April 26, 2018
Categories: Announcements
Maddie

Yes, there was a real Maddie. She was a little dog born on April 26 many years ago. Today we celebrate her birthday.

Maddie was part of Dave and Cheryl Duffield’s family for 10 years, and they founded Maddie’s Fund® to honor their sweet yet feisty and spirited dog. It’s the fulfillment of a promise made to Maddie while playing together on the living room rug, that if they ever had any money, they would give back to her and her kind so that other families could experience the immense joy they had with her.

Dave and Cheryl made good on that promise after successfully having founded several high tech companies. They have endowed Maddie’s Fund with more than $300 million, and the Foundation has spent more than $209.8 million through fiscal year 2015-16 to save dog and cat lives. That means Maddie has directly impacted the lives of over 1 million shelter dogs and cats!

We invited animal welfare leaders, shelters, and animal lovers to join with us today in celebrating her life and all that was inspired #ThanksToMaddie!

Here are some of the ways they responded:

Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida

Charleston Animal Society

Million Cat Challenge

AdoptAPet.com

Almost Home Humane Society

The Shelter Pet Project

Cat Town

Dr. Marty Becker

Ventura County Animal Services

Topeka Spay Neuter Project

Eau Claire County Humane Association – ECCHA

Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program at Cornell University

Stray Haven

Fearless Kitty Rescue

San Antonio Pets Alive

HART for Animals, Inc.

St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center Pet Retention

Pets Alive

Humane Society Silicon Valley and Sunnyvale Department Public Safety

Mayor’s Alliance NYC

Maddie, the little dog who started a revolution, achieved what few can claim to do — that is, to set #NewYorkCity #NYC on its ear! #ThankstoMaddie and the generosity of @maddiesfund, more than 320,000 lives have been saved in the Big Apple since 2005, when the @mayorsalliancenyc partnered with Maddie’s Fund to create the largest Maddie’s Pet Rescue Project ever. We are proud of our collective success in saving lives and our rescue and shelter community’s current 94-percent live release rate — the result of an unparalleled community collaboration inspired by Maddie. We continue to honor Maddie through our commitment to NYC’s animals and our ongoing lifesaving work. #HappyBdayMaddie! ???? On the celebration of your birth, Maddie, our hats are off to you! http://www.animalalliancenyc.org/about/maddies.htm #adoptdontshop #petadoption #dogadoption #catadoption #puppyadoption #kittenadoption #adoptapet #adoptadog #adoptacat #adoptapuppy #adoptakitten #nycpets #nycdogs #nyccats #petsofnyc #dogsofnyc #catsofnyc

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Thanks to everyone who joined us in saying #HappyBdayMaddie!