2023 Highlights

Chart showing distribution of grant funds. Details are also in the text on this page.

In just over two years, the California for All Animals program has provided nearly $31.5 million in funding to animal shelters across the state. Learn more about how 6.5M 2023 grant funding was distributed to support California families and their well-being.

Meet Artist Erika Ilumin Wahlberg

Artist Erika Ilumin Wahlberg

More pets and people together, more PLAY! We’re asking community members inside the shelter and out, “What does More Pets and People Together mean to you?” Artist Erika Ilumin Wahlberg tells us more about her vision and why building bridges and removing barriers to keep pets and people together is important to her.

California Animal Welfare Funders Collaborative Awards Grants to 24 California-Based Organizations

This Year’s Recipients Are Working Towards Keeping People and Pets Together  $300,0000 Granted in an Effort to Break Down Barriers That Are Causing California Shelters to Remain Full Two dozen animal shelters across California will receive grants through the California Animal Welfare Funders Collaborative (CAWFC). The collaborative, launched in August 2019 by Best Friends Animal […]

Online Kitten Guidebook Fully Revised and Updated

cute gray kitten with fluffy white chest

The most popular page on Sheltermedicine.com is “Caring for Kittens from Birth to Eight Weeks,” Chapter 2 of the online Guide to Raising Unweaned & Underage Kittens. The guidebook is part of the shared resource library developed and maintained jointly by veterinarians in the UC Davis KSMP and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Shelter Medicine Program. […]

Open Arms Shelters Pilot New Approaches to Increase Adoptions

Open Arms Challenge promotional image of a family sitting on a couch with a cat

108 California organizations applied for the Open Arms Challenge this year. They spent last month preparing—updating procedures, training staff and volunteers, engaging translators to reach more people in more languages, etc.—and are implementing their welcoming practices this month. At a recent Open Arms Office Hours call, we heard how a  rescue is thinking of new ways to […]

A Beautiful Thing: Community Care in Rancho Cordova

Marvin Adams cuddles with his dog, Coco

When their beloved dog Coco experienced sudden swelling in her paw, Margaret and her husband, Marvin, were determined to find vet care for her despite barriers or, as a last resort, surrender her to a shelter for treatment to relieve her pain. Rancho Cordova Animal Services teamed up to help.