Budget
$90,000.00
Description
Providing resources for and ensuring the safety of the animals in both the shelter and in our community are key focus areas for Friends of MACC, which is why animal welfare is an integral program for our organization. Friends of MACC provides critical funding for several MACC-led programs that serve the animals in our community: Emergency Medical Fund, Safety Net Program, community microchips, and field services supplies. By funding these various programs, we are helping ensure critically ill or injured animals have access to lifesaving surgeries, families in our community have access to free resources to keep their pets healthy and at home, lost animals in Nashville can get home much quicker without coming into the shelter, and outdoor pets are properly cared for and owners understand city ordinances.
Program Successes
Please see the above long- and short-term success for insight into program successes.
Category
Animal Related  - Animal Protection & Welfare 
Beneficiaries
Animals
Long-term Success
The long-term success of Friends of MACC's Animal Welfare program will lead to fewer animals being homeless or needing to be housed at the shelter, and it will also mean more positive outcomes for critically ill or injured pets. For instance, in 2021, more than 2,400 families were served by the Safety Net Program; that means they received free food, training, or medical support for their pets. Our program's support for field services is much the same: educating the public on proper pet ownership, especially for outdoor pets, is critical to ensuring the safety of many animals, as well as helping pet owners understand how to properly care for their pets. Our microchip program, which provided 500 free microchips for owned pets, will ensure that lost animals get home more quickly. And lastly, the Emergency Medical Fund saved the lives of over 70 injured animals. All cumulative value of this program leads to happier, healthier pets that stay with their families.
Short-term Success
For 2022, Friends of MACC has set a goal to provide additional funding to expand MACC's reach. Our short-term success will allow us to help more injured animals; our amazing rescue partners often help with medical cases; however, we are seeing an increase in the number of injured animals coming to the shelter, so adding more funds will save more lives. Also, our field services team has lost a major partner organization, so more outdoor sheltering will be needed to help with community education and pet safety. At the end of the year, our vision is to help at least 80 injured animals, a 20% increase over 2021. We also know grant funding for the Safety Net Program is getting more competitive, so our plan is to increase funding by nearly 50% to support families and pets in need in Nashville. And finally, microchips make it exponentially easier to reunite families with lost pets, so we plan to invest 50% more in community microchips to help happily owned pets avoid the shelter.
Program Success Monitored By
Our Animal Welfare program is monitored by the Friends of MACC board of directors in conjunction with the appropriate MACC staff. For instance, the Emergency Medical Fund is directly managed by MACC's medical director; the Safety Net Coordinator oversees the dollars provided to that program; and the field services lead manages the resources provided to the community; our board and medical director oversee the allocation of microchips.
Program Areas Served
Nashville, TN

Budget
$29,500.00
Description
Our motto at Friends of MACC is Happy Animals. Happy People. True Friendship. Animal enrichment is the underlying program that supports that motto. While animals wait in the shelter for their families, it's imperative to engage and stimulate their senses to avoid such negative impacts as kennel stress and barrier reactivity. Enrichment is also a critical component of foster care, for both animals and foster parents. Through our enrichment program, Friends of MACC provides in-shelter activities and facility improvements, as well as foster supplies, to help the animals in our care become the amazing pets they were born to be.

Program Successes
Please see the above long- and short-term success for insight into program successes.
Beneficiaries
Animals
Long-term Success
The long-term success of Friends of MACC's animal enrichment program means more positive outcomes for animals housed at the shelter and more animals being fostered. The shelter can be a very loud, stressful place for any animal, so finding ways to make it more pleasant is essential to dogs and cats having a more positive experience. In 2021, Friends of MACC added more than 1,000 square feet of outdoor play yards/kenneling for dogs that have upper respiratory infections; these dogs were previously only allowed to be walked on leashes as to not infect the play yard used by the healthy dogs. Now, URI pups have a place to romp with volunteers, which leads to more energy being expended. In addition, Friends of MACC provided nearly $9K in supplies to MACC's foster program to ensure fosters had the resources they needed; this included $3K in indestructible crates for dogs experiencing separation anxiety. The long-term impact of this program will lead to higher save rates for all animals.
Short-term Success
The short-term success of our animal enrichment program will also lead to more positive outcomes. It also includes $6K in funding for MACC's animal care specialists to provide designated enrichment activities in the shelter so that they can better support animals in a one-on-one setting. Believe it or not, this could include adding another portable chicken coup to help better humanely house chickens that arrive at the shelter while they await being adopted, reclaimed, or sent to rescue. All in all, the short term success will mean that Friends of MACC and MACC staff can continue to flex to meet the needs of the animals in our care so they have the tools and resources necessary to live happier, healthier lives.
Program Success Monitored By
The Animal Enrichment fund is monitored by the Friends of MACC board of directors along with MACC's foster coordinator, operations director, and animal care specialists.
Program Areas Served
Nashville, TN

Budget
$12,000.00
Description
When it comes to animal welfare, education applies to all - from our staff and volunteers to the animals in our care. Nearly all the animals that come to MACC are found as strays, and many need help learning how to be incredible pets. This means that most animals in our care could benefit from behavior modifications, from leash training to barrier reactivity desensitization. The Friends of MACC education program ensures pets, both in the shelter and in foster care, have access to trainers who can help them; this also means our staff and volunteers learn these techniques too so that more animals can be helped. Through this program, both animals and volunteers are transformed and lives are truly saved.
Program Successes
Please see the above long- and short-term success for insight into program successes
Beneficiaries
Animals
Long-term Success
The long-term success of this program would lead to a broader set of volunteers who are skilled with basic training techniques, and willing to use them to save more animals that need assistance with behavior training. In 2021, Friends of MACC provided $3K to MACC's foster program to provide training support for animals in foster care that need more specialized attention. Over time, the goal is to place more animals in foster care, with fosters trained and equipped to provide one-on-one training to help animals overcome the obstacles preventing them from being more highly adoptable. By focusing on education and training over a longer period of time, Friends of MACC can directly influence the save rate for animals that are entering the shelter.
Short-term Success
The short-term success of this program means making incremental gains in providing access to approved trainers. This year, we have earmarked $12K for animal enrichment, a 300% increase, which will include funding trainers to provide behavior modifications for dogs and cats that need training to make them more adoptable.
Program Success Monitored By
This program is monitored by the Friends of MACC board of directors, MACC's foster program coordinator, and MACC's medical director.
Program Areas Served
Nashville, TN