Thursday, July 30, 2009

Erie County SPCA gets $5 million "no kill" grant

The Buffalo News reported that the Erie County SPCA and its partners — public and private shelters countywide—have been awarded a $5 million grant that will be used to help pets and pet owners, making all shelters no-kill facilities within five years.

“We should be proud of this,“ said Carr. “Maybe we can’t get the Stanley Cup or win the big football games, but we have a community that’s going to make sure all healthy and treatable animals have a home.”

“I never thought, that in my professional lifetime, that I would be able to make an announcement like this,” said Carr, the SPCA’s executive director. “The grant is a tremendous testament to our fabulous community.”

Special programs will be developed to deal with the feral cat and pit bull terrier populations.
Already, the SPCA is well on its way to the no-kill goal.

At the Tuesday afternoon news conference where the grant was announced, Carr said: “We picked this day for this news conference . . . because today marks one year at the SPCA where no healthy animal has been euthanized.”

Maddie’s Fund, the Pet Rescue Foundation, was created in 1999 in memory of Dave and Cheryl Duffield’s miniature schnauzer, with the goal of creating a “no-kill nation” for all healthy shelter dogs and cats.

The grant to the SPCA is only the 10th community collaborative award since the fund was established.

Partnering with the SPCA are Buffalo Humane, City of Buffalo Animal Shelter, HEART, Operation PETS: The Spay/Neuter Clinic of Western New York, Second Chance Sheltering Network and Ten Lives Club. Read more here.

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