ASPCA Partners w/ PetSmart Charities, Over $5 Million Donated

We all know the ASPCA is seriously dedicated to animal welfare, spay/neuter (S/N) and all other over-arching causes regarding animal rescue & animal welfare in general.

And, of course, as evidenced by its weekend animal shelter “rescue pet” showings/adoption centers, and its ongoing support of animal ADOPTION versus buying at a pet store, it is not a HUGE surprise that PetSmart Charities joined forces with the ASPACA .

Last month, the two powerhouse animal welfare contributors gave a HUGE donation of $5.2 million to Humane Alliance, another welfare cause that slowly has stretched its North Carolina roots across the country to provide cheap spay/neuter, veterinary student externships and training for not only those who want to open their own spay/neuter center, but also for private vets.

I was lucky enough to spend some time speaking with Julie Morris, Senior VP of ASPCA Community Outreach, who has over 28 years of shelter experience and has been with ASPCA for 20 years.

But first, a small summarization of this generous, MAJOR donation from the ASPCA press release:

“PetSmart Charities® and the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) have announced that they each will pledge $2.6 million to Humane Alliance in 2011 as part of a five-year commitment totaling $5.2 million to increase affordable spay/neuter services across the United States and prevent the births of millions of pets for whom there are no homes.

This funding will help 80 low-cost, high-quality, high-volume spay/neuter clinics to open across the U.S. Combined with the nearly 70 Humane Alliance clinic already open, the clinics will provide up to 800,000 sustainable spay/neuter surgical slots, preventing an estimated 11 million births through 2013.”

According to Morris, Humane Alliance is THEE model to follow in terms of high-quality spay/neuter that is cheap (in terms of price – NOT quality) yet seamlessly performed with perfection and ease.

“Humane Alliance is the gold standard when it comes to successful high-quality, high-volume spay/neuter,” she said.

“Replicating their model program in cities across the country will help us to make real, measurable progress in the fight against pet homelessness and overpopulation.”

Morris also noted that the Humane Alliance, started in 1994 as a teeny tiny S/N center in little Asheville, N.C. , grew and spread quickly because of its mission, dedication and vision (not to mention its leadership.)

“Humane Alliance has started over 80 clinics across the country in a few short years and plans to start at least 80 more in the next 5 years,” Morris said.

Humane Alliance Volunteer Worker

The donation money – which many people wonder about (for various organizations) - will be used for:

-assistance with all the national training programs for vets and volunteers

- externship costs

- operating costs

- the Emergency National S/N Response Team

- an organizational videos (to increase awareness/PR, etc)

- a conference in 2011 (more info on that later this summer…)

- starting new shelters, which includes design, flow, pace and tons more details

Essentially, the $5.2 million will be distributed over a 5-year period, helping to create thousands of reliable, affordable and sustainable S/N surgical slots through capacity-building grants and training programs for veterinarians and clinic staff.

PetSmart Charities and the ASPCA recognize that adoption alone will not solve the problem of homeless-pet overpopulation.

** For example, in the U.S. annually, it has been estimated that 4 million pets are euthanized simply because they don’t have homes. (The economy doesn’t help, and neither do people who continue to BUY animals from places like Petland and “boutique pet shops” across the country, not to mention puppy mills and irreputable breeders…)

Last year, PetSmart Charities provided more than $8.2 million for S/N efforts nationwide and the group remains 100% committed to expanding these services in the future.

The ASPCA has a deep commitment to Humane Alliance, and the Asheville community in North Carolina, where Humane Alliance is based. Asheville is one of 10 ASPCA Partnership Communities and Humane Alliance has been instrumental in piloting ASPCA programs related to feral cats and effective spay/neuter mapping mechanisms which will benefit the county.

“PetSmart Charities and the ASPCA have been instrumental to the success of Humane Alliance,” said Humane Alliance Executive Director Quita Mazzina.

“Our continued partnership means that we can continue to provide the spay/neuter services that pets desperately need, as well as the high-quality, high-volume spay/neuter technique training for the veterinary community so that even more pets are sterilized every year.”

Furthermore, Morris also explained to me that the ASPCA is quite careful about and extremely thorough in choosing where its “substantial grant money” goes. The group systematically bases its choices on Partnerships (10 communities involved in this), the live release rate of a particular facility after rescue and S/N in different states, and shelter programs related to that capacity.

Bassets Rescued in Ohio

In my (humble) opinion, this is FANTASTIC NEWS and such a large donation and the bigger mission behind it could help save and spare the lives of COUNTLESS cats and dogs over the next decade. That’s why I chose to interview Julie to get more information and post this news.

This will undeniably MAKE A MAJOR IMPACT on the animal relief efforts across the country.

If you are interested in learning more, I encourage you to click through on the links of the organizations highlighted above.

Also, only if you are as dedicated & serious about animal welfare and or consider yourself a “professional AW advocate” (in Morris’ words), then visit the little known site, aspcapro.org. It’s for folks like me who are extremely active in the welfare movement and deadly serious about contacting the legislators, getting petitions moving, getting more participation and involvement from others, donating to shelters and organizations, and doing whatever is needed to promote the cause.

My Rescue Sasha (in bad shape...)

rescue as I am,

Let me know what you think about this partnership and donation program in the Comments section!