Scooter the Jack Russell Terrier has decided that playing “chase the squirrel” is the absolute, No. 1 thing on his list of priorities. But what Scooter doesn’t know is that darting across the street in the middle of traffic is a recipe for disaster.
Scooter is rushed to the animal hospital by his pet parents, and the veterinarian’s diagnosis calls for surgery. Those pangs of dread start to rise in his humans’ hearts. In this economic climate, how can they possibly afford the expense? They love Scooter, but need help.
It’s hard to imagine finding help in this situation. With most people focused on the state of human health care in the United States at this moment, you’d be hard-pressed to find many people scrambling to gather funds for animals in need of medical assistance.
But in 2005, the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) did just that, filling a huge gap in veterinary care. It created a fund focused on helping pet parents under financial hardship pay for their pets’ medical needs. AAHA formed the AAHA Helping Pets Fund, which, as its website describes, is intended to “Help those in need access quality veterinary care for sick or injured pets.” Funds are distributed among 3,000 AAHA-accredited veterinary practices across the United States and Canada for animals needing emergency and non-elective veterinary care.
The AAHA Helping Pets Fund is currently the only charitable organization that provides financial aid for necessary veterinary treatment of sick and injured pets throughout the U.S. and Canada.
Tamara Fox, fund administrator and the woman at the helm behind the scenes, says, “The foundation’s mission overall is to improve the life of pets.”
The fund not only helps low-income families, or families suffering temporary financial hardship, but also selfless veterinarians trying to get care for abandoned animals that have come into their facilities. In essence, AAHA Helping Pets is the emergency Santa Paws for many animals and their families, granting holiday miracles all year long.
“We work on keeping pets with their families,” says Fox with great humility. “When a family is faced with a huge medical expense, they’ll opt for euthanasia or leave the animal with animal shelters.”
Fox says that AAHA Helping Pets focuses on these particular families, hoping that they can keep animals in homes and do their part in relieving the shelter overpopulation crisis.
“We are trying to fill a niche that hasn’t received a lot of attention, and in turn reduce the amount of euthanasia that’s based purely on economics,” says Fox. “There’s so much attention on stray animals and animals in shelters, and that’s a huge problem as well, but if you can control how many are being given up, then the burden of shelters can be reduced as well.”
With this foresight, Fox is successfully navigating a smooth grant-making process, helping hundreds of pets get the medical care they need. In April 2010, AAHA Helping Pets will celebrate its fifth anniversary, and also celebrate having helped nearly 3,000 pets over the years.
Despite the fund’s success, the recession came knocking on its door this past year.
In March 2009, AAHA Helping Pets was mentioned in USA Today’s USA Weekend Magazine. Pet parents in financial need were directed to call AAHA for help with their pets’ medical bills, and Fox says pet parents did just that. In just two weeks, the overwhelming influx of grant applications exhausted its last eight weeks of funds. By April, AAHA Helping Pets had completely run out of funds for its fiscal year, which ends in June.
“We had to suspend grants for six weeks,” says Fox. “Luckily, VPI Pet Insurance called us because they had heard we suspended grants. They asked what we needed to start up again.”
Fox, who is active as @AAHAHelpingPets on Twitter, had tweeted word of the fund’s financial problems with no particular agenda other than to garner support. It was via this unconventional outlet that VPI heard about the fund’s troubles. VPI was able to help the fund continue through June.
Still, Fox is worried that the same problem will occur this fiscal year. Since being mentioned in USA Weekend, AAHA Helping Pets has seen a steady increase in the number of requests, a tell-tale sign of the need for such a fund.
“At this point, I’m receiving 50 to 60 applications every month. Even with our cap funding, that’s close to double of what we’re bringing in every month in donations,” says Fox. “Donations are down this year, while grant applications are up, and we’re concerned we’ll hit that point this year where we’ll have to suspend grants again.”
AAHA Helping Pets receives most of its funding from its gracious members, veterinary practices across the nation and Canada. They also reach out to the veterinary industry, but funds are not always guaranteed.
“It’s sort of like a federal grant – you can’t really depend on it,” says Fox. “In a recession, a lot of people focus on assistance for humans and so it is harder to get your name out there if you work with animals.”
With so many competing for the same funds, it becomes more difficult to plead the case for emergency veterinary funds when equally deserving and well-intentioned organizations and rescues, such as the ASPCA and others, are also in need. While the national focus is on helping animals already in shelters find homes, AAHA Helping Pets presents an unconventional way of keeping animals out of shelters and saves them from possibly being euthanized.
The fact that it’s an organization helping people with pets in financial need might be another reason why many might not suspect the organization itself may be in financial need to continue its mission. But AAHA Helping Pets Fund is most definitely in need of the support of animal lovers who believe in its cause.
“Did you know that it is the modest donor that enables charitable causes to thrive?” asks its website. ”Large numbers of small gifts are the lifeblood of charitable giving. Furthermore, educating others about the need and ways they can help is just as valuable as a monetary gift.”
Spreading the word is exactly what Fox says supporters can do to help the initiative. She asks that supporters not only help with monetary donations, but also make it a point to tell everyone they know about the fund.
“We have a lot of people who share our name with people who need financial assistance for their pet’s medical needs, but not enough people advocating for the fact that we need help raising the funds to do this,” she says.
Fox described how one supporter threw a birthday party for her pet, and rather than accept gifts, asked her friends and family to donate to AAHA Helping Pets in her dog’s name. An innovative idea such as this also gets word of AAHA’s cause into more households and onto more pet lover’s lips. As the word spreads, the funds increase.
This holiday season, consider making a donation to AAHA Helping Pets. Find A Vet is trying to do its part by telling our readers about AAHA and Fox’s wonderful dedication. Please do your part and send a link to this article to every pet lover you know. Your support and donation will help an animal in need, and help keep him or her in a happy home.
Checks can be mailed to:
AAHA Helping Pets Fund
12575 W. Bayaud Avenue
Denver, CO 80228
You can also donate online at www.aahahelpingpets.org.
PHOTOS: AAHAHelpingPets.org and courtesy of Tamara Fox
Category : News
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