“Every cat counts.” That’s the motto of our funded Million Cat Challenge, and it’s one Maddie’s Fund^® wholeheartedly believes in. That’s why, from April 29 to May 31, 2016, we gave 596 grants totaling $617,500 to shelters that joined the Challenge, and to Challenge shelters that referred new participants.

The Million Cat Challenge was launched in 2014 as a shelter-based campaign to save the lives of one million more cats in North America over the next five years. It focuses on five key initiatives designed to offer every shelter, in every community, practical choices to reduce euthanasia and increase live outcomes for shelter cats.

Maddie’s^® Incentive Grants resulted in a doubling of the number of shelters taking part in the Challenge, which now includes every single state in the United States. Thirty of those new Challengers were organizations with feline intake of 2,500 or more, with a combined annual intake of nearly 150,000 cats, and a euthanasia rate of 71,900 each year.

Through its innovative programs, networking among Challengers, and the leadership of co-founders Dr. Julie Levy and Dr. Kate Hurley, Maddie’s Fund knows those million cats will be just the beginning of a permanent, sustainable transformation of sheltering and lifesaving for cats.

Want to know more? Read our Million Cat Challenge Incentive Grant report. And if your shelter isn’t already taking the Challenge, visit their website to learn more!