Animal Welfare Grants Will Help Pets and Wildlife With Urgent and Extraordinary Needs

A series of grants from the Community Foundation of Sarasota County strengthens nonprofits’ ability to care for animals with acute conditions, from dogs and cats to manatees and parrots.

Sarasota, Florida — The Community Foundation of Sarasota County recently awarded $191,985 in grant funding to 15 nonprofits that provide care and rehabilitation to wild and domestic animals. Each grant helps an organization either purchase advanced equipment to more effectively treat animals in critical condition or provide animals with emergency treatments that may otherwise be unaffordable. Some grant recipients focus on caring for domestic cats, dogs, and birds, while others concentrate their efforts on rehabilitating and releasing wild birds, rabbits, turtles, manatees, and more.

“Animal welfare nonprofits in our region often find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer number of animals that are in need of their care, as well as the complicated medical conditions that the animals can sometimes arrive with,” says Kirsten Russell, the Community Foundation’s vice president of community impact. “With this latest round of funding, nonprofits will be able to upgrade their ability to respond to urgent needs and provide more robust, comprehensive care so that every pet gets a chance at finding a forever home and that every injured undomesticated animal can one day return to the wild.”

Nationwide, nearly 5.8 million dogs and cats entered shelters and rescues in 2025, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. That represents a 2 percent decline from the previous year. At the same time, more than 4.2 million dogs and cats were adopted, a 1 percent increase from 2024.

According to the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Florida and the Southeast United States in general experience higher animal intake numbers and higher euthanasia rates per capita than other parts of the country. The college attributes that to the region’s warm climate, high poverty rates, large rural communities and what the school calls “veterinary care deserts.” In Sarasota County, the household “survival budget” for a family of four with an infant and a toddler has risen to more than $104,000, according to United Way Suncoast’s most recent ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) Report. That represents a 10 percent increase from the previous year. Those rising living expenses can leave many families struggling to care for and feed their pets.

The 15 new grants from the Community Foundation fall into two categories: Some will enable nonprofits to purchase specialized equipment to improve care for animals, while others will help cover emergency veterinary treatments and other pressing medical needs.

The nonprofits investing in upgraded technology include:

• Animal Rescue Coalition, which will use its grant money to purchase an advanced steam sterilizing machine to improve its quality of care
• Florida West Coast Avian Society, which will use its grant money to purchase two small oxygen chambers for parrots in urgent distress and to provide other emergency care
• Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, which will use its grant money to purchase equipment that will help it rehabilitate manatees in urgent need
• The Paul A. & Veronica H. Gross Wildlife Center of Southwest Florida, which will use its grant money to purchase veterinary ultrasound equipment

Nonprofits that will now be able to expand their emergency veterinary treatments include:

• Canine Castaways, which rescues dogs in order to reduce the need for euthanasia at local shelters
• Cat Depot, a free-roaming cat adoption center that prioritizes cats and kittens in dire and urgent circumstances
• Farmhouse Animal & Nature Sanctuary, which cares for a wide variety of animals that may have been neglected or abused or are in significant medical need
• Humane Society at Lakewood Ranch, a rescue and shelter organization that cares for and adopts out dogs, cats and rabbits
• Humane Society of Sarasota County, which cares for cats and dogs with an emphasis on animals with unique needs, such as neonatal kittens and puppies, senior animals, animals from overcrowded shelters and more
• Nate’s Honor Animal Rescue Center, a facility that helps neglected, abandoned and mistreated dogs and cats
• Parrot Outreach Society, a rescue and adoption center that provides specialized interventions for birds that may otherwise face decline or euthanasia
• Satchel’s Last Resort, a shelter that rescues, rehabilitates and rehomes abandoned dogs and cats with significant medical and behavioral complications
• St. Francis Animal Rescue of Venice Inc., which rescues and cares for homeless cats and kittens
• Sugar’s Gift, which provides care for terminally ill pets so that they can pass with comfort, dignity and peace
• Suncoast Humane Society, which shelters dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs and ferrets that have been abandoned, neglected or surrendered