Animal Welfare

Michelson Found Animals Foundation (MFA) believes people and pets are better together. For 15 years, MFA has operated a range of social enterprises, impact investments, strategic partnerships, and thought leadership initiatives that share a common goal: Champion pets at every point they intersect with our society.

Since its founding, MFA has committed more than $100 million to support its mission, beginning with a grant program that provided free microchips to local municipal shelter partners. Today, affordable chips and scanners are available across the country for shelters and rescue groups to purchase through Michelson Found Animals Registry.

MFA also has been instrumental in advancing animal welfare in Los Angeles. In addition to funding, in-kind, and operational support, MFA helped create the Spay Neuter Project of Los Angeles, FixNation, and Spay4LA. Thanks in part to this, the live release rate in municipal animal shelters in the city of Los Angeles has risen to nearly 90 percent. “Today we’re at a point where almost all the dogs that come into these animal shelters get adopted out,” Dr. Gary K. Michelson observes. “In that sense, we are putting ourselves out of business.”

Adopt & Shop

Adopt & Shop was conceived in support of a single belief: All pets deserve a loving home. As a shelter and social enterprise, Adopt & Shop offsets sheltering costs by operating revenue-generating businesses. It is the only nonprofit pet retail store in Los Angeles that offers pet adoption, pet grooming, and a complete line of quality pet products. Since opening in 2014, A&S has facilitated more than 16,000 adoptions.

Found Animals Registry

Hurricane Katrina left thousands of pets displaced with no way to return home. Dr. Michelson recognized that microchip technology could easily solve this market failure, so he decided to act. MFA created the first free national microchip registry. Its sole purpose is returning pets to their people. No matter when or where their pet was chipped, pet parents can register their pet for free—forever.

Pet-Inclusive Housing Initiative

MFA believes that pets enrich people's lives, and that everyone should have access to the joy of pets in their home. The Pet-Inclusive Housing Initiative, a partnership between MFA and the Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI), was created to field research demonstrating the benefits of petfriendly housing to owner/operators, residents, and communities. From this research, MFA develops resources and partnerships that seek to increase the availability of pet-friendly rental housing.

Animal Welfare Grants

MFA Lifesaving Grants address two major sources of overpopulation in shelters: spay/neuter access and surrender prevention. MFA partners with organizations to build programs that serve underfunded communities and pets at the highest risk of euthanasia. While its grantmaking is diverse, support is geared toward organizations that serve areas with the greatest need. MFA works with its partners to encourage innovation and ensure the funds and resources are used efficiently.

CASE STUDY: SPAY NEUTER PROJECT OF LOS ANGELES, CARMELO’S STORY

In May 2020, a pet owner named Consuelo contacted the Spay Neuter Project of Los Angeles with a plea for help for her beloved pup, Carmelo—a dog that the family describes as exceptionally kind. She brought the gentle giant into SNPLA’s Mission Hills clinic for an exam. The doctor and staff noticed that Carmelo had an abnormal testicular growth, was having trouble walking, and appeared to be in a significant amount of pain. The staff also worried that the growth might be cancerous. SNPLA’s expert professionals recommended an urgent neuter surgery—a procedure that Consuelo, having lost some of her income due to COVID-19, could not afford.

Thanks to MFA, “We were able to perform Carmelo’s surgery within days at no cost to her guardians,” says Zoey Knittel, executive director of SNPLA. Carmelo can now “run and play with the grandchildren with no worries,” she adds. “The family is very grateful that there are people out there that can help during hard times. Through the generous ongoing support of Michelson Found Animals Foundation, SNPLA has expanded our ability to act as a safety net for guardians and their beloved pets.”

MFA Fundraising Challenges

Valari Staab (right), president of NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations, with Mario Lopez (center) and his wife, Courtney Laine Mazza (left) at the 2019 Michelson Found Animals Gala.

In 2019, in partner ship with NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations, MFA raised nearly $1.6 million in the inaugural Fund the Shelters Challenge, a monthlong online competition involving 644 animal welfare organizations. “Thanks to the generosity of thousands of individuals and the incredible support of Michelson Found Animals Foundation, animal shelters and rescues are receiving the resources they need to continue their lifesaving programs to rescue and care for pets who are looking for their forever homes,” says Valari Staab, president of NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations, with Mario Lopez and his wife, Courtney Laine Mazza.

Return to Home Efforts

A massive opportunity to reduce shelter euthanasia across the country lies in improving Return to Home (RTH) efforts when a pet is lost. To drive change at scale, MFA recruited the nation’s leading RTH strategist, Gina Knepp, to drive a conversation around in-shelter process improvements and community engagement. In 2020, MFA entered into a partnership with Maddie’s Fund; together they launched the 2021 RTH Challenge, which provides training materials, community resources, and grants to shelters across America with a goal to improve lost-animal return rates across the country.

Michelson Institute for Pet Professions

Set to launch in spring 2021, the Michelson Institute for Pet Professions (MIPP) promotes awareness of and access to the pet care industry as a lasting, successful career path. MIPP promotes more diverse and equitable entry into pet care careers by providing skills training and job placement for those in underserved communities who are interested in working with animals. Students accepted to MIPP receive a full scholarship from MFA for a professional certification, and benefit from job placement services upon graduation. The first cohort will focus on dog grooming.

FEATURED GRANTEE

“Back in 2013, Michelson Found Animals Foundation believed in our vision of reducing the number of pets entering the South Los Angeles Shelter by supporting their families. More than 14,000 cases later, the concept of pet retention is one that every progressive animal welfare organization is involved in or considering how to be part of the community solution. Without the Michelsons’ consistent generosity, Downtown Dog Rescue would never have had the opportunity to experiment and combine services for pets and people at one location.”

LORI WEISE , Executive Director, Downtown Dog Rescue

Lori Weise, Executive Director, Downtown Dog Rescue

FOCUS ON BETTER NEIGHBOR PROJECT

Michelson Found Animals Foundation believes everyone, regardless of their socioeconomic status, deserves access to the joy of pets. Launched in December 2019, Better Neighbor Project (BNP) partners with human service organizations to deliver complimentary pet care resources directly to communities most in need.

In response to the rise in job, housing, and food insecurity triggered by the pandemic, BNP partnered with the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles to augment multiple weekly food pantries with pet food distribution. A series of Pet Wellness Days in partnership with a variety of community partners launched soon thereafter, offering free pet food, veterinary checks, vaccines, spay/neuter services, microchipping, and more directly to pets and families who need it most.

Better Neighbor Project represents the first large-scale program bridging social services and animal welfare services in Los Angeles,” says Brett Yates, CEO of Michelson Found Animals Foundation, “and we see it as a philanthropic model that can be applied to other markets with similar needs.” In its first year of operation, BNP served more than 12,500 pets and families in need, and continues to serve more than 500 families per week.

MARIO VALENZUELA, YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles

Our Weingart East Los Angeles YMCA has repurposed its space to become a center where food is distributed to impacted families and seniors, children are provided grab-and-go meals, families can receive diapers, and the unsheltered have access to showers. Thanks to Michelson Found Animals Foundation’s partnership with the Y, those services have expanded to include access to vets, grooming, referrals to spay/neutering services, and pet food. They have been able to support the furry family members that the Weingart East Los Angeles YMCA has not been able to service during this pandemic and are often forgotten.

MARIO VALENZUELA, YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles

MARIA ELENA DURAZO, California State Senator (left)

“It was a pleasure partnering with Michelson Found Animals Foundation and other community organizations to provide families in our district with animal services during these challenging economic times. This community event provided much-needed food, vaccines, spay and neuter services, and grooming, which for many families is out of reach at the moment.”

MARIA ELENA DURAZO, California State Senator

Michelson Prize and Grants in Reproductive Biology

In 2008, Michelson Found Animals Foundation launched the $75 million Michelson Prize and Grants in Reproductive Biology to incentivize research and develop a single-dose, nonsurgical sterilant for cats and dogs with the goal of eliminating shelter euthanasia of healthy, adoptable companion animals and reducing populations of free-roaming cats and dogs. To date, more than $17 million in Michelson Grants has been awarded to projects worldwide.

Dr. Patricia Donahoe, director of the Pediatric Surgical Research Laboratories at Massachusetts General Hospital (right)

“The support from Michelson Found Animals Foundation allowed us to put together a team of superb and dedicated colleagues (Massachusetts General Hospital, University of Massachusetts, and the Cincinnati Zoo), with whom it has been a joy to work, and set us off on a journey to solve a problem of fundamental importance,” says Dr. Patricia Donahoe, director of the Pediatric Surgical Research Laboratories at Massachusetts General Hospital. "Guidance from MFA has kept us on track to develop a rigorous solution to regulate reproduction in dogs and cats, but we suspect results will resonate more broadly.”

Scientific Advisory Board

The Scientific Advisory Board of Michelson Prize and Grants is comprised of world-class leaders from the scientific research and veterinary medical communities with experience in reproductive biology, immunology, laboratory animal welfare, and regulatory affairs.

Thomas J. Conlon, Ph.D. - Chief Scientific Officer/Chair of Scientific Advisory Board, Michelson Found Animals Foundation, Los Angeles

Todd A. Alonzo, Ph.D. - Professor of Research, Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles

Janet Baer, DVM - Chief Executive Officer, Veterinary Consulting Services, Island Park, Idaho

David A. Brake, Ph.D. - Founder and President, BioQuest Associates, Stowe, Vermont

Graham Cox, Ph.D. - Founder and President, Veterinary Vaccine Services, Omaha, Nebraska

Carl D. Johnson, Ph.D. - Honorary Fellow, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin

Kevin N. Morris, Ph.D. - Associate Research Professor, Institute for Human-Animal Connection, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado

Linda Rhodes, VMD, Ph.D. - Independent Consultant

Amy A. Ross, Ph.D. Trustee, University of Southern California, Los Angeles

Donald Schwartz - Managing Director, Elders-Rede, Animal Health Advisors, Duluth, Georgia

William F. Swanson, DVM, Ph.D. - Director, Animal Research, Center for Conservation and Re search of Endangered Wildlife, Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, Cincinnati, Ohio

Marcel van Duin, Ph.D. - Vice President, Head of R&D Alliances, Reproductive Medicine and Maternal Health, Ferring Research Institute, San Diego, California

Joanne Zahorsky-Reeves, DVM, Ph.D. - Regulatory Affairs Program Administrator, Division of Laboratory Animal Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles

Brett Yates CEO, Michelson Found Animals Foundation, Los Angeles

FOCUS ON A NONSURGICAL STERILANT

In 2019, 5.3 million companion animals entered U.S. shelters. Of that number, hundreds of thousands of healthy and adoptable animals were unable to find homes and were euthanized. No other disease or condition takes as many lives. As a preventative measure, traditional spay-andneuter is the current approach for sterilization. But that process can be costly and comes with the risk of anesthesia and surgery.

Launched in 2008 as part of Michelson Found Animals Foundation (MFA), Michelson Prize and Grants is focused on improving animal welfare with a $75 million commitment from Dr. Gary K. Michelson. Dr. Michelson pledged a $25 million prize to the first entity that develops a single-dose nonsurgical sterilant for dogs and cats. To under - write those research efforts, Dr. Michelson has pledged an additional $50 million in research funding support, which to date has invested more than $17 million into 38 projects.

The prize has garnered interest from scientists whose research interests may fall well outside of animal welfare. “We’ve received grant proposals from neuroscientists, cancer researchers, immunologists, chemists, and physiologists,” says Dr. Thomas J. Conlon, who joined MFA as chief scientific officer in 2017. “They’re not veterinarians, they’re not necessarily focused on reproduction, but they have a technology that could be used to help us achieve this goal.” Of the 38 projects funded, 11 have been with international groups.

In recent decades, new vaccine and gene transfer techniques have emerged that could help achieve the goal of a safe and permanent nonsurgical sterilant. “With the Prize, we can encourage various scientific groups with these new tech - nologies to apply for a grant proposal with us,” Dr. Conlon says. Once a sterilant is identified, MFA will guide the product through clinical trials and regulatory approval, manufacturing, marketing, and distribution to ensure that the sterilant has the maximum possible impact in minimizing animal-shelter euthanasia.

In 2016, MFA began a new phase in its quest to develop a nonsurgical sterilant for companion animals when it began directing its own research using Adeno-associated Virus (AAV) gene transfer technology and ideas developed internally. “We fund this research working with contract research organizations (CROs) or academic institutions,” says Dr. Conlon.

Dr. Bill Swanson, director of the small cats program at the Cincinnati Zoo’s Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife, with two of his study cats.

Of the 12-member Scientific Advisory Board, he notes, “Many are veterinarians, but others are scientists with decades of laboratory experience in their own specialties or researchers who have been involved in a veterinary drug development— all of whom have been useful throughout this project.”

Over the last decade, the board has reviewed 136 full proposals with a process “that’s as rigorous as an NIH review,” Dr. Conlon says, but the group’s work isn’t done yet. “We still have $33 million that we’d like to award for breakthrough research.”