California

Support from Grey Muzzle will allow Pet Rescue Pilots to perform a seniors-only rescue mission, flying precious furry passengers eight years of age and older out of overcrowded rural California shelters, where they have less than a 25% adoption rate, and landing them where they belong: directly in loving arms. Funds will cover costs associated with the flight carrying between 20 and 30 at-risk senior shelter dogs like Nell, who found himself in an overcrowded facility in rural California with a slim chance of being adopted. With more families looking to adopt in the Pacific Northwest than pets available in shelters, Nell hopped a flight with Pet Rescue Pilots to Oregon where his forever family was waiting for him on the tarmac. A seniors-only flight will not only land at-risk senior shelter pets in loving homes, but will also raise awareness that senior shelter pets need foster and forever families, highlight the many benefits of welcoming a senior pet into your home, and increase adoptions  of even more senior shelter pets beyond those on this very special rescue flight.

Pet Rescue Pilots is a nonprofit organization that helps with the immediate needs of pet relocation by air, while helping shape long-term solutions to manage the increasing number of pets in need of forever homes. With a network of pilots and pet rescue groups going the distance to help homeless pets in need, Pet Rescue Pilots transports pets from overcrowded rural shelters in California and lands them in loving homes up the west coast of the United States and in Canada.

The Grey Muzzle Organization grant will support Leave No Paws Behind, Inc.’s “People Helping People, Helping Paws” low-cost veterinary hospital program, providing lifesaving veterinary care for 30 senior dogs in Southern  California. 

Leave No Paws Behind, Inc. (LNPB) is an all-breed animal rescue specializing in seniors, terminally ill, and special needs shelter pets. LNPB provides hospice care, comfort, love, and a safe haven for animals with life-limiting conditions. Since its founding in 2011, LNPB has rescued over 1,500 shelter dogs. Their newest program, “People, Helping People, Helping Paws” low-cost veterinary hospital, serves under-resourced communities to ensure pets stay with their families and out of shelters.

Funds from Grey Muzzle will support Max’s Get ‘Em to the Vet program. This program provides dog owners up to $500 in immediate funding paid to the veterinary practice so their pet can be quickly evaluated and treated. The Grey Muzzle grant will provide hope and help to senior dogs in a health emergency.

Founded in 2016, Max’s Helping Paws provides financial lifelines to low-income, Monterey County residents whose pets are facing a health crisis. Their mission is to reduce surrender, suffering, and euthanasia that often result from a pet guardian’s inability to afford needed veterinary care. Max’s Helping Paws aims to reduce the fear and stress of getting urgent, unplanned veterinary care, giving families and pets a second chance at life and love.

With Grey Muzzle’s support, the Animal Rescue Mission (ARM) will provide senior dogs with needed behavioral and medical services. The senior dogs ARM rescues have often survived extreme abuse and neglect, and their medical needs are extensive and costly. The grant will not only help the senior dogs currently in ARM's care, but will also make it possible for them to rescue more senior dogs like Max.

The Animal Rescue Mission (ARM) was created to rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome unwanted pets while educating the public on how to provide a safer, happier world for all animals. Their goal is to ensure that every formerly homeless, abused, and neglected animal receives the rehabilitation they need and is matched with a permanent loving home.

A grant from The Grey Muzzle Organization will help BirchBark provide financial assistance to approximately 30 senior dogs in need of emergency dental care. These funds will ensure that senior dogs like Ludy have many more wonderful years together with their loving families.

BirchBark Foundation (BBF) protects and honors the human-animal bond in the central California counties of Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito. Their focus is on providing financial assistance to economically vulnerable families who simply can’t afford the lifesaving care their pet needs. By helping these families with crisis veterinary care, BBF saves innocent lives and keeps families together. In addition, BBF honors the critical bond with animals through its Pet Loss a

Affordable senior pet care services are in high demand. The Grey Muzzle grant will help meet this demand by allowing Mercy Crusade to provide veterinary care to prevent the surrender or euthanasia of a pet when the owner cannot afford treatment. Funding will subsidize health screenings and preventative treatments for senior dogs. 

Since 1949, Mercy Crusade Inc., a 501(C)(3) organization, has been devoted to promoting humane treatment and spay/neuter of our domesticated pets. With a significant demand in Ventura County for affordable spay/neuter services, The Spay Neuter Clinic was opened in Oxnard, CA in 2001. In 2011, services were expanded to include the Wellness Clinic. Mercy Crusade is currently the only nonprofit, affordable veterinary clinic in the area.

A Grey Muzzle grant will enable HSSC’s Community Veterinary Clinic (CVC) to provide dental procedures for senior dogs whose owners are at risk of having to surrender their beloved companions because they can’t afford veterinary care. Many senior dogs treated at the CVC have had their dental care deferred for  years, necessitating urgent procedures to address advanced dental disease. Often, they’ve stopped eating due to painful teeth and gums, and their owners are heartsick over their condition. HSSC’s partnership with Grey Muzzle helps senior dogs like Bobby get their smiles back and keeps them in the arms of the families who love them.

Founded in 1931, the Humane Society of Sonoma County (HSSC) has a longstanding tradition of offering hope to animals in need of a second chance. Their mission is to ensure that every animal receives protection, compassion, love, and care. HSSC strives for positive outcomes for every animal by providing lifesaving medical care, individualized behavior support, and adoption into loving homes.

The grant from The Grey Muzzle Organization will be used to pay for dental care, including preliminary blood work, for both senior dogs whose people can’t afford these services and senior dogs in HPHS' care. The grant will help dogs like Tilly, a senior border collie,who arrived at HPHS at the age of 14 after the death of her elderly owner. Thanks to the HPHS dental program she got the care she needed and is now living happily with her foster family.

The High Plateau Humane Society (HPHS) is an all-volunteer rescue established in 1987 in the northeastern corner of California.  In addition to cat and dog rescue and re-homing, it provides low-cost spay and neuter, immunization, dental and emergency medical care certificates to low-income households in Modoc County. It also offers a free dog and cat food pantry. HPHS is the only organization in Modoc County providing these services.

Animal Fix Clinic keeps senior dogs healthy and at home with their families through access to top-notch surgical care, regardless of the dog's age or their guardian's ability to pay. AFC offers high-quality, high-volume spay/neuter services to address pet overpopulation and to reduce the risk of late-in-life health complications, plus a wide range of other essential and urgent surgeries to save and improve the lives of senior dogs. When Rocky (age 12, pictured) needed a delicate surgery to have several tumors removed, AFC was able to provide his care, so he and his human (Gloria, also pictured) could continue their lives together.

Animal Fix Clinic is a non-profit surgical practice for dogs and cats in the San Francisco Bay Area. Founded in 1998 with MASH-style events serving community cats, AFC has grown over the decades into a free-standing, brick-and-mortar clinic dedicated to providing dogs and cats with a wide range of urgent, essential surgeries.

In early 2019, PSAS launched a program aimed at helping overcrowded shelters and rescues that may euthanize treatable, adoptable animals because they lack the space to care for them. Since the program’s inception, PSAS has brought in over 600 dogs (including 24 senior dogs in 2019 and 28 senior dogs in 2020) and nearly 150 cats who have been adopted by individuals and families from all over the Coachella Valley. With additional funding from Grey Muzzle for medical and dental care, PSAS will increase the capacity of the transfer program, saving more senior dogs' lives and making them available for adoption--dogs just like Duke.

The Palm Springs Animal Shelter (PSAS) is located in the Coachella Valley area of Southern California.  Committed to being a humane and compassionate animal care and adoption center, the shelter does not euthanize for space or length of stay. As a public, open admission shelter, PSAS provides a safe haven for ALL animals, including those who require rehabilitation, training, and medical treatment.