Four partners, Maddie’s® Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida, UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program, Open Door Veterinary Clinic, and Team Shelter USA, have gone all in to double down: The newly named Maddie’s® Million Pet Challenge was born from the Million Cat Challenge and shifts our focus from feline management ( ) to providing the 4 Rights for every animal, both
inside and outside the shelter. (Shhhh…We haven’t found a way to tell the cats yet.) The foundation of the Million Cat Challenge rested on Five Key Initiatives, which together represented a holistic approach that addressed the “before, during and after” for any cat at risk of shelter entry. Alternatives to Intake and Managed Admissions helped keep cats out of shelters and safe within the community, Capacity for Care allowed shelters to ensure the welfare of all cats in their care, while Return to Field and Removing Barriers to Adoption smoothed the pathway for cats to leave shelters alive. In the course of the Challenge, these five initiatives were refined and adapted to shelters of every size and type throughout North America and proven by over 3.5 million more cat lives saved by over 1500 Challenger Shelters. Then, we as a movement and a profession were invited to think even bigger. The COVID-19 pandemic forced us to rethink business as usual, paradoxically allowing many shelters to reimagine what could be permitted and possible. At the same time, the call came for animal “sheltering” to shift focus from shelters to the surrounding community, with an increasing recognition that racial and social justice must be central to every aspect of our work. Paralleling this (r)evolution, the Million Cat Challenge grew into the Maddie’s® Million Pet Challenge. The cat-oriented methods embodied in the Five Key Initiatives have been expanded to include other species at risk in shelters, and a greater focus has been placed on ensuring the people who care for and about those pets are able to access affordable veterinary care. However, while the methods have evolved, the same holistic “before, during and after” approach has been maintained: community safety net services, humane care within the shelter, and appropriate outcomes for the animals that do come in, all work in concert to support one another. Borrowing from our colleagues in human healthcare, we were inspired by the vision of providing every patient with the Right Care at the Right Time in the Right Place. Because it has not always been a given for animal shelters, we added the Right Outcome to round out the Four Rights. These replace the Five Key Initiatives to form the foundational commitment of the Maddie’s® Million Pet Challenge. Maddie’s® Million Pet Challenge is a proud recipient of funding from Maddie’s Fund®, .
