Grant Guidelines

Qualifications: Targeted spay/neuter program for dogs and cats in counties with human populations of at least 50,000 and a community-wide Live Animal Release Rate of 40% or less (that means, the animal control, traditional and adoption guarantee shelters operating in the target community are euthanizing 60% or more of the total shelter population of dogs and cats).

Grant Size: Up to a maximum of $200,000 over two years with a small portion of the total funding to be used by the lead agency for administration. The lead agency can be a 501(c)3 animal welfare organization, a municipal animal control agency, or a veterinary medical association. Surgeries can be performed in non-profit spay/neuter clinics, governmental spay/neuter clinics or private veterinary hospitals. However, Maddie's Fund will not pay for any government mandates. (For example, if there is an ordinance in your community requiring all shelters to spay or neuter their dogs and cats before placement, Maddie's Fund will not pay for their surgery under this program.)

Interested applicants will be asked to submit a proposal outlining a spay/neuter program for their community which: 1) targets problem populations or problem areas with high shelter admissions of dogs and/or cats; and 2) demonstrates above baseline spay/neuter performance. (Breed specific programs are not eligible for funding.)

At a minimum, the proposal should include a general overview of the program and how it will help reduce shelter euthanasia in the target community, a description of the population to be served, the number of surgeries to be performed, an explanation of how above baseline performance will be achieved, a preliminary list of participating organizations, the reimbursement rate for surgeries and the amount of money to be used for administration, and a two-year budget showing how the grant will be spent.

Applicants will also need to provide the most recent annual shelter statistics (using our Animal Statistics Table and definitions) from the animal control, traditional and adoption guarantee shelters in the county to document their eligibility (i.e., Live Animal Release Rate of 40% or less) and the problem to be addressed by the spay/neuter program.¹

Going forward, all groups participating in funded projects will need to provide semi-annual and annual statistics (i.e., all participating spay/neuter groups will submit surgery statistics and all animal control, traditional and adoption guarantee shelters in the target community will need to submit shelter statistics using our Animal Statistics Table and definitions).

Grantees of past and current community collaborative projects are not eligible to apply for this funding.

If you have questions or would like additional information on this targeted spay/neuter program, please contact us.



¹ Applicants for the spay/neuter grants (in communities of 100,000 or more) can apply for the Community Shelter Data Grant to receive additional funding for collecting and reporting shelter statistics using our Animal Statistics Table and definitions.