At its core, the Return to Home Challenge is simple. Find a pet? Get it home. That home might be a cozy apartment, a house with a big yard or, if you’re a community cat, an abandoned lot. 

Registration for this collaborative Challenge begins on Monday, July 25th. There’s also $300,000 in grant prizes available!

For the month of October, 17 national organizations are inviting animal shelters and rescue organizations who handle lost/stray/at-large dogs and cats to elevate Return to Home (RTH) by creating a culture of return to home within their organization and community. 

Simple practices like microchipping, making information about lost pets easily accessible on your website and letting the community know what they should do if they find a cat can go a long way in keeping pets out of the shelter and getting them back into their homes. What will your organization do?  

As with the previous Challenges, there will be plenty of help along the way. Resources including town halls, standard operating protocols, and website best practices will be available. Additionally, four Zoom Huddles will be held with a diverse line-up of RTH experts.  

Please note that this year we’ve expanded Return to Home to include the Return to Field/Shelter-neuter release (RTF/SNR) category in addition to the Return to Owner category on the Basic Data Matrix. Traditional trap-neuter-return, while invaluable to your community, is not included in this Challenge. 

This Challenge is funded by Maddie’s Fund^®, Michelson Found Animals Foundation and Petco Love in collaboration with Adopt-A-Pet.com, American Pets Alive!, ASPCA, The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement, Best Friends Animal Society, Companions and Animals for Reform and Equity (CARE), Community Cats Podcast, Cuddly, Greater Good Charities, HeARTS Speak, Humane Society of the United States, National Animal Care and Control Association, Petfinder Foundation, and PetSmart Charities.