VCCF Grants Over $878,000 to Animal Welfare in Ventura County

This year, VCCF will be giving $878,459 to nonprofits serving animal welfare in our community through the VCCF Animal Welfare Fund, and we’re so proud to share some of the awesome organizations! In total, 19 groups will be supported in their missions to help animals, from veterinary training, to rescuing and wild creatures for recovery and rehabilitation, to finding forever homes for abused or neglected pets. We invite you to read about the nonprofits and groups receiving grants from the fund.Animal Services Foundation of Ventura County

The Animal Services Foundation of Ventura County’s Pet Retention Program assists low-income families whose pets have medical conditions which are too expensive for owners to cover and are at risk of being surrendered to our shelter.Canine Adoption & Rescue League (C.A.R.L.)

C.A.R.L. accepts unwanted, abandoned, and homeless dogs, with a high percentage of senior dogs. They offer veterinary treatment, including inoculations and vaccinations, examinations, and routine tests. They promote rehabilitative care and medical treatment with safe and reliable opportunities for socialization and exposure to potential fosters and adopters in our community. Their program Rides for Rover provides reliable transportation accommodation for the rescue dogs, so that they can receive the necessary veterinary services, attend adoption events, engage in community socialization.Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute

The Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute’s goal is to positively impact conservation through marine mammal rescue, rehabilitation, research and education to promote ocean and human health. A custom mobile trailer for post-mortem examinations of marine mammals that expire or are humanely euthanized will enhance CIMWI’s necropsy and scientific contribution capabilities with dedicated specialty space at CIMWI’s facility and in the field as needed. The custom design will also enable the trailer to be used for response to mass strandings, hazardous material spills, and disease outbreaks affecting marine mammals as well as patient evacuation efforts should the need arise.Feeding Pets of the Homeless

Feeding Pets of the Homeless believes in the healing power of companion pets and of the human/animal bond, which is very important in the lives of many people who are unhoused. They find solace, protection, and companionship through their pets. Their task nationwide is to feed and provide basic emergency veterinary care to the pets and those relieve the anguish and anxiety of those who cannot provide for their pets. Granting will assist with emergency veterinary care.Greyfoot Adoption & Sanctuary

Greyfoot’s Community Cat Program targets the root of the homeless cat crisis, by educating and assisting the public with trap/neuter/return of Community Cats. The kittens born in these colonies, are taken in by rescue groups, shelter’s and are also fostered at our Sanctuary. They receive Veterinary Care and neutering, then when healthy are adopted into life-long homes. Greyfoot supports the efforts of the largest TNR team of trapper’s in Ventura County.Humane Society of the United States

The Pets for Life program increases equity in access to pet resources and bridges the gap between underserved communities and the resources people want and need for their companion animals. Through community outreach and relationship building, PFL provides life-changing and life-saving no cost services, supplies and information to people and pets. The Humane Society of the United States’ partnership with VCAS will serve areas in Ventura County that have high rates of people living at and below the poverty level and limited access to pet resources.Humane Society of Ventura County

The Humane Society of Ventura County seeks to ensure the wellbeing for all animals by providing veterinary care and a safe refuge for abused and neglected animals of all types in Ventura County. In addition to placing animals in loving new homes through a comprehensive adoption process, HSVC provides animal sheltering, education, investigations of abuse and neglect and providing 24/7 support during natural disasters.Interface Children Family Services

Interface’s program Ride United: Last Mile Delivery provides free food and supplies for pets to people with transportation or access challenges. RULMD is providing services to over 12,000 households in Ventura County, and is the second largest participating market in the entire country.Mercy Crusade Spay, Neuter & Wellness Clinic

Mercy Crusade’s mission is to end pet overpopulation by raising the public’s awareness of the severe companion animal overpopulation problem, in our community, the United States, and the world, and to promote spay and neuter surgery as the primary means of addressing companion animal overpopulation. Mercy Crusade is committed to improving the general well-being of all companion pets, especially the pets of the underserved in our community. They believe that affordable preventative care is imperative to ensuring that our companion pets live healthy lives.National Disaster Search Dog Foundation

For 27 years, the Search Dog Foundation has strengthened disaster response in America by training rescued dogs to become rescuers and first responders to become their handlers as members of canine search teams. SDF is unique as a nonprofit that forms search teams and provides them with ongoing support free of charge for search and rescue task forces in California and nationwide. Every dog recruited by SDF becomes part of their forever family and will never need to be rescued again. Grant funds for their program From Rescued to Rescuer will help SDF recruit more shelter dogs for its program and offer care to over 230 dogs unduplicated) in its training and lifetime care programs.Ojai Raptor Center

Ojai Raptor Center takes in over 1,200 patients (hawks, falcons, owls, etc.) every year who receive individualized care based on the species, age, and ailment. Their full-time veterinarian assesses all injured and ill patients, prescribing medications and performing any needed procedures including surgery to provide these animals a chance to return to the wild. They also have a full-time Hospital Manager and Animal Care Assistant who feed, medicate, examine, and provide general husbandry for all wildlife at our center. These staff members provide critical care for patients, making it possible for many to recover and return to the wild.Oxnard Performing Arts Center Corporation

OPAC’s RESCUECON is Ventura County’s only animal welfare convention and unlike any other, where the human-animal bond and its ties to culture and creativity take center stage. Through pet adoptions, services and activities, visual and performing arts, talks, workshops, and family-friendly activities,  attendees learn, play, explore, and, above all, refresh their relationship with animals and each other.Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network

Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network is a nonprofit organization that serves to rescue, rehabilitate and return to the wild sick, injured, orphaned, or oil-impaired wild birds, reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties and to educate the public about living in harmony with wildlife. SBWCN provides critical rescue and care to around 4,000 wild animals each year, comprising over 200 different species.Santa Monica Mountains Fund

Santa Monica Mountain Fund’s work primarily focuses on mammalian carnivores such as bobcats, coyotes, and mountain lions, and they have expanded their studies to include the only ungulate in the region, mule deer. They also study and preserve reptiles and amphibians, from common species like western fence lizards to the federally threatened California red-legged frog (the state amphibian which had been completely lost from the Santa Monica Mountains for more than 40 years until our efforts).Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center

The Santa Paula Animal Rescue Center’s mission is to provide the resources, progressive programs and community education needed to rehabilitate and re-home the abandoned and stray animals of Santa Paula. SPARC saw an uptick in sick animals with preventable diseases, since pre-Covid days. Inability to have public gatherings for vaccine clinics and a shortage of veterinarians able to do surgeries made it a challenge to provide the resources for preventative measures to the public, in sufficient numbers. Funding will help support SPARC’s big push to spay, neuter and vaccinate as many animals as possible in 2023 and beyond, to control the pet population and to prevent suffering.Spay/Neuter Animal Network

Since 1992, SPAN has made it their mission to reduce dog and cat overpopulation throughout Ventura County by raising public awareness about the direct consequences of irresponsible breeding. Responsible dog & cat owners play the most significant role in the solution to overpopulation by spaying and neutering their pets. SPAN shares in that responsibility by providing financial assistance to pet owners who would otherwise be unable to pay for this procedure. Over the last 30 years, SPAN has made it possible for the spay and neuter of over 35,000 thousand dogs and cats.Surfcat Cafe & Adoptions

Surfcat Cafe and Adoptions rescues cats that have been left behind by their families. It might be that their human passed and there are no family members to take them in, or many cats are left behind due to the inability to care for them anymore. Pet owners who were financially affected by Covid-19 had no choice but to give up their furry loved one. Surfcat rehabilitates these “overlooked” cats and kittens in foster homes, then finds them loving forever homes.Ventura College Foundation

The Veterinary Technology Program is a public/private partnership between Ventura College, Ohana Pet Hospital, and the Ventura College Foundation. As the only veterinary technology program in Ventura County, the program is vital in helping meet the demonstrated high and unmet need for Registered Veterinary Technicians and qualified/trained veterinary assistants in Ventura County and throughout the region. The program provides students with the opportunity to earn a Certificate of Achievement as a Veterinary Assistant (allowing students to seek initial, entry-level employment) and an associate’s degree in Veterinary Technology.