Save the Lives of Shelter Pets in North America

November is Adopt-A-Senior-Pet Month, and we're pleased to announce that we've launched a new, $50,000 grant program to get older dogs out of shelters and into loving homes. Designed to eliminate barriers standing between senior dogs and adoption, grants from this fund will be used to subsidize adoption fees, pay for transportation to forever homes or cover a lifetime of needed medication.

Your donations will help deserving dogs like these sweet seniors who have already been saved with help from our grants:

Otis
The Petfinder Foundation's grant to Frosted Faces Foundation in San Diego helped Otis, who ended up at a shelter at age 11 after his home burned down. Otis's owner perished in the fire, and Otis likely only survived because he'd lived his entire life outdoors. He was emaciated and had infected skin and multiple tumors. Frosted Faces pulled him from the shelter and got him the medical treatment he needed, and Otis spent the rest of his life in the care of a devoted best friend who adored him and made his every moment special.

Kira
Kira, a 12-year-old standard poodle, arrived in the care of Forget-Me-Not Animal Shelter in Republic, Wash., having lost most of her hair. Forget-Me-Not's vets discovered that Kira suffered from a hereditary autoimmune condition that affected her skin, and she had gone her entire life without relief (she also needed to have 18 teeth removed!). Our grant helped Forget-Me-Not get Kira treatment and place her with a loving adopter who enjoys pampering Kira with appropriate lotions to soothe her sensitive skin.

Penny Ann
Penny Ann came to Max's Hope Pet Rescue in Hopkinsville, Ky., after her person moved to a nursing home. At 10 years old, she was infested with fleas and had rotting teeth and a huge tumor on her abdomen. Our grant enabled Max's Hope to get her healthy; she spent time in a foster home and even served as a therapy dog at a day-care facility for people with Alzheimer's, where she loved the attention and was a huge hit with the clients. Penny Ann has since gone to live out the rest of her days being spoiled by her adoring new mom.

Stormy Rae
A scared and neglected senior terrier, Stormy Rae was riddled with mammary tumors as a result of overbreeding when she was surrendered to a California shelter. She was pulled by 6Dogrees Rescue in Seattle, which had her tumors removed and helped Stormy Rae overcome the fear that had caused her to be labeled a biter. Today, she has a wonderful home and is a very happy girl.

Your donations will help us get more wonderful senior dogs like these out of shelters and into the loving homes they so deserve. Thank you for all your support for pets in need.

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As catastrophic flooding has devastated Louisiana, the Petfinder Foundation is rushing funds to the organizations working to save the region's pets. These are the shelters we've sent grant money to already; we continue to send funds as groups contact us.

Rescutopia's Happy Tails Island
Savannah Brown, founder of the Baton Rouge cat-rescue group, tells us, "All of our foster homes are flooded and all pet supplies were destroyed. We need food, blankets, towels, crates, heartworm medications, flea preventative and anything else we can get. We focus on the East Baton Rouge and Livingston Parish Area; both areas have been 90 percent flooded. We have taken in several homeless pets who were evacuated. All of South Louisiana is completely devastated, as a flood like this has never occurred. The flooding is worse than Katrina. Our community is devastated."

We sent Rescuetopia $1,000, which will be used to pay for food, crates, pet supplies and any medical treatment that may be required.

Zeus' Rescues
The New Orleans shelter did not flood, but it has taken in more than 160 cats, kittens, dogs and puppies from shelters north of it that did -- and many more are expected. Most of them have had minimal vaccinations and are not spayed or neutered; all will need to be altered and microchipped prior to being adopted at the reduced cost of $75 per animal.

Volunteer Kellie Grengs describes the desperate situation: "Shelter director Michelle Ingram and volunteers have driven in flood waters for the past four days to reach shelters that have taken on several feet of water. On Sunday, Aug. 14, Michelle pulled more than 60 animals from the Sorrento no-kill shelter and we expect more.

"Numerous shelters just a few miles north of us were impacted. One was overwhelmed by fast-rising flood waters and all they could do was open the kennels and let the dogs swim free so they didn't drown. Rescue boats are in the process of saving human lives first and animals second. Michelle is on the scene pulling these animals and caring for them with a team of volunteers. Our shelter averages 400 adoptions annually; this will put a great strain on our already-limited resources, but we simply could not let these animals drown."

We sent Zeus' Rescues $2,500 to offset the costs of spaying and neutering the rescued pets. "Thank you so much!" Grengs says. "Last week was a whirl! We vetted 62 cats and one dog on Saturday afternoon alone and shipped 10,000 lbs. of dog/cat food and supplies to the flooded shelters. It was wild, to say the least. So many of the wonderful animals are in foster and will be getting adopted soon!"

Animal Aid for Vermilion Area
"Vermilion Parish and surrounding areas have been devastated by flooding," says Roxanne Bayard, vice president of the Abbeville, La., shelter. "Many animals have drowned and waters continue to rise. We are having to evacuate homes with pets as well as the shelter to avoid animals drowning. We need to purchase crates, leashes, collars, cleaning supplies, new bedding, fans, litter, litter boxes and food. Many animals need emergency vetting due to injuries sustained in the flooding." We sent $2,500 to help with these expenses.

Your donation enables us to continue to help shelters and rescue groups when disasters like this one strike!

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