PetSmart Charities pledged $5 million to Texas animal welfare organizations in an effort to curb pet overpopulation in the United States, and $635,000 of that money will be given to KittiCo Cat Rescue in Dallas.
The funds will allow the rescue group to add a mobile spay/neuter unit and expand its current spay/neuter clinic. The rescue provides services for low-income cat owners and feral cat caregivers. Since its inception in 1998, KittiCo Cat Rescue has altered more than 40,000 cats.
PetSmart Charities’ officials chose to focus their efforts on Texas because of the state’s high euthanasia rates. The charity hopes to raise an additional $5 million for animal welfare organizations in the state through matching contributions, officials said.
“We recognize that dog and cat euthanasia remains at a crisis level across Texas,” said PetSmart Charities Executive Director Susana Della Maddalena. “Animal shelters in the state’s largest cities are where the most homeless dogs and cats are destroyed, averaging nearly 70 percent, or 176,000 animals each year.”
The $5 million pledge, which will be spread over five years, will primarily be spent on spay/neuter and adoption efforts in Dallas and other major cities in Texas, according to PetSmart Charities officials.