Zero Stray Pawject, Inc., a US 501(c)3 and German e.V. non-profit has today been awarded a special grant from one of the UK’s leading animal welfare charities, Battersea Dogs & Cats Home in London. The funds granted by Battersea will support Zero Stray Pawject’s work to subsidize neuterings of owned dogs on the island of Aegina, Greece and, in parallel, run targeted campaigns for owners who object to neutering their dogs. The promotion of neutering of owned dogs as a means to control dog overpopulation (relative to the community’s ability to “absorb” them as pets), is a key part of larger integrated program that has as an end-objective to make Aegina, Greece a sustainably “zero stray” dog community. Achieving “zero stray” status will make it the first municipality in Greece to do so. Zero Stray Pawject’s broader goal is to create an end-to-end integrated model that is replicable and can be rolled out by other municipalities in Greece or in other countries that struggle with hard to manage (if not unmanageable) numbers of stray dogs.
Silja Schiller-Moumtzidis, CEO of Zero Stray Pawect, Inc. said “We are thrilled that Battersea Dogs and Cats Home wants to support our effort to build a replicable local government-centred model to achieve zero stray dogs”.
Margaret Hulme, Grants Manager at Battersea added: “We hope that this grant will help make a real difference to the lives of animals. At Battersea we want to support rescues and shelters, not only by awarding funding, but also by sharing the experiences and knowledge we have gained as an animal welfare charity that has been rescuing and rehoming animals for 160 years.”
Battersea Grants is an initiative launched earlier this year that aims to support smaller rescues and shelters by offering grants of between £3,000 and £15,000. This money will help organisations continue their great work with dogs and cats.
