Looking for new ways to support your entire community AND have a chance at $420,000 in available grants?

Twenty-three national organizations have come together to invite you to join the 2023 Open Arms Challenge! For the month of April 2023, animal shelters, foster-based organizations, and public charities focused on keeping pets and people together are encouraged to pilot new approaches that open doors to new adopters and volunteers and welcome your entire community. This Challenge is all about opening our hearts and minds to more accessible and inclusive practices.

The goal of this Challenge is to increase inclusivity and provide a welcoming environment for all staff (paid and unpaid) and community members; and keeping pets with people when possible. What that looks like is different for every organization. It can be as simple as returning voicemails in a timely manner, providing literature in multiple languages or completely rewriting or doing away with the adoption application, to undertaking bias training or choosing new neighborhoods for adoption events.

Registration for the Challenge will close on Monday, January 30. Register today!

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