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FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
Maddie's Fund to Give $2.4 Million to Spay/Neuter Dogs and
Cats of Texas' Low Income Residents
ALAMEDA, CA - November 11, 2002 (INB) -- Maddie's Fund has
awarded $1.2 million to the Texas Veterinary Medical
Association (TVMA) to support the first six months of a
two year spay/neuter program for the dogs and cats of
Texas' low-income residents. The new program, which
started in October, will be administered by the TVMA
and carried out by its member veterinarians. As
surgeries are performed, Maddie’s Fund will provide
as much as $2.4 million for the project's first year.
Maddie's Spay/Neuter Project in Texas enables qualified
low-income Texas residents in fifty-one counties to have
their dogs spayed or neutered for $20.00 and their cats
altered for $10.00. In addition to the Maddie's Fund
subsidy, these low fees are made possible by
participating veterinarians who are reducing their
fees to help more low-income pet owners spay/neuter
their companion animals. Clients will be asked to show
proof of low-income with a Medicaid card and there will
be a limit of six pets per household. It's estimated
that up to 40,000 dogs and cats will benefit from the
surgery in the first year alone.
"The Maddie's Fund team is really excited about this
project," said Maddie's Fund President Rich Avanzino.
"We're tremendously impressed with the leadership of
the Texas Veterinary Medical Association and with the
enthusiasm of its member doctors. Even before the
project officially started, some of the veterinarians
were taking out ads and calling the media to promote
the program in their own areas. With over-achievers
like that on board, we know surgeries will get done
in droves."
About Maddie's FundSM. Maddie's Fund, the Pet Rescue
Foundation (http://www.maddiesfund.org), is a family
foundation endowed through the generosity of Cheryl
and Dave Duffield, PeopleSoft Founder and Board
Chairman. The foundation is helping to fund the
creation of a no-kill nation. The first step is to
help create programs that guarantee loving homes for
all adoptable (healthy) shelter dogs and cats
throughout the country. The next step will be to
save the sick and injured pets in animal shelters
nationwide. Maddie's Fund is named after the family's
beloved Miniature Schnauzer who passed away in 1997.
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