Pre-Funding Costs of Care

With PetGiving, you can pre-fund the costs of care for a shelter animal in need. When you do, you provide the money and incentive for a rescue group to step in when they’re needed most.

PetGiving begins when a profile for an animal in need is created – then people like you donate to support individual animals.

Here’s How to Get Started

Begin by browsing our Animals in Need page to view cats and dogs that are currently at risk and in need of your support. You can browse by animal type, location and shelter.

Click through to the profile of the individual dog or cat you’d like to support. There you’ll find a description of the animal and additional photos and information.

Select the “Give to this Animal” button to donate funds to help cover costs of care and encourage a rescue group to step in to help.

Use social media to share the profile of the animal or animals you support and keep the cycle of good going!

It's Good to Know...

All donations collected through PetGiving are distributed based on outcomes (adopted, rescued, fostered, transferred, returned to owner, euthanized, etc).

• When an animal leaves a shelter with a shelter-approved rescue organization, all funds collected on PetGiving for that animal are transferred to the rescue.
• When an animal leaves a shelter with a shelter foster, all funds collected on PetGiving for that animal are transferred to the shelter.
• Funds collected on PetGiving for an animal with any outcome other than rescued or fostered roll over to other animals in need at the same shelter.

Donations can be made from anywhere, at any time and from any device! The funding tracker under each animal is updated in real time, so you always know exactly how much money has been raised for an individual animal in need.

Saving the Day Through Donations

Donations provide the money and incentive for a rescue group to step in to help. When a rescue group knows an animal has funding, they can rely on those resources to cover the costs of care – including food, boarding and veterinary needs.

Until now, rescue groups have carried the burden of fundraising after an animal is already in their care, and many organizations lack the skills, staff and time necessary to dedicate to ongoing fundraising. At the same time, lack of funds is one of the main barriers that keeps rescue groups from helping more animals in need. Similarly, most shelters operate with a lean staff and a tight budget. Additional funding can help them implement programs they otherwise wouldn’t have the means to operate.

When we collect donations, we transfer them directly to the supporting organization after they take action.

Staying on Track

Animal shelters use shelter management software and a unique animal ID to track the dogs and cats they take in. Using this same system, our platform is updated multiple times each day to reflect the current status and related outcomes of the animals profiled on our site. We also use this information to track each animal that receives funds through PetGiving.

When a shelter notifies PetGiving that an animal has left its premises with a shelter-approved rescue group or shelter foster, our staff transfers the donations collected on PetGiving for that animal to the participating rescue or shelter. Donations made toward an individual animal stay with that animal when funds are transferred.

When they register on PetGiving, rescue groups agree to use the funds given to them for the individual animal in their care. Similarly, participating shelters provide PetGiving with a quarterly report to show how funds have been allocated for use in their shelter programs.

Donor Dashboard

Giving to animals in need through social media platforms and traditional campaigns can be challenging. For organizations, it’s difficult to track and collect pledges earmarked for individual animals, and shelters, rescues and animals suffer when pledges aren’t honored. These methods also present challenges for donors. It can be hard to keep track of the animals they’ve helped and ensure a donation goes to the right animal, and donors want insight into the status and outcome of the animal they’ve helped support.

PetGiving provides an organized, effective and trustworthy way to give when it’s needed, track donations, and ensure funds go to the animal of a donor’s choice. Creating a donor account on PetGiving gives donors access to a Donor Dashboard, where they can easily see which animals they’ve donated to, how much they’ve given, and updated status and outcome information for each profiled animal, as well as access to donation receipts, all in one place. As a donor, it’s easy to participate and clearly see how your dollars make a difference.

Register Now!

Shelter Efforts to Save Lives - Why Your Support is So Important

It takes a lot of people working together to find positive outcomes for every animal that does find its way into a shelter. Massive efforts are made to prevent euthanasia: Many shelters manage their intake by accepting new animals by appointment only. Some have implemented programs to prevent owner-surrender and to keep pets with their people. Animal control officers often work to reunite owners with their pets. Still many shelters rely heavily on their own adoption, and foster programs, while others turn to partnerships with rescue groups to help save animals’ lives.

Now more than ever, an increasing number of animals are being saved from euthanasia, but the people who are saving them need your help. Collaboration between the community and shelters drives lifesaving success. That’s where your participation with PetGiving comes in.