Michelson Found Animals' Fifth Annual Saving Pets Challenge Raises $1.3 Million for At-Risk Shelter Animals Across the Country

LOS ANGELES, June 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Michelson Found Animals Foundation, a non-profit committed to saving pets and enriching lives, is thrilled to announce that $1,367,537 million was raised in the fifth annual Saving Pets Challenge. The month-long competition involved hundreds of animal welfare organizations across the country and raised a record amount of money for life-saving program for pets. 

"We're so inspired by the passion, dedication and hard work of these organizations, along with the generosity of their communities. Everyone came together to support a shared goal of helping pets and the results are more than we could have hoped for," said Dr. Gary Michelson, Founder of Michelson Found Animals Foundation. "We are honored to be able to support the work that they are doing and work alongside them to save pets."

Through the competition, non-profits raised money for their own organizations and competed for grants and bonus prizes, with all the money going to help pets. This year, the charities were split into two tiers ? Tier 1 for larger organizations and Tier 2 for smaller organizations ? to make it easier for them to compete comparatively. The top organizations were Friends to the Forlorn Pitbull Rescue, Inc, in Tier 1, which raised $198,257, and PET Rescue, in Tier 2, which raised $55,100.  The complete list of winning organizations is:

Tier 1:

• Friends to the Forlorn Pitbull Rescue in 1st place, raising $198,257 and receiving a $50,000 cash grant
• Stray Cat Alliance in 2nd place, raising $122,391 and receiving a $30,000 cash grant
• Fort Collins Cat Rescue & Spay/Neuter Clinic in 3rd place, raising $112,650 and receiving a $20,000 cash grant
• Heaven on Earth Society for Animals in 4th place, raising $98,872 and receiving a $10,000 cash grant
• Pets Alive in 5th place, raising $82,862 and receiving a $5,000 cash grant

Tier 2:

• Preventing Euthanasia Through (PET) Rescue in 1st place, raising $55,100 and receiving a $25,000 cash grant
• Lhasa Happy Homes Rescue in 2nd place, raising $48,000 and receiving a $15,000 cash grant
• Southern California German Shepherd Rescue in 3rd place, raising $32,770 and receiving a $10,000 cash grant
• Happy Home Animal Rescue in 4th place, raising $29,200 and receiving a $7,000 cash grant
• North Eastern Boston Terrier Rescue in 5th place, raising $27,725 and receiving a $3,500 cash grant
• New Beginnings for Animals in 6th place, raising $24,150 and receiving a $2,500 cash grant
• Australian Cattle Dog Rescue in 7th place, raising $17,835 and receiving $2,000 cash grant

"This award helps us expand our vision and goal to rescue kitties from isolated, rural shelters where the surrounding community is living close to or at the poverty line. It also helps us dedicate funds to helping older and special needs cats," said Elaine Lyford-Nojima, founder, PET Rescue/Maine Coon Adoptions. "We are extremely grateful to the Michelson Found Animals Foundation for sponsoring this challenge and enabling us to rehabilitate and place more wonderful kitties in loving forever homes."

The Michelson Found Animals Saving Pets Challenge Fundraiser began in 2014 and has raised over $6.4 million since its first year and impacted more than 600 humane societies, municipal sheltering agencies, spay/neuter clinics and rescue organizations. The program is powered by social fundraising leader CrowdRise by GoFundMe.

For more information on Found Animals, please visit www.FoundAnimals.org.

About the Michelson Found Animals Foundation:
Michelson Found Animals Foundation is a leading animal welfare non-profit organization committed to keeping pets safe at home with the pet parents who love them. With a mission of Saving Pets, Enriching Lives, Found Animals is advancing the health and safety of pets through the first free, national microchip registry, solutions-based programs addressing pet adoption, microchipping, low-cost spay neuter services and grants for research into non-surgical spay and neuter methods. The foundation provides educational resources for pet parents and support for a variety of animal welfare organizations and is also supporting start up innovation in the pet care industry with the Leap Venture Studio. Generously funded by Dr. Gary Michelson and Alya Michelson, Found Animals has helped more than 1.5 million pets since it was founded in 2005. Follow our progress online at www.FoundAnimals.org, or via social media at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube

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About CrowdRise by GoFundMe:
CrowdRise by GoFundMe is the world's largest crowdfunding platform dedicated exclusively to charitable fundraising.  Used by millions of individuals, tens of thousands of charities, hundreds of companies and many of the most famous artists and athletes in the world, CrowdRise by GoFundMe enables people to creatively leverage their resources and networks to unlock the power of the crowd to support positive social missions and create massive impact.

Founded by actor Edward Norton, film producer Shauna Robertson and Robert and Jeffrey Wolfe, CrowdRise by GoFundMe has conceived, implemented and powered campaigns that have raised hundreds of millions of dollars to date. For more information visit www.CrowdRise.com. In January 2017, CrowdRise merged with GoFundMe to offer both people and organizations the best fundraising tools for any cause they care passionately about.

SOURCE Michelson Found Animals Foundation