Friends,
The second quarter of 2019 brought 500 applications for 2019 grants, and numerous activities to increase awareness and raise funds to help more dogs. This update offers a look at some of this work.
If you’re reading this as a shelter or rescue, thank you for all that you do for homeless dogs! We appreciate you, and we’re looking forward to announcing 2019 grant recipients in October. Plus, we hope you’ll join us for our August best practice webinar, explained below.
If you’re reading this as a supporter, we need your help! With 500 grant applications, the requests from shelters and rescues top $3 million. While the Foundation won’t be able to meet all those needs, we want to do as much as possible. Please consider a donation today – every dollar you give goes directly to helping shelters and rescues.
On behalf of homeless dogs everywhere, thank you to all for your support. Every dog deserves a loving home and we’re proud to work with you to help them get it.
Deb Fair,
Executive Director, PEDIGREE Foundation
Helping Make the Case for Dog Adoption
We were thrilled to be featured this spring in the new podcast “The Dog That Changed Me” from Katherine Schwarzenegger and the PEDIGREE® brand. In each episode, Katherine talks with a guest about how their decision to rescue a dog has helped make them who they are.
Guests include Mandy Moore, Bryce Dallas Howard, Haylie Duff, LeAnn Rimes and more. Plus, an episode features PEDIGREE Foundation Executive Director Deb Fair sharing tips for bringing home a new dog.
Get the podcast anytime on Spotify, iTunes and Stitcher.
Reviewing Applications for 2019 Grants
We were thrilled to get 500 qualified applications for the 2019 grant cycle. This included:
- Applications from Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico and every state except Alaska, Delaware and South Dakota.
- Nearly 300 applications for Operation Grants, 177 for Program Development Grants, and 24 for the two-year Dogs Rule Grant.
Our Grant Committee is now working through reviews and site audits for potential recipients will take place in July and August. We plan to notify grantees in October.
Thank you so much to every shelter and rescue that submitted an application. We will help as many as we possibly can!
Introducing Our New Dog Safety Series
With generous support from donors Tom and Cindy Love, in loving memory of their dog Gizmo, this summer we’re running a series of dog safety posts on our blog.
Check out the first three here, and stay tuned for more:
- Keep Pets Safe at Home: 8 Tips for Pet Safety
- Celebrate Safety: 7 Tips to Help Your Dog Have a Great 4th of July
- 7 Ways to Keep Dogs Safe, for Pet Fire Safety Day and Everyday
Please help us share the posts to help every dog owner keep their furry friend safe.
Educating for Adopt a Shelter Pet Day
Too often, dogs end up homeless through no fault of their own. They might get lost, or their owner might not be able to afford their care, or they could need training. But every dog deserves a loving home.
In honor of Adopt a Shelter Pet Day at the end of April, we launched a social media series to educate about dog homelessness and the many benefits of adoption. Check out our posts about:
- The life-saving impact of adoption
- The reasons dogs end up in homeless
- The benefits of shelter and rescue dogs
- The many types of dogs available
- The ultimate benefit of dog adoption
Helping Dogs Get Adopted: Best Practice in Austin
Among our 2018 grants was a new Dogs Rule Grant, the largest in PEDIGREE Foundation’s history. It awarded $100,000 to be used over a two-year period for an innovative program to get more dogs adopted.
The recipient, Austin Pets Alive!, developed a Virtual Foster Program to bring the benefits of a foster home to the kennel environment. The program pairs dogs who are having difficulty finding a home with a volunteer who is unable to house the dog themselves, but serves as a “virtual” foster by fulfilling all the dog’s foster-related needs – giving it love, training, grooming and promoting its adoption.
A visit this quarter to Austin for a progress report showed that already 66 dogs in the program have found forever homes! Austin Pets Alive! will be joining a PEDIGREE Foundation webinar on August 29 to share learnings from the program so far.
Stay tuned for details about the webinar, coming soon.
Raising Funds to Help More Dogs
Our Jamie O’Neal & Friends songwriters round fundraiser in June gathered fans for great music and a chance to help dogs. We were honored to have Jamie, Jillian Cardarelli, Levi Hummon, Erin Kinsey and Queeva on stage together for a 1.5 hours set. Thanks so much to all the artists for their amazing performances, and to all who attended.
Check out the fun we had in this recap:
A Great Quarter for Gear Sales
Along with the songwriters round, PEDIGREE Foundation hosted Dogs rule®. gear pop-up shops at the St. Jude’s Rock ‘n Roll Fitness Expo, Downtown Franklin Main Street Festival, the Nashville Predators final season game, Nashville PRIDE Festival and more.
All told, gear sales brought in nearly $30,000 for the quarter – a new record. Plus, our new office opened with retail space on-site and we’re making progress building an online store. We’re looking forward to a day soon when you can order all the Dogs rule®. gear you need at the touch of a button!
