Welcome to Pet Over Population Fund

An Easy Way to Help Colorado's Pet Overpopulation Problem

Last year over 33,000 of the 170,164 cats and dogs in Colorado shelters were euthanized which is 5,000 fewer than 2008. A great deal of the credit for the reduction in euthanasia is due to Pet Overpopulation Fund donors! Cats continue to be euthanized in disproportionate numbers to dogs: 31% to 11%. In 2001, the Colorado State Legislature created the Pet Overpopulation Fund to provide subsidized spay and neuter surgeries for cats and dogs in underserved areas of Colorado. As we begin the ninth year of the Fund, the Pet Overpopulation Fund has awarded over $1.5 million in grants for more than 40,000 pet sterilization surgeries in underserved areas of Colorado.

2010 Grant Guidelines and Criteria are available on this web site.

For the 2010 grant cycle, the Colorado Pet Overpopulation Fund encourages the submission of proposals that address the overpopulation of cats. In addition to requesting funds to subsidize spay/neuter surgeries for owned cats, proposals may also request funding for public education and awareness efforts or other preventative strategies which address cat overpopulation. To illustrate the problem, consider these statistics reported by Colorado shelters and rescues for 2009.

2009 PACFA Statistics	Cats	Dogs
Accepted by shelters/rescues	69,900	100,264
Adopted	33,636	47,551
Returned to Owners	2,397	25,696
Transferred	4,855	8,060
Euthanized	21,747 (33%)	11,354 (11%)

For more information, please call 303.722.6435 or e-mail info@savecoloradopets.org. Applications must be postmarked on or before Friday, August 27, 2010.

For current grantees, please click here for the monthly reimbursement report form.

AN IMPORTANT NEW WAY TO HELP COLORADO ANIMALS
On June 9, 2010, Governor Bill Ritter signed into law House Bill 1214, sponsored by Senator Gail Schwartz and Representative Beth McCann. The Adopt a Shelter Pet license plate created by this legislation establishes a new funding source to help Colorado shelters and rescues offset costs for spaying and neutering and medical treatment of animals in their care. The purpose of the license plate is to serve areas that are currently under funded, under staffed and overwhelmed. The legislation also extends the tax check-off for the Colorado Pet Overpopulation Fund until 2020. “Coloradans have generously given to the Pet Overpopulation Tax Check- off to support shelters throughout the state,” Sen. Schwartz said. “To additionally fund these important efforts, we now have an Adopt a Shelter Pet license plate. Pets enrich our lives and our families, but every day in Colorado thousands of animals are in shelters, waiting for a family to take them home. This new license plate will raise awareness of the availability of homeless pets and fund the effort to place these pets in loving homes and reduce animal overpopulation.”
$30 from the sale of each Adopt a Shelter Pet license plate will provide grants to support those Colorado shelters and rescues in underserved areas that may not have access to much needed funding for mandated spay/neuter programs and other medical expenses. It will also help them to raise awareness of the need to adopt shelter and rescue pets.
Determination of need will consist of an application process reviewed by the Colorado Pet Overpopulation Authority Board. Those communities who have limited access to funding and who demonstrate the greatest need for assistance and education programs will receive the greatest priority and attention. The grant application will soon be posted on this website. You may also call 303.722.6435 for more information

Updated July 27, 2010