For much of the year, the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation has been providing free pet food to help pet owners who have lost their jobs, had their hours cut, or been furloughed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Without this assistance, many individuals and families would not have been able to afford to keep their pets and may have had to relinquish them to shelters. This problematic situation is compounded by the fact that the shelter system simply can not cope with a huge influx of animal surrenders from members of the public who are no longer financially able to care for their pets.
As of December 27, the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation will have donated 35,340 lbs of dry cat and dog food, 7,000 lbs of canned dog and cat food, and 22,546 lbs of cat litter, to people in communities that are facing economic hardship due to the health crisis. The food has been distributed in partnership with rescue organization Nuzzles & Co., whose staff have held a number of “Pop-Up Pantry” events at regular intervals throughout 2020.
“These dogs and cats are extremely important to families – our pantry staff hear stories from grateful pet owners as they drive up to receive pet food and cat litter. We will continue to help the community as long as we can!” said Cathy Green, Development Director for Nuzzles & Co.
If you would like to show you support for our vital work, and help ensure owners and pets stay together during this pandemic, you can make a donation here.
It was early 2016, and Louisiana was experiencing unprecedented flooding. Delta Humane Society of Louisiana wanted to do a transport of animals from Louisiana to some northern states to help relieve the pressure on local rescues and shelters. They needed funding to do so, and they needed it fast. Casey Lattimer of Delta Humane Society of Louisiana submitted a grant request to JDHF.
One of the benefits of a small organization like JDHF is that we are not bogged down in arduous procedures that many large organizations require. When funding is needed urgently, once approved, we’re able to get a check out in a matter of days, not weeks or months.
During the grant process, we learned that the community where Delta Humane is located is an underserved area, with 24% of the population living in poverty. Not only performing animal rescue, Delta Humane also serves as the quasi-animal control agency for the area as there is no government funded agency.
JDHF funded Delta Humane’s initial transport but we wanted to do more given all that they were trying to do with little support from their already struggling community. Delta Humane had explained that they were saving for a transport vehicle of their own, but they had borrowed from the vehicle fund to do another transport due to the great need. JDHF awarded Delta Humane a $10,000 grant to put toward the purchase of a transport vehicle of their own.
What is really heartwarming about Delta Humane is, once they purchased their transport vehicle, they didn’t just use it for their own benefit. As the flooding continued in Louisiana, Delta Humane went to other areas in need and did transports from those areas. When Texas suffered flooding a year later, Delta Humane went to Texas to help there. They paid forward the grant by helping others.
It’s been nearly three years since we helped Delta Humane, and they still update us with all of the good work that they are able to do thanks to a simple thing like a vehicle, which JDHF was fortunate to be able to help fund. A few days ago we received this update from Casey:
We just wanted to thank you once again for giving us the gift that keeps on giving….our bus!!! Last weekend, we made our 14th trip of the year and took 25 dogs to Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New England, Since JHF helped us fund the purchase of our transport bus in 2016, we have tripled the number of animals we have saved and re-homed from a poor Louisiana parish that doesn’t even have animal control. We also use our “Magic Barking Bus” for events and we belong to a pet food bank in Pennsylvania so on the way home from our transports, we load up with enough food to feed all of our dogs for the coming month! We have loaned our bus to other organizations during natural disasters and 2 hoarding situations too. Your generosity has impacted more than just the animals and people in our organization and you should feel SO proud and let your supporters know!
Regards, Casey
JDHF co-founder Nancy Heigl has a special respect for “boots on the ground” rescues and the hard, excellent work that they do. JDHF is proud to have helped Delta Humane Society of Louisiana.
If you would like to help JDHF help hardworking groups like Delta Humane Society of Louisiana, please donate.
In September 2016, we received a grant application from the Humane Society of San Bernardino Valley (HSSBV) requesting funding for spay/neuter. Funding spay/neuter programs are part of the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation’s core mission. San Bernardino is an under served area east of Los Angeles County that has always been of interest to the JDHF and we have tried to support the area whenever the opportunity arises. (more…)
In 2012, Cesar Millan wrote an article which appeared on his web site and social media pages, that highlighted some fundamental issues with how we treat homeless companion animals in the United States. It contrasted our approach to dealing with unwanted animals and attitudes towards adoption in this country, with that of European nations such as Germany. (more…)