Animal Welfare Professionals

I started a nonprofit in 2024. Our mission is to provide a sanctuary for senior and special needs domestic animals while offering pet retention programs to our community. We have chosen to focus on the pet retention programs. We offer seniors and disabled community members daily assistance with their pets like walking and clean up, feeding and watering assistance, medication administration assistance, annual shots and a pet food program. We have looked into grants for community betterment and underserved population but we cant seem to find grants that connect assisting seniors/disabled with keeping their pets. Our focus is on providing the care needed to make sure they do not have to surrender their pet for a health financial reason. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to word what we do so we can find the right grants? Thank you!!

#FundraisingandDevelopment

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Vinessa Tafoya
Founder/CEO
M Doo Animal Sanctuary and PRP
NM
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Hi Vanessa, 

First of all, I think your program is amazing and we need more of them across the country! 

Second, if you want to privately send me an example of a grant you would  like to/have already applied to and your application materials, I would be happy to review them. I would try and focus on preventing strain on the local shelter - by preventing surrenders with these vital services, you are preventing additional resource strain on the public animal shelter. Have you reached out to local townships/cities where you work? 

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Maura Matvey
Grants Coordinator
A Cat's Life Rescue
MD
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Original Message:
Sent: 8/1/2026 9:11:00 AM
From: Maura Matvey
Subject: RE: Finding Grants for our organization has been difficult

Hi Vanessa, 

First of all, I think your program is amazing and we need more of them across the country! 

Second, if you want to privately send me an example of a grant you would  like to/have already applied to and your application materials, I would be happy to review them. I would try and focus on preventing strain on the local shelter - by preventing surrenders with these vital services, you are preventing additional resource strain on the public animal shelter. Have you reached out to local townships/cities where you work? 

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Maura Matvey
Grants Coordinator
A Cat's Life Rescue
MD
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HI Vanessa, congrats on your new nonprofit and thank you for what you do. You are right, animal welfare is the least serviced area in grants, and it is competitive. Here are some that might help you. 

1.     Petco Love - Access to Care
This covers vaccines, spay/neuter, low-cost veterinary access, and "pet retention/community veterinary support." There is a September 30 deadline, with the cycle opening September 1.

2.     You can also receive vaccines that you can administer from Petco Love.

2. PetSmart Charities - Improving Access to Veterinary Care
A very strong match for community vaccines, wellness services, and helping pets remain with their families. This may require a veterinary partner or a clearly structured access-to-care program.

3. Mars Petcare - Better Cities for Pets / Community Partnerships- I am not sure if they are doing this currently, but worth looking into.
Strong for broader retention work, particularly pet-friendly housing, access to services, and removing community barriers that cause people to surrender animals.

4. Elanco Foundation - Pet Health / Food Security Partnerships
Potentially strong for a pet-food pantry combined with wellness or preventive-care assistance. The human–animal bond and keeping families together would be central to the framing.

5. Zoetis Foundation - Veterinary Access Grants
Good for veterinary access, but would probably be stronger with a clinic or veterinary coalition partner.

6. Stater Bros. Charities
Depending where you live, if there are Stater Bros stores (or check other stores for community grants). You could frame requests around pet well-being and keeping families together. This could support food, vaccines, or emergency assistance on a modest scale.

Other possible but less direct options include Albertsons/Vons/Pavilions, Costco, Kaiser Permanente, Hoag, Pacific Life, and Nationwide. Those would need to be framed around family stability, mental health, older adults, housing instability, or crisis prevention, rather than simply animal rescue.

I would build one reusable grant program concept such as:

Keeping Pets and Families Together Program
Provides low-income and crisis-affected (where you serve) families with vaccinations, basic veterinary care, pet food, and limited emergency assistance to prevent avoidable owner surrender.

Then tailor it for:

• Petco/PetSmart/Zoetis: veterinary access and vaccines

• Elanco/grocery foundations: pet food and basic needs

• Mars: housing and community access

• health/community funders: family stability and the human–animal bond

I hope this helps!

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PJ Rosch

CEO & Top Dog

Pronouns: she, her, hers

The Little Red Dog, Inc.

We are a 501(c)3 non-profit

pj@thelittlereddog.org

949-280-2223

thelittlereddog.org
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 8/1/2026 1:08:00 PM
From: PJ Rosch (she, her, hers)
Subject: RE: Finding Grants for our organization has been difficult

HI Vanessa, congrats on your new nonprofit and thank you for what you do. You are right, animal welfare is the least serviced area in grants, and it is competitive. Here are some that might help you. 

1.     Petco Love - Access to Care
This covers vaccines, spay/neuter, low-cost veterinary access, and "pet retention/community veterinary support." There is a September 30 deadline, with the cycle opening September 1.

2.     You can also receive vaccines that you can administer from Petco Love.

2. PetSmart Charities - Improving Access to Veterinary Care
A very strong match for community vaccines, wellness services, and helping pets remain with their families. This may require a veterinary partner or a clearly structured access-to-care program.

3. Mars Petcare - Better Cities for Pets / Community Partnerships- I am not sure if they are doing this currently, but worth looking into.
Strong for broader retention work, particularly pet-friendly housing, access to services, and removing community barriers that cause people to surrender animals.

4. Elanco Foundation - Pet Health / Food Security Partnerships
Potentially strong for a pet-food pantry combined with wellness or preventive-care assistance. The human–animal bond and keeping families together would be central to the framing.

5. Zoetis Foundation - Veterinary Access Grants
Good for veterinary access, but would probably be stronger with a clinic or veterinary coalition partner.

6. Stater Bros. Charities
Depending where you live, if there are Stater Bros stores (or check other stores for community grants). You could frame requests around pet well-being and keeping families together. This could support food, vaccines, or emergency assistance on a modest scale.

Other possible but less direct options include Albertsons/Vons/Pavilions, Costco, Kaiser Permanente, Hoag, Pacific Life, and Nationwide. Those would need to be framed around family stability, mental health, older adults, housing instability, or crisis prevention, rather than simply animal rescue.

I would build one reusable grant program concept such as:

Keeping Pets and Families Together Program
Provides low-income and crisis-affected (where you serve) families with vaccinations, basic veterinary care, pet food, and limited emergency assistance to prevent avoidable owner surrender.

Then tailor it for:

• Petco/PetSmart/Zoetis: veterinary access and vaccines

• Elanco/grocery foundations: pet food and basic needs

• Mars: housing and community access

• health/community funders: family stability and the human–animal bond

I hope this helps!

------------------------------
PJ Rosch

CEO & Top Dog

Pronouns: she, her, hers

The Little Red Dog, Inc.

We are a 501(c)3 non-profit

pj@thelittlereddog.org

949-280-2223

thelittlereddog.org
------------------------------