Big Things Happening!

Mar 06, 2015

 

In shelters everywhere, big adult dogs have an especially hard time finding adopters. Many spend several months in APA!’s shelter, longing for the day when someone will take them home.

Our dog behavior and matchmaker programs are doing great work in solving this problem by making our dogs more attractive to adopters. In 2014, the behavior team conducted 1,000 hours of playgroup, nearly 2,000 hours in training and prepared approximately 70 dogs for the Canine Good Citizen test (that doesn't include the number of well-trained though not CGC-focused pups).

Meanwhile, matchmakers spend time getting to know the dogs and getting to know potential adopters so they can find the perfect dog for each family’s lifestyle.

As a result, more long-stay dogs (dogs that have been with us more than 90 days) found homes in 2014 than in any other year we have been in operation.

Now, two incredible foundations have recognized our progress. A huge thank you to the Meadows Foundation for supporting us in turning up the volume of our matchmaker program. The Petco Foundation will support our growth for the next two years with a generous grant of $200,000, some of which will be instrumental in the advancement of APA!'s dog- focused programming.

The Meadows Foundation is among the most recognized private philanthropies in the country both for its grantmaking and for its active engagement in advancing the field of private philanthropy.

The Petco Foundation, an independent nonprofit organization, has raised more than $125 million since it was created in 1999 to help promote and improve the welfare of companion animals.