Friends of Pima Animal Care Center, Humane Society of Southern Arizona win $1.9 million grant, Thanks to Maddie
Pima County, August 18, 2025 – Maddie's Fund®, a national family foundation established by Dave and Cheryl Duffield to revolutionize the status and well-being of companion animals, has awarded Friends of Pima Animal Care Center, the nonprofit partner of Pima Animal Care Center (PACC), and the Humane Society of Southern Arizona (HSSA) a three-year, $1,920,000 grant. The investment is intended to build a robust collaboration between HSSA and PACC, southern Arizona’s two largest animal welfare organizations, and increase the community’s access to affordable veterinary care and behavior training support.
"We’re excited to make a major investment into this collaboration, because Pima County’s pets and people, shelter staff and volunteers, and veterinary professionals are all ready to work together for systemic change that keeps families together and eliminates suffering,” said Romy Harness, Director of Access to Care initiatives at Maddie’s Fund. “This will create a model that will significantly expand access to medical and behavioral care for pets and the people who love them in southern Arizona.”
The primary function of the grant is to pilot a joint Pet Support Center, through which families can access the veterinary and behavioral resources they need to keep their pets instead of relinquishing them to overcrowded shelters. PACC’s existing Pet Support Center, founded in 2016, takes approximately 1,000 calls every week, primarily about rehoming pets and needing resources to keep pets in the home.
PACC’s Pet Support Center helps more than 1,000 families a year with private veterinary care assistance through the Keeping Families Together program. An additional 150 families get free support around behavioral issues they have with their pets.
But thousands more families are declined assistance due to limited financial resources and a lack of accessible providers. By combining HSSA and PACC’s resources and bolstering existing programming, shelter staff believe approximately 10,000 pets will be kept from needlessly entering the shelter system over the three years funded by the grant.
"Keeping pets with the people who love them is one of the most powerful ways to support the human-animal bond," said Dr. Kristin Barney, CEO of HSSA. "This partnership allows us to expand critical services like low-cost veterinary care and behavior support, while working alongside PACC and Friends of PACC to create a community-wide safety net for pets and their people. Together, we're building a model of care that southern Arizona can be proud of, and that other communities can adopt."
The grant will fund additional call center staff to handle an anticipated increase in call volume and additional veterinary staff at the newly opened Friends of PACC Community Pet Clinic, allowing the clinic to treat more pets through PACC’s Keeping Families Together program. The grant will also fund additional HSSA veterinary staff, so HSSA’s clinic can provide care to keep families together; HSSA behavior training staff aimed at helping families who are considering surrender due to behavioral issues in the home; and an HSSA Veterinary Social Worker, dedicated to providing direct care to families and building southern Arizona’s capacity to holistically support people and pets. The grant also includes funding to pilot an Access to Care Alliance, intended to engage local veterinarians in helping vulnerable pet families.
“This partnership is grounded on a three-way collaboration which all of us hope and expect will benefit the animals in our community,” said Steve Kozachik, PACC’s director. “PACC looks forward to working with HSSA and Friends of PACC, building relationships the wider animal welfare community will see as a model to be emulated. We’re grateful to Maddie’s for showing the confidence in our respective agencies to make this program a reality.”
The grant also includes an agreement between PACC and HSSA establishing a baseline number of pets that the Humane Society will accept from PACC jurisdictions each year.
“Thanks to Maddie for this incredible investment in Pima County to keep more pets with their families,” said Torre Chisholm, Friends of PACC CEO. “Keeping these pets in loving homes, instead of unnecessarily surrendered to the shelter, also enables us to focus efforts on other important life-saving programs such as spay/neuter, lost and found, and new adoption programs.”
For more information on how this grant supports PACC programs and helps animals, see below.
About Maddie's Fund Established in 1994 by Dave and Cheryl Duffield, Maddie's Fund® is a family foundation and fulfillment of a promise to their dog, Maddie. She provided them joy for over ten years and continues to inspire us today. Due to their generosity and vision, the Foundation has awarded over $287.5 million in grants toward increased community collaborations and live outcomes, pioneering shelter medicine education, establishing foster care as a standard across the U.S. and driving innovation in access to care. Maddie’s Fund proudly offers the industry a national voice, important funding opportunities for bold ideas, learning resources and access to collaborate and share innovative solutions.
The Foundation invests its resources in keeping with Dave & Cheryl’s promise, that pets and their people would enjoy the same experience they had with Maddie. We are committed to keeping pets and people together, creating a safety net of care for animals in need and operating within a culture of inclusiveness and humility. #ThanksToMaddie.