Targeted spay/neuter grants: impact where it’s needed most

Many cats and dogs in the U.S.  are not spayed or neutered. Some of them are owned, and others are free-roaming. Plus, spay/neuter needs vary by geographical area.

That’s why PetSmart Charities funds a variety of different programs structured to address all of these aspects. One way we address spay/neuter in the United States is through what we call our “high-impact” spay/neuter grant programs.

Spay/neuter grants focused on impact
These programs are structured to have significant impact on a focused geographical area with a critical need. We fund two high-impact programs:

• Targeted spay/neuter, which focuses on spaying and neutering a substantial percentage of the estimated owned pet population – cats and/or dogs – in a targeted area.
• Free-roaming cat spay/neuter, which focuses on trap-neuter-return (TNR) projects that stabilize and ultimately reduce the free-roaming cat population in a targeted area.

Though these grants are relatively new, grant recipients are already achieving great results. For example,

• Alley Cat Advocates in Louisville, Kentucky, reduced stray cat intake in their initial target area by 51% over the course of two years.
• Thompson River Animal Care Shelter in Montana reduced cat-related complaint calls and requests for assistance by 84% over two years.
• Paws-Ability in North Carolina achieved a 100% sterilization rate of all its known free-roaming cats over two years.

Get your applications in by this Friday, Aug. 31

We can’t wait to share more stories like these, so we’re excited to be nearing the end of our open application period for these two types of grants.

Since these types of grants are so new to the field, we held our first Twitter chat about these grants last week. We answered a lot of good questions, including how to calculate the number of unaltered cats or dogs for your target area, and how multiple organizations can work together on one grant request. Be sure to review the transcript.

We have several more online resources for organizations to use when preparing applications:

• Webinar: PetSmart Charities’ High Impact Spay/Neuter Grants: What Are We Looking For? This webinar contains some helpful tips for preparing your application.
• Our Grants FAQs
• Webinar: Navigating PetSmart Charities’ New Online Grant Application (there are two webinars: one for new users , the other for returning users)

Apply soon. The grants application period closes at midnight this Friday, August 31. You can submit your grant application online:

1. Targeted spay/neuter
2. Free-roaming cat spay/neuter