Petfinder Blog

The Petfinder.com Foundation is giving $150,000 in grants to shelters and rescue groups affected by the Gulf Coast oil spill in partnership with Merial's Paws to Save Pets and The Animal Rescue Site's Gifts That Give More.

Shelters from Galveston, TX, to Tallahassee, FL, have suffered from the economic impact of the oil spill. They are taking in more animals as the region's pet parents lose their livelihoods, while donations have decreased so much that many shelters can no longer cover general operating costs.

The Petfinder.com Foundation has given the Delaware County SPCA in Media, PA, and the Pennsylvania SPCA, which has seven shelter locations across Pennsylvania, $18,000 in Hide, Perch & Go Box grants which will provide a total of 5,000 boxes for shelter cats.

The grants were given in partnership with the PETCO Foundation, The Animal Rescue Site and the CATalyst Council.

Recently, the Petfinder.com Foundation awarded six Petfinder shelters and rescue groups bordetella vaccination grants totaling more than $64,000.

Bordetella is commonly known as kennel cough, and spreads rapidly among shelter populations. "Shelters are often compelled by their budgets to euthanize otherwise adoptable dogs to stop the spread of the disease," says Petfinder.com Foundation executive director Elizabeth Neuschatz. "The real key to stopping this scourge is prevention, and that's the aim of these vaccine grants: stopping kennel cough before it gets started."

In the animal sheltering world, good customer service saves lives. Last year Petfinder visitors were surveyed regarding their experiences adopting pets. While many visitors were committed to adopting no matter what, some reported less-than-stellar experiences. (Read more about our customer service survey here.)

This prompted Maddie's Fund and the Petfinder.com Foundation to promote excellent customer service through the Put Your Best Face Forward grant. Here's a list of 2009 grant winners.

This year, we have once again joined Maddie's Fund to award Petfinder shelters and rescue groups a total of $51,000 for providing great customer service. By
sending the message that it's important to take care of adopters as well as animals, we can save lives.

The Petfinder.com Foundation is committed to working with shelters and rescue groups across the country to help save the lives of homeless pets. Part of this mission is to provide assistance with spay/neuter grants.

Recently, the Petfinder.com Foundation and The Animal Rescue Site awarded New Jersey's Camden County Animal Shelter a $24,000 grant to help with spaying and neutering their adoptable pets.

CCAS handles more than 6,000 pets a year
in one of the poorest communities in the country. Niki Dawson, CCAS's executive director and president of the Animal Welfare Federation of New Jersey, has overcome tremendous obstacles to provide low-cost spay/neuter surgeries for pets belonging to low- or no-income people in her community.

The Animal Rescue Site's parent organization, the GreaterGood Network, has a new iPhone app that makes it easy to help homeless pets!

With the "Touch To Give" app, just select The Animal Rescue Site, then tap the Touch To Give button to help the Petfinder.com Foundation provide food and care to shelter pets.

"Touch To Give" each day and watch your contribution grow, and tap the Results tab to see the app's total impact. As with theanimalrescuesite.com's "Click to Give" button, donations are paid for by sponsors' ads and 100% is given to charity.

Download the Touch To Give app for free from the iTunes Store today!

The Petfinder.com Foundation has joined GoodSearch to help save homeless pets. GoodSearch is a great search engine that raises funds for the cause of your choice every time you search the Web.

It's easy: Just download the GoodSearch-Petfinder.com Foundation toolbar, and each time you search GoodSearch will make a donation to the Petfinder.com Foundation.

I am always looking for new ways to support animal welfare. That's why I was thrilled to find replyforall.com, which allows me to raise money for homeless pets by simply adding a signature to my outgoing e-mails. Even more important, it works!

Last year the Petfinder.com Foundation became one of replyforall's non-profit partners. From July to December 2009, 43% of users chose to support animal welfare in their signature, raising $650 for the Foundation.

The minute I heard about the earthquake in Haiti, I knew that the animals there would need us. And it didn't take long before the Petfinder.com Foundation joined ARCH, the Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti, with our partners in disaster relief, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), and the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) as well as over a dozen other leading animal welfare organizations.

Soon teams were on their way to the ravaged island. Dr. Dick Green, with IFAW, reports that they are treating between 50-100 dogs every day.

"We're seeing a lot of injuries to the paws," he says. "You need to remember that everywhere you look the concrete is down, and we have concrete mixed in with glass and sharp objects, and these poor dogs are foraging through this rubble to try and find food.

Read more about the disaster relief efforts in Haiti after the jump.

For many years, I found myself in a frantic state as Christmas approached, trying to figure out what to give certain people on my gift list.

But since I started working at the Petfinder.com Foundation, no more problem! I've seen the good that a small donation can make for pets in need.

A Gift of Hope from the Petfinder.com Foundation is a very special and unique holiday gift that is sure to please.

Simply make a donation in honor of a loved one, a friend, or even a group, and lend his or her name to a cause you both care about.