Maddie's Fund Grant Offers $15.5 Million for NYC's Homeless Animals - Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals, Inc. - Working with the City of New York to promote dog and cat adoption and spay and neuter programs to make New York a no-kill city.

Home > The Alliance in the News > 2004 Alliance News Items > Maddie's Fund Grant Offers $15.5 Million for NYC's Homeless Animals

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, December 20, 2004

Maddie's Fund Grant Offers $15.5 Million for NYC's Homeless Animals

New York, NY – Monday, December 20, 2004 – The Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals and the Veterinary Medical Association of New York City (VMANYC) today announced they have been awarded a first year Maddie's Fund grant to create life-saving programs that will end the killing of healthy and treatable homeless animals in New York City. As goals are achieved, Maddie's Fund will provide up to $15.5 million over the next seven years, beginning in January 2005.

"This grant will help make New York a more humane city. I want to thank Maddie's Fund for their generous grant and congratulate the Alliance for all their work in procuring this grant," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Approximately $9.5 million of the Maddie's Fund grant will be spent to increase pet adoptions, and $6 million will be allocated to provide subsidies to low-income New Yorkers for spay and neuter surgeries for their pets. The spay/neuter program will be administered by the VMANYC, which partnered with the Mayor's Alliance in applying for the grant. The VMANYC expects its member veterinarians to perform 14,000 spay/neuter surgeries in the first year alone.

The Veterinary Medical Association of NYC is one of the oldest veterinary associations in the U.S., having been founded in 1894. Currently, it has some 260 members in private practice and/or working at not-for-profit veterinary institutions located within the NY Metropolitan area.

The Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals, established in 2002, is a coalition of 65 animal rescue groups and shelters that are working with the City of New York to find homes for all of the city's homeless cats and dogs. "Transforming New York City into a no-kill environment is a tremendous challenge for everyone involved — the shelters and rescue groups, New York City's Animal Care & Control, and the citizens of our great city," said Mayor's Alliance President Jane Hoffman. "Now, powered by Maddie's Fund's financial support and its demonstrated faith in New York's ability to tackle the difficult challenges ahead, we are confident that New York will succeed in becoming a no-kill city in the foreseeable future." The Alliance aims to increase above-baseline adoptions and decrease the number of dogs and cats euthanized in New York shelters by 2,800 in the first project year.

Allocation of the Maddie's Fund grant will map to the Alliance's ten-year business plan that features four core objectives: 1) increase the number of adoptions; 2) decrease animal homelessness; 3) raise public awareness of local shelter and rescue organizations and their animals; and 4) strengthen the Mayor's Alliance shelters' and rescue groups' current efforts and resources.

The grant offers about one-third of the total amount of money needed to fund these core programs over ten years. Additional funding will be raised from other sources, including individual contributions, corporate sponsorships, and foundation grants.

Maddie's Fund, the Pet Rescue Foundation is a $200 million family foundation established in 1999 to help communities throughout the U.S. eliminate the unnecessary killing of healthy and treatable homeless animals merely because they do not have homes. The foundation was created by Dave Duffield, founder, Chairman and CEO of the Silicon Valley-based software giant PeopleSoft, and his wife, Cheryl, in honor of the beloved family Miniature Schnauzer, Maddie, who passed away in 1997.

For more information about the Mayor's Alliance and its Participating Organizations, please visit the Alliance web site at www.AnimalAllianceNYC.org.

For more information about the VMANYC, please visit the VMANYC web site at www.nysave.org/vmanyc.html.

For more information about Maddie's Fund, please visit their web site at www.maddiesfund.org.

Contact:

Jane Hoffman, President and Chair of the Board

Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals

Phone: (212) 252-2350

Fax: (212) 591-6383

E-mail: info@AnimalAllianceNYC.org

Web Site: http://www.AnimalAllianceNYC.org

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