Cumberland County Animal Services is set to receive a $40,000 grant investment from national nonprofit Petco Love in support of their lifesaving work for pets in Cumberland County.

Petco Love is a national nonprofit leading change for pets by harnessing the power of love to make communities and pet families closer, stronger and healthier. Since its founding in 1999, Petco Love has invested nearly $410 million in adoption and other lifesaving efforts. And Petco Love helps find loving homes for pets in partnership with Petco and more than 4,000 organizations—like ours—across North America, with nearly 7 million pets adopted and counting.

“Our investment in Cumberland County Animal Services is part of more than $12 million in investments recently announced by Petco Love to power local organizations across the country as part of our commitment to create a future in which no pet is unnecessarily euthanized,” said Susanne Kogut, president of Petco Love in a press release. “Our local investments are only part of our strategy to empower animal lovers to drive lifesaving change right alongside us. We launched Petco Love Lost, a free national lost and found database that uses photo-matching technology to simplify the search for lost pets.”

“Generous support from organizations like Petco Love allow us to provide programs such as TNVR (Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate and Return) at no cost to our community. TNVR has greatly reduced the number of stray feral kittens being born every year in our county while also reducing the euthanasia rate for cats at our shelter.” said Elaine Smith, Director of Cumberland County Animal Services in a press release. “Before we had TNVR, we trapped and euthanized cats and kittens by the thousands every year, with no appreciable reduction in the population. We were overwhelmed! But now there’s an answer.”

The mission of the Cumberland County Animal Services Department is to protect our citizens by active enforcement of state and local laws, provide for the humane sheltering and outcome of stray and unwanted animals, and promote responsible pet ownership. The primary objective of Animal Services employees is to provide excellent service to the citizens, while dedicating themselves to improving the welfare of animals and humans. Since 2012, Cumberland County Animal Services has improved their live release rate for animals from below 30% to over 80%.

For more information about Cumberland County Animal Services, visit their website here. 

Learn more about Petco Love here: petcolove.org