The Santa Barbara County Animal Care Foundation received a $10,000 grant from the Bissell Pet Foundation to help support the care of animals impacted by the county’s recent wildfires and mudslides.
Shelters in Santa Barbara County take in thousands of strays each year, according to Bissell, and when recent natural disasters threatened even more animal lives, the Santa Barbara County Animal Care Foundation stepped in to help the Santa Maria Animal Shelter, Santa Barbara Humane Society, Santa Barbara County Animal Services, and shelters in Ventura County.
The Animal Care Foundation reached out to Bissell Pet Foundation, a nonprofit based in Michigan dedicated to reducing the number of animals in shelters through adoption, for funding after mudslides in Montecito further devastated the county.
“We don’t often fund emergency grants,” Holly Kroeze, Bissell communications and events manager, said in a statement. “But when there is such devastation in an area, we’re happy to step up.”
Kroeze said Cathy Bissell, the founder of Bissell Pet Foundation and co-owner of Bissell Homecare, a vacuum company that partially funds the Bissell Pet Foundation, rarely denies animal shelters and foundations much-needed help. Disasters can be especially difficult for animal care organizations to deal with alone.
“Animals tend to be an afterthought,” Kroeze said in the statement. “So that’s why when organizations like this really pay attention to animals it’s so important. It’s important to save our four-legged friends.”
Linda Greco, president and co-founder of the Santa Barbara County Animal Care Foundation, noted that the grant will be used to offset major costs associated with the evacuation of animals during recent natural disasters.
“We thank Bissell Pet Foundation for assisting the Santa Barbara County Animal Care Foundation to provide a lifeline to save lives, and we are grateful for the diligence of Santa Barbara County and the many partners that have safely evacuated so many animals during this time of emergency,” Greco said in the statement.
This article appears in Jan 18-25, 2018.
