Paws on Your Heart Pet Rescue Support Fund

Pet rescue services, if they exist at all, operate with never-enough funding from a limited number of sources. Adoption fees cover only a small fraction of rescue expenses; donations and other funding need to cover the rest. The Paws on Your Heart Pet Rescue Support fund was set up to make such donations, in the form of annual grants, to support the good work of deserving pet rescue services in Iowa.

Most such services are devoted to rescuing pets. These pets may be strays, owner surrenders, rescues during natural disasters, retired breeders, or rescues involving hoarded, abandoned, or maltreated pets. In many cases, they may also be transfers from other animal shelters. This happens if the other shelter is overcrowded, if the pet is approaching its euthanasia date, or if the pet is sick or injured and the shelter lacks the space, time, experience, and/or funds to take care of them.

Medical care is a common need. At a minimum, funds are needed for spaying or neutering – an important effort to help to control overpopulation and to prevent more litters of unwanted pets. In addition, funds may be needed for veterinary expenses to pay for such things as orthopedic repairs; tumor removal; control of infections or allergies; treatment of pneumonia, parvovirus, and chronic diseases; and more.

In addition, some rescues provide considerable services to their communities. Examples include free vaccination clinics for community-owned pets, and donations of pet supplies following natural disasters.

To help address needs like these, our Paws on Your Heart Pet Rescue Support fund was started by our family and has been supplemented by our generous donors. With our grants, we hope to reach deserving small rescues for whom our grants will have a big impact on the animals they care for. By making a donation to our Fund, you can join us in supporting great rescue groups that are helping neglected pets and are saving their lives, here in Iowa, one pet at a time.

To assure that you can PARTICIPATE in seeing your gift in action, we send a letter to all donors each winter, showcasing photos and success stories about the good rescue work of our current grantees. We promise you that these stories will be memorable!