Every month, we receive countless calls from community members needing help. These calls consist of owner surrenders, stray reports, and lost dog reports–in addition to the dozens of calls requesting services. Gateway Pet Guardians recognizes that we cannot intake every animal in need as we field these calls, and we rely heavily on strong partnerships with rescue organizations in the area. When we can’t say yes, many times they can.
Last fall, Maddie’s Fund awarded Gateway Pet Guardians an Innovation Grant for $3,000 to be used to save more lives through our networking program. Partnering organizations work to make space and arrange their budget to accommodate animals when they can, but many require vetting to determine if the animal is a candidate for their organization. With this grant, we can provide the receiving organization with the vetting that they need.
Furthermore, this grant also empowers families to serve as temporary foster homes until a networking partner is identified. For many reasons, we prefer pets to remain in their homes as long as possible and avoid an unnecessary stop at our shelter.
Scrappy and her babies make up one of the dozens of stories this grant has impacted. Scrappy’s dad called because he needed to find her a new home. While we worked to secure resources to intake her, Scrappy surprised us and had eight tiny babies! Now, requiring even more resources, we reached out to our partners to see who might be able to help Scrappy and her puppies. Scrappy’s dad fostered her and her puppies while we secured a safe place for them to go. Thanks to the APA of Missouri, Scrappy and pups have made their way into rescue!
Maddie’s Fund®is a family foundation created in 1994 by Workday® co-founder Dave Duffield and his wife, Cheryl, who have endowed the Foundation with more than $300 million. Since then, the Foundation has awarded more than $225.7 million in grants toward increased community lifesaving, shelter management leadership, shelter medicine education, and foster care across the U.S. The Duffields named Maddie’s Fund after their Miniature Schnauzer Maddie, who always made them laugh and gave them much joy. Maddie was with Dave and Cheryl for ten years and continues to inspire them today.
Maddie’s Fund is the fulfillment of a promise to an inspirational dog, investing its resources to create a no-kill nation where every dog and cat is guaranteed a healthy home or habitat. #ThanksToMaddie.
