Pleasanton, CA, July 17, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

Best Friends Animal Society received a $1.5 million grant from Maddie's Fund^®, a national family foundation established by Dave and Cheryl Duffield to revolutionize the status and well-being of companion animals, to expand its Shelter Outreach Embed Program in two phases over 24 months.  

Phase One of this project, Maddie’s^® Shelter Embed Project in the Rio Grande Valley, TX, will include temporary long-term “embedded” leadership positions in the Rio Grande Valley. These hands-on leaders will help hard working shelter organizations, who may be stretched too thin or are unfamiliar with the latest lifesaving protocols, with operational best practices and programs along with a much-needed morale boost.  

"Best Friends is incredibly grateful and excited to receive generous funding from Maddie’s Fund, which has been responsible for saving hundreds of thousands of lives through their innovative grants," said Julie Castle, CEO of Best Friends Animal Society. "This embed expansion grant will save up to 12,000 dogs and cats from the highest priority shelters and put all of the participating organizations on the pathway to sustainability. Thanks to Maddie, significant headway will be made toward our shared goal of making America no kill by 2025." 

The Phase One project will encompass the Palm Valley Animal Center along with its second facility, the Laurie P. Andrews PAWS Center. This will create a progressive outpost equipped to provide assistance to multiple cities and Hildalgo county. The goal of this phase is to increase the save rate to 80% up from its current 47%. 

“We are proud to support this embed program to help create a safety net for communities who are in need of support,” said Mary Ippoliti-Smith, Maddie’s Fund Executive Leadership Team. “This type of program creates a lifesaving ripple effect of communities learning and doing and then helping to expand these best practices to their surrounding communities.” 

Phase Two of this project will be determined in the coming months. 

About Maddie’s Fund 

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 $237.6 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. 

About Best Friends Animal Society 

Best Friends Animal Society is a leading national animal welfare organization dedicated to ending the killing of dogs and cats in America's shelters. In addition to running lifesaving programs in partnership with more than 2,700 animal welfare groups across the country, Best Friends has regional centers in New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Salt Lake City, and operates the nation's largest no-kill sanctuary for companion animals. Founded in 1984, Best Friends is a pioneer in the no-kill movement and has helped reduce the number of animals killed in shelters nationwide from an estimated 17 million per year to about 800,000. That means there are still nearly 2,200 dogs and cats killed every day in shelters, just because they don’t have safe places to call home. We are determined to bring the country to no-kill by the year 2025. Working collaboratively with shelters, rescue groups, other organizations and you, we will end the killing and Save Them All. For more information, visit bestfriends.org. 

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