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| Animal Lovers Assistance League, Inc |
ANIMAL LOVERS ASSISTANCE LEAGUE RECEIVES $10,000.00 GRANT FROM PETSMART CHARITIES® TO SPAY/NEUTER 164 PETS
The Animal Lovers Assistance League, Inc., received a $10,000.00 grant last week from Pets Mart Charities to increase its number of spay/neuter operations for animals being adopted from the Currituck Animal Shelter by nearly 250%.
The Animal Lovers Assistance League, which operates the Currituck County Animal Shelter, can currently afford to spay or neuter only a small percentage of the cats and no dogs prior to their being adopted from the Shelter. In most cases a person who is adopting an animal from the Shelter receives a pre-paid voucher, which is covered by the adoption fee, that is valid to pay part of the cost of getting his new pet spayed or neutered. The spay/neutering of animals is in keeping with nationally recognized programs of controlling pet over population.
The Currituck Animal Shelter, which is undersized to meet the needs of one of the state's fastest growing counties, is proactively fighting the area's dire pet overpopulation problem. A requirement of the grant is that the Animal Lovers Assistance League (ALAL) ask Currituck county officials to provide matching funds for the grant amount, which they will be doing. This could lead to a very significant improvement in helping control local pet overpopulation.
According to Ginger Sikes, President of the Animal Lovers Assistance League, "We are excited that this PetSmart Charities® grant will be a major help in starting to control the county's pet overpopulation problem. We hope that our spay/neuter program will soon become a model for other agencies across the country."
"The Animal Lovers Assistance League's spay/neuter program is a great example of taking the initiative to improve the local community," said Susana Della Maddalena, Executive Director of PetSmart Charities. "Targeted programs like these are the key to successful, low-cost spay/neuter in local communities. Cumulatively, they are making a huge impact on pet overpopulation nationwide."
The Animal Lovers Assistance League, which was founded in 2005, has received the Governor's Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service in the State of North Carolina and in 2007 Outstanding Non-Profit of the Year in Currituck County. Last month the Currituck Animal Shelter received a State of North Carolina Inspection score of 100%, and this in a year when new higher state standards, which required additional training, had been implemented in the state for the first time.