Animal Friends Alliance Awarded $20,000 Grant Through PetSmart Charities

  Funds will extend efforts to save more lives in Northern Colorado and the surrounding community

Animal Friends Alliance has received a $20,000 grant from PetSmart Charities to help prepare more shelter pets in Northern Colorado  for adoption and ensure they are ready to find loving homes.  With the help of this grant, the organization will fund medical care and pre-adoption expenses for cats and dogs in its shelters to support its efforts to help homeless pets find homes.

Animal Friends Alliance, the organization arising from the recent merger of Animal House Rescue & Grooming and Fort Collins Cat Rescue & Spay/Neuter Clinic, works to prevent pet homelessness and to provide animals in the community with a second chance at life.  Thanks to PetSmart Charities, Animal Friends Alliance will be able to move closer toward its vision of all companion animals experiencing a healthy home where they are wanted, cared for, and loved.

All cats and dogs that come to Animal Friends Alliance for future adoption are spayed or neutered, appropriately tested for diseases, treated for any medical conditions, dewormed, vaccinated and microchipped. These measures help to reduce pet overpopulation, keep pets healthy, and more easily reunite lost animals with their guardians.  The full cost to care for one animal from intake to adoption averages over $500. With the generosity of PetSmart Charities’ grant, the shelter will be able to provide essential care to hundreds of cats and dogs that might otherwise have missed out on their second chance.

“Every animal deserves the opportunity to find a loving home, and we are extremely grateful to PetSmart Charities for their support of our mission,” said Sarah Swanty, executive director of Animal Friends Alliance. “This grant will allow us to save more lives and bring together more happy families.”

“The collaborative work of Animal Friends Alliance continues to provide critical care to homeless pets and gives them the best chance at finding loving homes,” said Sophie Faust, associate relationship manager at PetSmart Charities. “Through our long-standing partnership, it is our hope that this initiative shortens the shelter stay of these pets and reduces the homeless pet population throughout Fort Collins.”

Since 1994, through its partnership with nearly 4,000 humane societies, SPCAs and pet rescues across North America, PetSmart Charities has helped more than 9 million pets to find loving homes via its in-store adoption program in over 1,650 PetSmart® stores. The leading funder of animal welfare has also donated nearly $400 million to positively impact communities, to help preserve families, to improve access to veterinary care and to connect people and pets through initiatives like this with Animal Friends Alliance.

For more information about Animal Friends Alliance or PetSmart Charities, visit SavingAnimalsToday.org or petsmartcharities.org.