Completed Special Projects
Gulf Coast Project: A Joint Project of Maddie's Fund and The Humane Society of the United States
Awarded: 2007-08
Funding: $999,700
Social Marketing Research: $377,200
According to available data, the percent of spayed or neutered dogs and cats in Mississippi and Louisiana is significantly lower than national norms. With lower rates of pet sterilization, a factor in the high rates of animal relinquishment and abandonment that continues in Gulf Coast shelters, Maddie's Fund and The Humane Society of the United States joined forces on a social marketing project to overcome the barriers to spay/neuter in the Gulf Coast region. The project aimed to identify which Louisiana and Mississippi pet owners are not spaying or neutering, why they are not inclined to alter their pets, what messages are most likely to influence them to change their behavior, and what messengers and media are most credible to effectively deliver that message. Information gleaned from the project was used by HSUS to design a two-state, $2 million social marketing campaign to encourage pet owning families to spay or neuter their pets.
Shelter Funding: $622,500
To determine progress in reaching lower shelter intakes, Maddie's Fund and HSUS partnered with 57 animal shelters throughout Louisiana and Mississippi (25 in Mississippi; 32 in Louisiana) to gather and publish shelter data from the years 2005- 2010. Shelters will track intake and disposition numbers using Asilomar Accords definitions and tables. In return, they will each be given Maddie's Fund grants of up to $15,000. HSUS will contribute an additional $5,000 per shelter. The unrestricted cash grants will allow each agency to further their own mission and goals in whatever way they choose. The HSUS and Maddie's Fund have promised a total of $907,500.
Animal Emergency Response Network
Awarded: 2005
Funding: $200,000
Wanting to help the animals after Hurricane Katrina, Maddie's Fund contacted Petfinder.com to see if we could collaborate on the creation of a centralized database to track displaced pets.
Petfinder.com was already working on a similar idea, but the promise of added resources from Maddie's Fund gave the company the impetus to hire new staff, purchase new equipment and get the Animal Emergency Response Network (AERN) up and running in a matter of days.
The AERN maintained data on 22,968 animals found or rescued by individuals and shelters in the disaster area. The system also handled 25,868 rescue requests by people who had to leave their pets behind and posted 8,530 lost pet queries. In addition, AERN listed 16,466 offers to foster pets and 8,447 offers to volunteer. Initially, 798,087 people visited the AERN with 47,607,105 total hits and 7,034,792 total page views.
The AERN organized data from hundreds of collaborating individuals and agencies, including the nationally recognized HSUS, ASPCA, Best Friends Animal Society, AHA, and United Animal Nations (EARS).
Although Katrina's aftermath is gradually dissipating, the AERN now stands ready to assist pets displaced in future disasters.
