More than $60,000 awarded 2 Warwick animal welfare groups

Posted 12/11/14

Two Warwick nonprofit groups will be able to offer low-cost veterinary care to needy pet owners thanks to more than $60,000 in grants from the Rhode Island Foundation through its Program for Animal …

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More than $60,000 awarded 2 Warwick animal welfare groups

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Two Warwick nonprofit groups will be able to offer low-cost veterinary care to needy pet owners thanks to more than $60,000 in grants from the Rhode Island Foundation through its Program for Animal Welfare (PAW).

“The generous support of our donors and the dedication of our grantees is expanding humane education, raising awareness and increasing the quality of animal care in Rhode Island,” said Adrian Boney, the grants program officer who oversees PAW at the Foundation. “New approaches to animal welfare and humane education are emerging and our animal welfare grant program is supporting a wide variety of programs from a diverse array of organizations and community efforts across the state.”

PAAWS RI of Warwick was awarded $35,000 to underwrite the cost of providing veterinary assistance to the animals of low-income pet owners as well as routine medical attention, shelter and adoption services and the Ocean State Animal Coalition (OSAC) of Warwick was awarded $26,600 to offer subsidized spay and neuter services for dogs and cats to needy pet owners statewide, humane education and strategic planning.

“Our mission is to improve the status and well-being of animals in our State.  This grant will enable us to provide spay/neuter services to the pets of impoverished owners and to educate children - the next generation of pet owners - about pet responsibility, empathy and respect, as we work to make RI a humane community,” Liz Skrobisch, OSAC’s executive director said in a statement.

PAW funds organizations that promote and provide humane treatment of animals or work more generally on the welfare of animals. Grants are for projects or programs that have a positive impact statewide or in individual communities with regard to animal care, education about the humane treatment of animals and animal welfare in general.

“Animal welfare grants actually reach much further than is obvious. For instance, a grant to help emergency pet sheltering saves human lives because people will heed evacuation warnings if they have somewhere to take their pets, where they would not if they had to leave their pets in harm’s way,” said Dr. Scott Marshall, Rhode Island State Veterinarian.

The Warwick grants were among nearly $440,000 that the Foundation awarded to 27 animal welfare programs across the state that do everything from providing homes for humane education programs to rescuing injured seals.

PAW is funded with assistance from the Virginia B. Butler Fund, Abbie A. Brougham Memorial Fund, John B. and Ruth L. Kilton Fund, Helen Walker Raleigh Animal Fund, Dawn, Gregg and Leland Weingeroff Animal Fund, Mary Lou Crandall Fund, Vinny Animal Welfare Fund, Vernon and Mary Pierce Fund, Ginger, Sheba and Susie Carr Fund and Jeanne Marie Mehmed Fund.

The largest award was made to the Providence Animal Rescue League, which received $46,036 to expand ongoing neighborhood outreach, plan community-wide events and offer free or very-low-cost services such as pet wellness care, spay and neuter surgeries, humane education and dog training.

Other major grants are $39,000 to Tails to Teach in East Greenwich to expand its humane education programs to more schools as well as recruiting and training more classroom volunteers and $36,000 to the Robert Potter League for Animals of Newport to help lower-income owners care for their pets and to support Aquidneck Island’s Coyote Best Management Practices and No Feeding Ordinances.

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