BTAA awarded Petco Love grant
Better Together Animal Alliance and Ponderay Petco officials pose for a photo after the animal alliance was presented a grant from the national nonprofit Petco Love in support of its lifesaving work for animals in the region. Pictured, from left, are Mandy Evans, Better Together Animal Alliance executive director; Chris Olson, Ponderay Petco store manager; and Paige McGowan, BTAA development director, with her puppy, Midge.
Courtesy photo
PONDERAY — The Better Together Animal Alliance has received a $5,000 grant from national nonprofit Petco Love in support of its lifesaving work for animals in the region. The grant was presented during a special celebration at the Ponderay Petco on April 16.
“This grant will directly support programs that help keep people and their pets together," said Mandy Evans, executive director of Better Together Animal Alliance. "Petco Love continues to be such an invested partner, and we’re honored to accept this grant and use it to serve families in our region."
Petco Love is a national nonprofit leading change for pets by harnessing the power of love to make communities and pet families closer, stronger, and healthier, the group's officials said. Since it was founded in 1999, Petco Love has invested $375 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. Petco Love helps find loving homes for pets in partnership with Petco and more than 4,000 organizations, including BTAA, across North America, with 6.75 million pets adopted and counting.
“Our investment in Better Together Animal Alliance is part of more than $15 million in investments recently announced by Petco Love to power local organizations across the country as part of our commitment to create a future in which no pet is unnecessarily euthanized,” said Susanne Kogut, president of Petco Love.
The foundation's local investments are only part of its strategy to empower animal lovers to drive lifesaving change right alongside Petco Love, Kogut said.
"We launched Petco Love Lost, a national lost and found database that uses patented image-recognition technology to simplify the search for lost pets,” she said of those efforts.
BTAA's mission is to create and support meaningful connections by enhancing the lives of dogs, cats, and the people who love them. Serving Bonner, Boundary, and Kootenai counties, the nonprofit is known for its progressive owner support programs and helpline.
The Ponderay-based alliance also is known for its Pets for Life and Home To Home programs. Home To Home helps people rehome their pets without ever bringing them to an animal shelter and helped 508 pets in the region find new homes in 2023. In North America, the program is in more than 150 shelters and served 86,500 animals last year.
For more information about BTAA, go online to bettertogetheranimalalliance.org. To learn more about Petco Love, go online to petcolove.org.