FiXiT Foundation Receives $100,000 Grant from PetSmart Charities

March 29, 2011 - PRLog -- NORFOLK, Va. – The FiXiT Foundation received a $100,000 grant from PetSmart Charities® to support the foundation’s innovative “Island Project” to identify how to increase demand for spay and neuter programs, including how to encourage the final 20 percent of U.S. pet owners to fix their pets so there can be an end to pet overpopulation.

“We are honored to have a partner like PetSmart,” said Stephanie Downs, president, FiXiT Foundation. “With its support, we will be able to accelerate our efforts in eliminating this heartbreaking issue. Euthanasia treats the symptom – not the problem, which is 4.2 million cats and dogs being born into a world with no homes for them.”

Recently, the FiXiT Foundation launched The Island Project in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, an initiative focused on market research and testing of spay and neuter messages. The project will provide the FiXiT Foundation with scientific data on what works, which will be used to implement a similar program in the U.S. In addition to The Island Project, the FiXiT Foundation is launching a U.S.-based initiative that allows people to sponsor pet owners so they are able to spay or neuter their pets.

"By creating a program focused on driving demand for spay and neuter, FiXiT Foundation is dedicating itself to a very powerful issue affecting pet overpopulation," said Susana Della Maddalena, vice president and executive director of PetSmart Charities, Inc. "PetSmart Charities was impressed by FiXiT’s out-of-the-box thinking and is proud to support partnerships like these that can have a global impact on animal welfare."

For more information about the FiXiT Foundation, please visit http://www.fixit-foundation.org.

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ABOUT THE FiXiT FOUNDATION: The FiXiT Foundation was established to eliminate the dependence on euthanasia in the U.S. The organization hosts “The Island Project” in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, to determine the best way to approach the lack of spaying or neutering pets in some populations. Additionally, GetYourFix.org is a resource to help Americans find sponsorship opportunities to spay or neuter their pets. For more information, visit http://www.fixit-foundation.org