Next Article

Michelson Found Animals Saving Pets Challenge Back to Raise Millions for At-Risk Pets

Black and white photo of cat & dog

The Saving Pets Challenge is back, and with your help, ready to save even more pets! The Michelson Found Animals Saving Pets Challenge is a national fundraising competition where animal welfare organizations from across the country compete to win cash grants for programs that address the underlying causes of shelter euthanasia in their community.

Last year, over 300 organizations participated to raise a whopping $1.8 Million for programs that help pets.These programs support spay/neuter, adoption, foster, trap-neuter-return of outside cats – you name it! If it saves pets’ lives, there’s a hard-working organization out there doing it, and over over the next five weeks, they’ll be competing with each other to raise cash – but they need your help!

How does it work?

Each organization accepted into the challenge sets up their own fundraising page and rallies supporters to donate to their cause. They have five weeks to raise the most money they possibly can, and if they land in the top 5 raisers, they win additional cash grants from Michelson Found Animals! Think of it like the Amazing Race, except you don’t have to watch people argue or eat disgusting things, and it’s for pets, so it actually matters! Win!

What do they win?

The team that crushes the competition receives a $50,000 donation.

  • Second place gets $30,000
  • Third gets $20,000
  • Fourth gets $10,000
  • Fifth gets $5,000

And, in our special version of a participation trophy, there’ll be another $35,000 in Weekly Bonus Challenges open to all participants, not just the top fundraisers. Courtesy of our sponsors, we also have lots and lots of sweet non-cash prizes and incentives for organizations and donors alike. And best of all, even if a team never wins a Challenge, they still get to keep all the money they raise.

How can I help?

So glad you asked! You can help by donating to an organization in your community. Every little bit helps, but don’t let that stop you from throwing a ton of money at them! These organizations work their tails off every day to save the lives of pets in your community. Thank them now, when they need it most, with a big round of applause in the form of some cold, hard cash.

What’s in it for you?

Michelson Found Animals only cares about two things: saving pets and enriching lives. We believe pets enrich all our lives so we want to reduce the number of them euthanized in shelters each year. We know that takes money, and this is how we help.

To recap:

  • The Saving Pets Challenge launches on Tuesday, July 5th at 12:00pm ET, and runs through Thursday, August 4th at 1:59:59pm ET.
  • Over $150,000 in cash grant prizes up for grabs.
  • Organizations keep all the money they raise.
  • They need your help!

Find the organization busting tail in your community here, and please donate. These organizations need you. The pets need you. And besides, no one will like you if you don’t give back.


The Michelson Found Animals Foundation’s mission of saving pets and enriching lives is made possible by the generous contributions of Dr. Gary Michelson and Alya Michelson.