet people — who want to make lives better at both ends of the leash — can contribute to the spirit of Pet Hunger Awareness Day.

If yours is a social service organization interested in learning how to integrate serving pets, too, please connect with us at PetSmart Charities. Or team up with other local pet-serving organizations to collaborate and share ideas and resources. Pets can be a meaningful and effective way of encouraging people in need to seek services.

Also, please join us in having a little fun to draw attention to a serious issue. Does your pet do a happy dance when dinner time is coming? Post a video of your pet doing a happy dinner dance on Instagram. For every photo or video posted on Instagram of your pet doing their dinner dance with the hashtag #dinnerdanceforpets between 9/18/23-9/26/23, one of our generous partners will donate $2, up to a maximum of $10,000, to PetSmart Charities.

And, you can always make a direct impact by supporting our work. Donating online or at checkout in PetSmart stores helps fund our life-changing programs.

Now that’s what we call, feeding hope.

Aimee Gilbreath is the president of PetSmart Charities. Connect with her on LinkedIn.

*Donations made on PetSmartCharities.org are not eligible for Treats points. Funds will be used to support PetSmart Charities mission. PetSmart Charities is a registered nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.

Address

Phoenix, AZ 85027
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A Change in “Paw-licy”: A Bold Move to Increase Adoptions through PetSmart Charities’ Spay + Neuter Initiative

roradams — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 20:50:55 +0000

A Change in “Paw-licy”: A Bold Move to Increase Adoptions through PetSmart Charities’ Spay + Neuter Initiative roradams Thu, 06/01/2023 - 16:50

“We adapt where change is needed, and this one is urgently needed to save pets’ lives.”

That was Aimee Gilbreath, president of PetSmart Charities, sharing her perspective about a bold decision she and the team made recently. Beginning in July 2023 — just ahead of PetSmart Charities National Adoption Week — PetSmart Charities will allow sterilization (spay and neuter surgeries) to occur after adoptions for puppies and kittens under six months of age, where allowed by applicable law.

Since 1994, PetSmart Charities has required all animals to be spayed or neutered before participating in adoption events and/or staying in adoption centers. But the times call for change. After 29 years, PetSmart Charities is revising that policy, and we’re confident it will change — and save — lives.

It wasn’t a decision we took lightly.

A dire situation requires change
Animal shelters consistently report being full to overflowing, and that their staff members are burning out. We are facing a crisis, and leaders must show the courage to innovate. Today, national data reveals that an overwhelming lack of access to veterinarians across shelters and animal welfare organizations is causing the backlog of spay and neuter surgeries and in turn, fewer adoptions.

Why is it happening?

First, there is a shortage of veterinary practitioners across the U.S. and Canada. Recent studies indicate that by 2030, the U.S. will be short 15,000 veterinarians. For many reasons, the profession is struggling to keep pace with demand now that 70% of homes in America include pets. Animal shelters and rescues are impacted with DVM and veterinary staff vacancies.

Even though today fewer animals are entering animal shelters than before 2019, adoption numbers are also decreasing, and animals are staying in shelter longer. Tragically, after making so much progress, euthanasia rates have climbed higher than they have been in four years, with a recent report from PetPoint data detailing an increase of 14% of dogs losing their lives in shelters in the first quarter of 2023[1].

We listened to our shelter and rescue partners and colleagues who are desperately trying to find loving homes for pets. The forward-thinking decision to remove this barrier to adoption and send pets home faster reduces the risk of contagious disease, behavioral issues and stress due to confinement and the lack of connection to pets and people[2][3][4]. Reducing the length of stays for kittens and puppies allows shelter and rescue partners to save more pet lives by increasing the visibility of their animals through offsite adoption events. And, as a bonus, every animal that goes to a new home means space is freed up to help another one. Decreasing average stays at shelters/rescues increases the capacity to save more lives. And we can’t forget the benefit to the devoted community of workers in animal welfare. The outcomes are not only positive for pets in need, but the people who care for them, too.

While this downstream impact was beginning to brew even before the pandemic, when COVID-19 truly hit, animal shelters were forced to stretch, ditch, and recreate standard policies and procedures[5]. While animals continued to enter shelters, spay and neuter surgeries were considered non-essential. To continue to save lives by placing animals with adopters and fosters or reuniting them with their people and habitats, spay and neuter surgeries were deferred[6]. More trust was placed in pet parents to ensure their new best friends were spayed and neutered.

Even before the pandemic, shelters and rescues were taking one of three approaches to spay and neuter surgeries:

Pets were allowed to go home through foster-to-adopt and pre-adopt programs before spay and neuter surgeries.
Through updated spay and neuter policies organizations deferred the procedures even when shelters reopened.
Spay and neuter pre-adoption requirements were either never lifted or were put back in place post-COVID. In some cases, animals may wait weeks or months before surgery or before becoming available for adoption.

Without making pivots that respond to our access to care crisis, animals will be held in shelters/rescues longer, awaiting sterilization, contributing to stress, behavioral issues, and disease.

“Many agencies are waiving the requirement that an animal be spayed or neutered at the time of adoption, and instead implementing post-adoption surgeries, in an effort to alleviate crowding in shelters and get animals through the system faster, and healthier,” Dr. Levy wrote in a recent blog post on the topic of this change at PetSmart Charities. We still want animals to be spayed and neutered, but we realize there is not always capacity to do so before the time of adoption without increasing the length of stays for pets in shelters. And though animals under six months of age may be allowed in stores for adoption without spay and neuter, organizations must still follow all applicable state and local laws regarding spay and neuter.

In 2021, when PetSmart stores re-opened and in-store adoptions resumed, our previous policies requiring pre-adoption spay and neuter procedures remained in place. These restrictions limited the number of rescues and shelters that can work with PetSmart Charities’ in-store adoption program. On top of the financial burdens associated with identifying veterinarians to conduct required spay/neuter surgeries, our partners who relied on in-store adoptions pre-COVID struggled to find enough staff to even operate their shelters. The requirements to come to the store, along with operational challenges soon made offsite adoptions feel out of reach.

Recognizing these realities, we needed to reconsider our own policies to ensure full support for our adoption partners. While we will always support and champion the benefits of sterilization, without changes and creative solutions, animals will remain in shelters or rescues even longer and utilizing scarce resources. We decided to place trust our adoption partners and in their potential adopters, too.

Your response
So far, our decision has been met with enthusiasm.

“I agree with the option to defer spay and neuter when spay/neuter capacity can’t keep up,” Julie Levy, DVM, Professor of Shelter Medicine at the University of Florida, said when asked about her support for the Spay and Neuter Initiative. “We simply must get animals flowing through the system faster in this unprecedented time of shelter overcrowding crisis. In some organizations, a lack of urgency to open space for more intakes is causing harm to some unseen animal still stuck in the community-wide sheltering system.” Dr. Levy speaks to the urgency, which is key in our current sheltering state. For many, the decision may seem a bit radical considering that, many in our field believe that spay and neuter procedures increase lifesaving success. In late 2022, the Association of Shelter Veterinarians (ASV) published an updated version of their Guidelines for Care in Animal Shelters. These guidelines, written by leading veterinary experts from across the field, are regarded as the most comprehensive standard guidelines for animal shelter veterinary care in the United States and Canada.

The updated ASV guidelines encourage post-adoption sterilization, saying, “If a shelter cannot sterilize all animals before adoption without increasing length of stay, an acceptable alternative is to arrange post-adoption spay-neuter. Shelters performing post-adoption sterilization must have a system for keeping track of unaltered animals and ensuring that surgery is completed in a timely manner.” Even animals waiting for 24 hours longer than necessary for spay/neuter before going home may contribute to a nationwide increase in length of stay and shelter euthanasia.

With close to 500,000 adoptions annually at PetSmart stores across the United States and Canada, we believe our donors, partners and stores will embrace this step as part of the solution to increasing adoptions. Starting with puppies and kittens, we hope that with proven success, we can extend surgery deferment to all animals in the coming years.

Post-adoption spay/neuter programs are being implemented in a variety of ways, including:

Foster-to-Adopt programs that allow pets to be fostered until adoption
Scheduling spay/neuter appointments in the future with pet parents bringing animals into shelter clinics for surgeries
Spay/neuter vouchers that allows pet parent to schedule surgery on their own, as part of the adoption requirements
Adoption contracts requiring pet parents to provide proof of sterilization within a designated timeframe

Later this month we will publish a toolkit, providing example policies from lifesaving municipal, private, and government-contracted animal shelters and rescues, including Austin Pets Alive, LifeLine Animal Project, Dallas Animal Services, and Lucky Dog Animal Rescue, among others. We hope these examples will support the programmatic updates we hope to inspire.

Call to action
By lifting this requirement, we’re confident others in the animal welfare space will push past how things have historically operated. A post-pandemic world calls for change and innovation. We have an opportunity to continue to be more connected, to support one another, and to seek out these solutions together. This change is also a call to action. It’s a stellar opportunity to work together and to build bridges between PetSmart Charities and our non-profit shelter and rescue partners and municipal shelters.

Ultimately, we know this move will save the lives of shelter pets who have so much love to give. It also promises to support the people who give so much of themselves to their wellbeing, often at the expense of their own. Let’s not stop at spay and neuter restrictions. We hope to continue to challenge ourselves as funders to look at our restrictive policies and continue to make bold choices to invite more people in to help animals. We hope you will join us in doing the same — as funders, rescuers, and shelters — united in the goal of connecting pets and people.

We hope you’ll reach out and share your thoughts with us; as always, we’re here to help.

Rory Adams is the newly appointed Sr. Manager of Adoption Initiatives at PetSmart Charities. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

References:

[1] Died in care and shelter euthanasia from PetPoint data Q1 2023
[2] Gunter, Lisa. Understanding the impacts of breed identity, post-adoption and fostering interventions, & behavioral welfare of shelter dogs. Arizona State University, 2018. 
[3] Alexandra Protopopova, Effects of sheltering on physiology, immune function, behavior, and the welfare of dogs, Physiology & Behavior, Volume 159, 2016, Pages 95-103, ISSN 0031-9384,  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2016.03.020.
[4] Dinnage, J.D., J.M. Scarlett, and J.R. Richards, Descriptive epidemiology of feline upper respiratory tract disease in an animal shelter. J Feline Med Surg, 2009. 11(10): p. 816-25. 
[5] https://americanpetsalive.org/news/animal-shelters-nationwide-come-together-to-create-covid-19-guide
[6] https://www.nacanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/3.Releasing-Unaltered-Pets-from-Animal-Shelters-During-the-COVID-19-Pandemic.pdf
Balancing Needs of Shelter Animals, Community in Times of Crisis | Network Partners (bestfriends.org)  
https://sheltermedicine.vetmed.ufl.edu/2022/09/13/impact-on-spay-neuter-surgeries-due-to-covid-19-pandemic-threatens-pet-overpopulation/
https://www.animallaw.info/intro/state-spay-and-neuter-laws  
https://www.animallaw.info/local-ordinances/topic/spay-or-neuter  
Guidelines for Standards of Care in Animal Shelters, Association of Shelter Veterinarians, 2022

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From Incubating to Innovating

katema — Mon, 15 May 2023 16:54:07 +0000

From Incubating to Innovating katema Mon, 05/15/2023 - 12:54

Innovation starts with an idea, but a good idea requires so much energy to bring to life. I’m excited to share breaking news about a brand-new grant program at PetSmart Charities that started with a moment of clarity and a bold idea. We call it the “Incubator,” because we’re growing something new with each grant and giving them the time and resources to ensure each program flourishes.

The backstory: as we celebrated many successes in the animal welfare space in adopting shelter pets and significantly reducing euthanasia rates (hooray!), we knew more of our attention needed to turn to keeping pets in their homes. Our research uncovered two essential data points so seismic, they got our attention – fast. First, in one of the wealthiest places on earth, 50 million pets in the U.S. don’t have access to the basic veterinary care they need to thrive. 50. Million.

As you likely know, the barriers are often financial. Even among median incomes, nearly 30% of pet parents say a veterinary bill of $499 would land them in debt. But there are others. Many communities lack a nearby practitioner, and it’s tough to trust a vet that doesn’t speak your native language or have an appreciation for diverse cultural pet care practices. The issue becomes systemic because small problems have a way of becoming more painful — and more costly. And then, tragically, too many pet parents have had to make the crushing decision to surrender their pets when they just can’t get the care they need.

It shouldn’t be a privilege to enjoy the love of a pet. In fact, giving a pet a better life helps their people enjoy better, healthier, happier lives, too.

The other data point that took our breath away: we estimate it would cost more than $20 billion annually to ensure all pets receive adequate care. No one organization can tackle this mammoth crisis alone, but as leaders in the space, we knew we had to invest more resources. We announced early in 2023 a commitment of $100 million over the next five years to improving access to vet care, and $18 million in Canada. There is nowhere more in need of equitable access than in communities that have been historically excluded and are often left out of the veterinary system entirely.

Knowing we had to do something unique, maybe even revolutionary, our team created the Incubator program to address veterinary care from the ground up. The 4-year grant program will support increased veterinary access in 20 communities in the U.S. and Canada, and just kicked off with the first “class” of grantees, focused on Latinx communities in the U.S. and Indigenous communities in Canada. Then, 20 more grants, focused on working with different historically excluded communities, will be added each year.

Incubator: It all begins with relationships
Part of incubation is protection. Instead of the usual accountability metrics that require grantees prove their impact immediately, Incubator partners are instead given the rare gift of time and resources. During the first year, their focus is to engage in the serious but less quantifiable work of relationship building. Local communities know their needs best — but are rarely asked. It’s critical partners respectfully engage with communities and listen first. Instead of approaching with pre-packaged solutions based on preconceived ideas, partners, with support from PetSmart Charities, gather needs by asking questions first. That helps build trust before collaborating to develop plans for culturally responsive veterinary care programs.

It's a unique process, but not an easy one.

In this first phase, leaders will build relationships with members of each of the 10 Latinx communities in the U.S. and 10 Indigenous communities in Canada to better understand what each wants and needs to support their pets’ health. The next phase, beginning in 2024, will move to provision of veterinary care, based on learnings from this year, about what, how and when communities need to access vet care.

The Humane Society of Southern Arizona (HSSA) is a shining example of how innovation and community meet. Their team identified a tight-knit community with more than 80% Latinx population in Douglas, Arizona, as their project in which to invest support from PetSmart Charities. There, 28% of residents navigate life below the poverty line, and the city’s animal shelter copes with a high euthanasia rate. Both pets and people lack access to health care and other social services. HSSA had already been laying groundwork to support One Health, a practice to which both people and their pets would gain access to health care under one roof. HSSA’s Nubia Romo grew up in Douglas and has been successfully leveraging her strong relationships in the community to inspire grassroots leaders. “It’s easy because I know everyone there, and they trust me.”

“In our culture, pets are part of the family but sometimes hold different roles. Some are working animals and some spend a lot of time outdoors, but are cherished. We’re so excited to bring this incredible program that we know will make a big impact on their care,” Nubia shared.

This is an exciting time for us at PetSmart Charities and PetSmart Charities of Canada as we support our partners to build new relationships and innovate, together with communities, how to create lasting programs for pet health care. We hope you will continue to connect with us and follow the journey on our social channels to build a better world for both ends of the leash, wherever that leash may be found.

Kate Atema is the director of community grants and initiatives at PetSmart Charities. Connect with her and keep the conversation going on LinkedIn.

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Getting Schooled: Partnerships with veterinary universities promise innovative solutions to accessible veterinary care

rojaynes — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 17:22:15 +0000

Getting Schooled: Partnerships with veterinary universities promise innovative solutions to accessible veterinary care rojaynes Tue, 03/14/2023 - 13:22

As veterinarians, we are unfortunately familiar with pets that haven’t seen a vet in a while, or whose owners can’t afford the care their pets really need. Animal welfare organizations, rescues and shelters also know that those situations can lead to devastating impacts, difficult choices, and families separated.

At PetSmart Charities, we estimate that 50 million pets in the U.S. do not receive any veterinary care — even basic preventative care such as vaccinations and spay and neuter surgeries. In Canada, 1 in 5 pet parents have wanted or needed preventive care but haven’t been able to access it due to affordability or inability to get an appointment. There are many reasons for the lack of care, the primary being financial. But many pet parents simply can’t find a vet nearby, or a vet that speaks their language, or a vet with available appointments. These days, it’s not just underserved communities that have difficulty getting vet care. A shortage of veterinarians and rising costs means people of median incomes, living in thriving cities, struggle to get care, too.

The impact can be disastrous. Healthy communities require healthy pets. They’re critical family members and social connecters; plus, they offer emotional support and give their people a reason to get up and go outside. But when they can’t get the vet care they need, pets suffer and their families suffer, too.

What’s the answer?

The veterinary care challenge is a complex issue that will require partnership and innovation. We need the brightest minds to come together to try new solutions. As the leading funder of animal welfare in the U.S. and Canada, PetSmart Charities is investing $100 million in the U.S. and $18 million in Canada over the next five years to do our part to create change.

We are certainly not doing it alone; PetSmart Charities is excited to be partnering with top veterinary universities in the U.S. and Canada to tackle the biggest challenges to accessible veterinary care. With our support veterinarians, thought leaders, researchers and innovators will build programs that will address not only the challenges of today, but plan for tomorrow’s needs.

I’m excited to share some of the challenges we’re tackling with and great ideas we’re supporting through our robust university partnerships across the U.S. and Canada.

For starters, we don’t have great data about who isn’t able to access which kinds of veterinary care and why. Although we know 50 million pets in the United States receive no care, we could target our solutions better if we understood who was accessing which kinds of care and where the biggest gaps are. To help put a finer point on the problem, we partnered with the Ohio State University to research and share better data about the access to vet care challenge in the U.S. Additionally, Ontario Veterinary College is taking on the challenge of documenting what we know, researching the gaps, and bringing together leading voices to communicate more clearly about challenges across Canada.

One the biggest challenges is that the number of veterinarians is being outstripped by the growing pet population. A recent report estimated that we will be short 15,000 companion animal vets by 2030, and most clinics are already finding it impossible to stay fully staffed. We need to support our workforce as quickly as possible through innovation, improved training and clinic efficiency. We’re thrilled to be working with our visionary partners at Colorado State University (CSU) to build new training programs for mid-level veterinary practitioners that will build a more efficient, effective veterinary workforce. We’re also looking to support a grant for the University of Minnesota to research in the best ways to prepare students for this new world of community medicine, because understanding where we need to make adjustments within the veterinary education system to meet the needs of all pets and their owners will be critical in expanding access to care.

For some remote communities, finding a vet isn’t just difficult – it’s impossible. In remote Alaskan villages, where only airplanes and snowmobiles connect villages to one another, you just won’t find a standard veterinary clinic. In collaboration with Colorado State University (CSU), University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) and their unique veterinary training program for students from Alaska, young vets learn how to provide the kinds of community-based, mobile veterinary care that works best for so many communities in their home state. While they’re at it, our CSU and UAF partners are also building a model for partnership with native Alaskan communities and setting the standard for how community health can be supported through human and veterinary medicine working together.

Canadian northern communities have similar challenges and through partnership with Western College of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Calgary, we are challenging how we can better serve remote, isolated communities through innovative staffing models. Finally, the University of Calgary is leading the way in the development of long-term partnership with Indigenous communities that involve them in their pets’ care from the classroom to the clinic. They are grounding their students in the importance of listening to clients’ needs and being accessible, along with documenting research on the positive health benefits to communities and veterinarians when programs are responsive and community centered.

Other communities across the U.S. and Canada, are unable to access veterinary services because language barriers prevent them from interacting with the veterinary community. Spanish speakers have been turned away due to poor clinic signage, given mistranslated diagnoses or were unable to understand the follow up instructions for their pets’ care. Communication is the key to building trust, and we’re thrilled to have been able to support the research and development of a unique, online Spanish for Veterinarians language program developed by Colorado State University to help overcome this challenge for millions of pet-loving families.

We know 87.5% of veterinarians are white, and 62% are women. Encouraging and equipping diversity in the profession that mirrors our communities will give young people career role models and invite marginalized people and communities to participate, lead and invest in animal health. PetSmart Charities is working with several universities to enhance diversity and equity through scholarship programs that help remove some of the financial barriers to seeking a career in veterinary medicine.

Along with our established Steve Marton Scholarship program that awards $150,000 each year to three current veterinary students, we’ll continue as an organization to announce additional investments into doing our part through strategic alliances with universities that pave the path forward. It's true, we’ve got a big problem to solve. But when we align our resources, passion and intentions, together we can create more equitable solutions — For Pets. For People. For Good.

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PetSmart Charities® and PetSmart Charities of Canada™ National Adoption Week is March 6 – 12, and this one is extra special

hmarston — Mon, 27 Feb 2023 23:12:53 +0000

PetSmart Charities® and PetSmart Charities of Canada™ National Adoption Week is March 6 – 12, and this one is extra special hmarston Mon, 02/27/2023 - 18:12

Spring has almost sprung and it’s one of my favorite times of the year – PetSmart Charities National Adoption Week is March 6-12! And this one is especially meaningful to me.

Thanks to you, our partners, PetSmart stores across the U.S. and Canada will be buzzing with thousands of adoptable pets and for this special week, we are focused on raising awareness for pets with special needs!

As I mentioned in the partner summit (and if you missed it, please, check it out here!) many shelters across North America are at or over capacity. According to Shelter Animal Count, 4% more animals entered shelters in the U.S. than left in 2022, up from 2% in 2021, making for the largest gap in the past four years. We know you’re heroically caring for vulnerable pets in need until they find their own families to adore, and we hope that National Adoption Week brings even more visibility to the deserving animals in your care.

Did you know: In-store adoption numbers increase by 150-200% during National Adoption Weeks?

While the number of animals entering shelters has continued to slightly increase each year since the pandemic, it’s still 16% fewer in the U.S. than 2019. So, while stories of surrendered pandemic puppies might dominate the news, the data tells a different story. There are fewer animals making way to shelters today than pre-pandemic levels, but they’re staying longer. And we know that those with special needs tend to wait the longest. But they also have special talents, special gifts and special love to share!

This year, PetSmart Charities is encouraging people to do their part to help shelters, rescues and animal welfare organizations and adopt a pet, and especially to consider those with special needs. If you’re currently caring for any, we encourage you to bring them to the in-store events. You can imagine as the director of pet placement I meet scores of shelter pets every week. I have to fight my urges to take so many of them home! But when I met a gorgeous, sweet six-year-old Great Dane at the Arizona Animal Welfare League, my heart went out to him. He’s deaf and blind, and I could tell even then he’s also incredibly smart, resilient, and full of a special kind of love.

Because our home already includes a dog with special needs who has been through so much, I didn’t imagine we’d take on another. I reached out to a friend I thought might be interested in meeting this truly “GREAT” Dane. But then, when my partner met him, he fell head over heels in love, too. We took our new family member, Gatsby, home and did our homework by getting to know him. We also learned about the kinds of accommodations we could make (and innovate) to make him feel comfortable in his new home. We were thrilled that he and our dog, Kemper, got on famously, so that was a good start.

Gatsby has brought a special kind of joy to our home and to our hearts, and of course, to my role at PetSmart Charities and PetSmart Charities of Canada. We know you’ll be working hard to take adoptable pets to local PetSmart stores all over the country during National Adoption Week. They make the perfect spot for so many potential pet parents to meet their new best friends and fur babies. You can feel the warmth and excitement just walking into the stores with the energy of wagging tails and opportunities for cuddles. I encourage you and your staff or volunteers to coach and encourage potential pet parents to consider the joy of adopting a pet with special needs. I know you know it, too — they pay you back with a special kind of love.

Connect with Heidi Marston on LinkedIn, or with Gatsby on Instagram.

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Access to Veterinary Care, Accelerated

katema — Fri, 03 Feb 2023 16:03:49 +0000

Access to Veterinary Care, Accelerated katema Fri, 02/03/2023 - 11:03

Over the past several decades, we as an animal-loving society have done a tremendous job promoting the welfare of our dogs and cats. Once seen as expendable commodities or tools for work, fed scraps and tethered in the backyard, our transformed vision of an ideal pet’s life today includes socialization, indoor beds, quality food — and veterinary care.

But while many of us in the animal welfare community have been working hard to ensure that all pets have the loving homes they deserve, veterinary care has been quietly slipping out of reach for many pets and their owners. Fifty million pets in the U.S. lack access to even basic veterinary care, and recent studies show that nearly 20% of pet owners would find it impossible to cover a veterinary bill of $300. At today’s prices, that may not cover much when a pet gets sick, and leaves pet owners and veterinarians with few options that aren’t heartbreaking.

What’s more, as we’ve shared before (but I say it again because it is astounding!) it would cost more than $20 billion per year to simply pay for the basic necessary care for all those animals who don’t get it – and that’s before considering logistical challenges of doing so. That’s just the cost of care.

Considering this shocking reality, we at PetSmart Charities realized two things simultaneously: 1. As a funder, our grants alone cannot address this gap in a meaningful way; and 2. The largest segment of families who aren’t currently accessing vet care are those who love their pets and desperately want the care, but just need a little help to bring it within reach. We’re talking about families earning up to the U.S. median household income (now about $70,000/year) who are finding it difficult to get care for their pets. This includes many teachers, grocers, public employees – and even veterinary technicians.

PetSmart Charities has committed $100 million over the next five years toward improving access to veterinary care, and one of the biggest components of this is our “Accelerator” grant program. The goal is to assist clinics that bring the cost of vet care within reach of many of the families in their communities who desperately want it. Accelerator is a highly competitive 4-year grant that provides the funding, consulting, mentoring, community of practice and support tools. The grant category is designed to help any nonprofit veterinary clinic envision and create an operating model that provides the highest level and quantity of care it possibly can while sustaining itself primarily through revenue of paying clients.

Is it possible? Yes! We already knew that some of our partners like CAMP-LA in Los Angeles, California, First Coast No More Homeless Pets in Jacksonville, Florida, and Arizona Humane Society in Phoenix, Arizona, had already walked this path and shown that it is possible to operate accessible-cost veterinary clinics while keeping themselves afloat. It requires ingenuity, energy, dedication and willingness to adapt and try new things. It requires partners like PETS Clinic in Wichita Falls, Texas, Philly PAWS, Kalamazoo Humane Society in Michigan, and EVAH in Canada who see their clients as partners in the veterinary care team, willing to make the best choices for everyone in the family to thrive. We have also learned from our partners such as Nova Scotia SPCA and Low-Cost Animal Medical Center of New Orleans, over the last year, that it requires listening to and supporting staff as a matter of priority.

In partnership with these and the rest of our first 18 incredible Accelerator grantees in the US and Canada: Toledo Humane Society, Second Chance Animal Services in Massachusetts, Humane Society of South Mississippi, Virginia Beach SPCA, Animal Humane Society, Toronto Humane Society, Regional Animal Protection Society (RAPS) BC, The Bridge Clinic in PA, and Canadian Animal Task Force we have already learned so much about what is already going well in these clinics and where more support is needed. With a business consultant on our team, we are helping them analyze their costs, volume and strategies to stretch every dollar as far as it can go toward getting animals in our communities the care they need.

In the coming five years, PetSmart Charities anticipates not only helping more than 60 accessible veterinary clinics provide expanded low-cost veterinary care, but we also look forward to consolidating and sharing the hard-won lessons of our partners so that many, many more have the confidence to move in this direction. Our goal is that together, as a culture, we will start to narrow that $20 billion veterinary gap by believing in our communities and our pet-owning families.

Connect with Kate Atema on LinkedIn.

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Stepping up to solve the problem of accessible veterinary care

agilbreath — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 17:18:56 +0000

Stepping up to solve the problem of accessible veterinary care agilbreath Tue, 01/17/2023 - 12:18

It’s a new year, and at PetSmart Charities, we’re kicking it off with a serious commitment to doing our part to solving a big problem. Today, we estimate more than 50 million pets do not receive even basic veterinary care in the U.S. And thanks to continued support from our donors, we’ve just made a $100 million commitment over the next five years to tackling the issue.

As the top funder of animal welfare in the U.S., we have a responsibility to lead the charge in identifying and responding to widespread trends and problems. PetSmart Charities is calling on partners and stakeholders like you to create solutions — because we’ve reached a tipping point. We need your help, and we want to invest in your efforts, too with this significant commitment.

As we all know, when pets don’t receive adequate care, they suffer — and their families do, too. When not addressed, small and preventable problems become bigger and more costly. A lack of veterinary care means preventable diseases can be passed on to people and other animals. Many loving pet parents are then forced to relinquish their pets, taxing an already overcrowded shelter system. It’s an impossible choice to make, given that people from all walks of life benefit from caring for these important family members that love us like no other.

We must do better, and together, we will. The animal welfare community over the last decade has made serious progress in saving significantly more animals through adoption. Today, pets are included in 70% (or 90 million) of American households[1]. Now, we need to ensure pets can stay in their loving homes — in the best health possible.

How did we get here? A variety of barriers have converged, including:

A shortage in veterinarians: With pet ownership steadily on the rise (good news!), a 33%[1] increase in pet healthcare service spending is expected over the next 10 years. 90 million U.S. households now include pets, but the number of nationwide veterinarians (now at just over 121,000) has increased by just 2.7 percent each year since 2007. To meet the growing need for veterinary care, an additional 41,000 veterinarians would be needed by 2030.[2]

Veterinary deserts: For rural and underserved regions especially, veterinary practices usually aren’t conveniently located; plus, transportation and other cultural barriers shut pet parents out of services.[3]

Rising cost of veterinary services: A payment-on-demand service system makes it impossible for many to afford care; and vet care costs have spiked 10% in the last year. 63% of pet parents say inflation[4] has made it more difficult to pay for surprise vet bills, and a $499 vet bill would put 28% of pet parents into debt.[5]

Racial equity and cultural inclusion: Veterinarians are among the top five least diverse professions, leading to cultural and often language divides between clients and practitioners, along with fewer clinics sited in communities where minorities are already impacted by systemic inequalities.[6]

Economic challenges: A spike in inflation combined with a housing market crisis and the impacts of the pandemic hit the lowest income groups the worst; 29 million pets live in households that depend on SNAP benefits.[7] The impact of these varied influences means veterinary cost is out of reach for many families, even in households with median income levels.

As you can see, a myriad of influences has converged to create a tipping point. We’re up to the challenge; are you?

PetSmart Charities Commits

No single solution or organization can solve this complex issue; we need all-hands-on-deck. PetSmart Charities has committed $100 million over the next five years and will take a multi-faceted approach by funding a variety of solutions to improve access to adequate veterinary care for all pets.

First, we will help build solutions across the system of veterinary care – from funding new and more affordable types of clinics to addressing the specific needs within diverse and underserved communities. In 2022, we and our friends at PetSmart brought low-cost clinics into select stores. These clinics, along with our “Accelerator” grant program that fuels low-cost clinics to expand, will help us share best practices and encourage others to join us in ensuring affordable veterinary care is accessible to those who need it.

Next, we’ll support options to help pet parents better afford care as inflation continues to take a toll. This involves developing innovative solutions that reduce and help manage the cost of care for all, including telehealth care models, deferred payment plans, as well as supporting on going, data driven, research on more cost-effective ways to treat common ailments.

It’s also critical that we build alliances with the veterinary educational system. Significant plans are currently underway, including naming an endowed chair at a top university to conduct research around evolving trends and needs. We’ll continue to award scholarships to veterinary students pursuing community-based practices, while also working with veterinary universities to establish a Master’s level training program for midlevel veterinary practitioners to offer basic care at affordable prices. We want to do our part to bolster and support the noble veterinary profession and encourage their community to also make contributions to solving this problem.

Finally, we’ll tackle an issue so many of us are invested in — ensuring that the animal welfare space is one that welcomes, equips and includes a broad spectrum of leaders. In diverse, or in underserved communities, people often trust and connect best with their friends, neighbors and local leaders. Supporting and encouraging changemakers to develop unique solutions with an emphasis on meeting the specific needs of their community is key to integrating more options for veterinary care. It’s what we call our “Incubator” grant portfolio, and the first cohort of recipients in Latino communities is already underway. We’ll be sharing more of those journeys with you in the months to come as our grantees build community and capacity for grassroots efforts around opening access to veterinary care where it’s urgently needed.

We hope you’ll take time to learn more about how you, too, can join our coalition. Please message me via Linkedin to connect and learn more. If you’re not already on our email list, please sign up here to receive updates on grant opportunities and other news. Together, we can help pets, and the people they love, thrive!

[1] (American Pet Products Assn., 2021)
[2] https://www.marsveterinary.com/tackling-the-veterinary-professional-shortage/
[3] https://www.dvm360.com/view/study-reveals-presence-of-veterinary-deserts-in-low-income-areas
[4] https://apnews.com/article/inflation-health-economy-prices-pets-5e6ab45eb6e3e316a89158bb630a9835
[5] https://www.forbes.com/advisor/pet-insurance/pet-cost-inflation/
[6] https://cctsi.cuanschutz.edu/docs/librariesprovider28/cctsi-summit/2022/presentations/14-geller-structural-racism-in-veterinary-medicine.pdf?sfvrsn=688575bb_4
[7] https://pphe.utk.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/avcc-report.pdf

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Solving shelter overcrowding through strategic movement of pets across state lines

Petsmart Charities Staff Writer — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 22:51:35 +0000

Solving shelter overcrowding through strategic movement of pets across state lines Petsmart Chari… Tue, 12/13/2022 - 17:51

Overcrowding is a phenomenon that’s all too common to anyone who has been working in shelters and animal welfare across North America. National trends remind us of the tremendous progress that has been made over the past ten years as shelter intake nationally is at an all-time low and continues to decrease. This success is due in no small part to national spay/neuter initiatives, reimaging how we support families with keeping their pets and finding innovative ways to get animals in the shelter placed in permanent homes as quickly as possible.

The reality is that for some communities, there are too many pets in shelters relative to the total human population, meaning there are too many pets for the local community to absorb on their own. That’s why transporting animals like “Poppy” to communities with capacity to get animals placed in homes quickly can become an important tool.

Recently, our team participated in a transport event that moved more than 60 adoptable pets from Companion Animal Alliance (CAA) in Louisiana to Lost Dog and Cat Rescue in Virginia. Because of these partnerships, pets who’ve endured long shelter stays are adopted in as little as 48 hours. After landing in Virginia, Poppy and many others were adopted during a PetSmart Charities National Adoption week event at the PetSmart store in Falls Church. Her family’s smiles say it all!

It Takes a Village

PetSmart Charities invests $1,000,000 in grant funding each year into transits like this one. And we know that these success stories are only possible through partnership and collaboration among organizations. In 2022, we granted Bissell Pet Foundation $150,000 in transport funds. They in turn supported the transport of travelers by funding Race for Life, a nonprofit dedicated to flying animals from one shelter to another. Wings of Rescue is another service that curries pets carefully to receiving shelters.

Countless volunteers from pilots to veterinarians to vehicle drivers to animal handlers to pet foster parents and countless more spend hours coordinating the logistics. The impact is swift not only for the pets, but the shelters like CAA who now have the capacity to serve additional animals in their communities.

Transport initiatives are just one solution, yet they provide an opportunity to innovate — and a strategic approach is needed.

Today, these transport events are still originated by grassroots efforts or cooperative relationships.

Transporting animals requires deep collaboration and shared goals among the source shelter and receiving destination. Given the cost and possible stress on the animals, transport is often a final resort. And when the option is a viable one, it should be executed with high standards, to mitigate the possible spread of infection and the impact on pets’ emotional wellness. Travel can be stressful for them, and it’s critical to consider their safety and comfort.

Paramount to successful transport is ensuring a positive outcome not only for the animals, but for the source shelter and receiving site. The most impactful models are those where receiving sites make long-term commitments to source shelters to support the decrease in animal overpopulation over time. Anything short of this commitment is merely putting a band-aid on the challenges.

If your shelter plans to participate in a transport exchange, consider the following for a smooth, successful transaction:

Consult the AVMA Best Practices guidelines. This will help your team become familiar with any municipal restrictions and best practices around transporting, including the proper selection and preparation of animals and the best means of travel.
Mutual Investments. The originating shelters, which are already overloaded, shouldn’t be expected to bear the entire cost of preparing the pets including ensuring they’re identified, medically evaluated, etc. Receiving groups often get vetted, ready-to-adopt pets who they can place into home for an adoption fee.
Send a variety of animals. Refrain from transporting only small dogs or puppies/kittens, leaving less-adoptable pets at the source shelter (mothers of litters, large dogs, those who are heartworm positive or medically vulnerable, etc.) at the sending shelter.

Our team spent meaningful time lending hands and soaking up cuddles from so many sweet pets in need of homes and families. When we work together, we can move the needle to help more of them get the shelter they need to do what they do best – love people.

Heidi Marston oversees pet placement initiatives at PetSmart Charities.
Connect with her on Linkedin.

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